A toast to 2011

As 2011 draws to a close I feel the happiness and satisfaction that flows through the system after partaking a varied, unusual and delicious banquet which satisfies all the senses. I find myself more content and fulfilled than I have ever been. For this I must give thanks and I raise my gilaas of strong South Indian filter coffee to my many many friends. There are those who have always been my anchors since eternity, many new ones, the virtual friends who have transmogrified momentarily into reality, the real ones from my past who are now purely virtual and the wholly virtual ones - all of you who have changed my life so much for the better with your kindness, thoughtful actions, your thoroughly enjoyable company, help, laughter and love, I couldn’t have done it without you all.

To that person who once thumped the table and made that grease induced declaration over an empty plate of Gobi Manchurian saying, “You are responsible for who you attract into your life”, I take another slurp of super strong filter coffee, thump the table back and reply, “Yes, dahling, absolutely true!”

I wish each one of you reading this, an enjoyable new year ahead.

Lekka Pustaka

 Ever since I saw Nilesh using a bright red cloth bound book as a sketchbook I wanted one too.
It is a 'lekka pustaka' explained Nilesh, an 'account book'. The paper inside is great to draw on and even holds watercolour. And it is a fraction of the cost of expensive Nightingale books at upmarket shops.

I just liked the fact that it was RED and BRIGHT PINK. I couldn't sleep until I had one of these.

The ever informative Prabha was more specific - this is a 'Jain account book' she said.

Gujju baniyas (Gujarati businessmen) use it to keep their accounts. 

Notice the Goddess Lakshmi on the title page. She is the Goddess of Wealth.

:-)

The pages are numbered. Such a nice touch.

Good paper

Bright and Chubby! 

It may lack the elegance and sophistication of a more expensive sketchbook but it makes up for it with its chunky presence and colourful personality.

Bright red and shocking pink are such a striking colour combination.

It satisfies the 'Indian' in me in every way.

 I also bought and Indian calendar in the same shop.

 It is from Diwali to Diwali madam, said the shopkeeper.

 So much character

Here are Nilesh's drawings from his Lekka Pustaka. 

And this is his cruel caricature of me ;-p

a WaLk along Avenue Road

The rest of the pictures as always on Gilaas of Chai

Chlorophyll Eaters

There are some insects which eat the chlorophyll off the leaves of my White flower creepers 

leaving beautiful squiggly designs on them.

1/1/2012: I think I might have found a clue to who these Chlorophyll eaters are. 

Here is the link >>>

Gold Pages

There is only one place for shiny wrapping from expensive chocolate.

Prabha's Falooda

After an intensive Corel Draw tutorial, P and I went around searching for a much needed sugar high. We decided to have chocolatesandwiches. When Hari’s super sandwich joint was closed, we went to the Lassi bar nearby to mitigate our disappointment. I ordered Royal Falooda. It was a nice baby pink colour as a falooda should be. P took some time to make up her mind and then ordered the same thing.  She had to wait a while. In front of our eyes the falooda man carried a strange poisonous looking brown bottle, opened the freezer and poured a generous amount of mysterious stuff out of it into one of the containers inside. Then he mixed it well. Then he poured some more brown bottle stuff and mixed some more…

 ‘What is it? What is it????’ Prabha frantically craned her neck to see. 
‘That is what he is going to serve you’ I said.
‘No! No!! No!!! Please God no!’ said P frantically, ‘I want to know what is in that bottle!’

We knew what was in that bottle when her falooda was served. It was bright pink in colour. At least 6 times more pink in colour than my falooda.

I hope she is still alive.

Sunday's Menu

Am tired of looking at things and drawing. Makes for a boring sketchbook. Here I  thought of things and drew them as they came to mind. BUT looking at stuff and drawing is necessary too. It gives drawing skills a workout, like practising scales on the piano or pushing your body around a park. It helps me capture what I want to draw faster. 

 I am so relieved. I completed a secret projet on Sunday.

Life has whittled down to the bare minimum these days - draw, eat, draw, eat, do a bit of exercise to keep the scales just below 60, crawl outside to socialize at Pencil Jam about once a fortnight, talk for 3 hours on the phone the other fortnight, then eat some more and draw again....

Snaps from Sunday

Those Two boys

Those Lilies

And that Cat

*

Look it Over

I leave behind even

my walking stick. My knife

is in my pocket, but that

I have forgot. I bring

no car, no cell phone,

no computer, no camera,

no CD player, no fax, no

TV, not even a book. I go

into the woods. I sit on

a log provided at no cost.

It is the earth I’ve come to,

the earth itself, sadly

abused by the stupidity

only humans are capable of

but, as ever, itself. Free.

A bargain! Get it while it lasts.

                                        ~Wendell Berry

                                                      via Keri Smith’s blog

In the Forest

 by Bhooni, one of the students at Shishu Mandir 

who participated in my painting workshop .

'See how beautifully he’s painted me, lost in the forest, among the trees, the branches, the grass. As I wait, a wind begins to blow’the leaves tremble, one by one; the branches sway. I’m worried. How does the artist’s pen manage to reach so far? The branches bend in the wind and rise up again, the flowers grow and fall, the forest swells like a wave, and the whole world trembles.'

~ extracted from In the Forest as Old as the World by Orhan Pamuk. Other Colours