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Maybe happiness is this: 

not feeling like you should be elsewhere 

doing something else, being someone else.

        ~ Isaac Asimov

Cover

So here are some stunning cover designs done by my 
art director using my illustration of the rooster.I love how it has turned out.

Here is the link on Behance if you want to see some more.

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Roosters

I made the illustration for the rooster pictured above for a book cover. After I sent it across, my art director sent me the drawing below which was done by her five year old daughter upon seeing my picture.
I have included the drawing in this post with Devayani's kind permission because I cannot help but be impressed by how well she has drawn it. What strikes me most is the surety and confidence with which the head of the rooster is drawn, the most difficult part.
Thank you Devayani, for letting me include your drawing in my blog.

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What I've come to learn is that the world is never saved in 

grand messianic gestures, but in the simple accumulation of

gentle, soft, almost invisible acts of compassion.

                                           ~ Chris Abani

The Toronto flatmate kept a Lily of the Valley in a bottle on the kitchen table. One of her many small gestures that made a difference. I learned that these tiny flowers also have a beautiful fragrance. 

Things I do

For Suttonese People -

Hers and His birthday cards.

Pink Snowflakes

 Tabubia trees in my part of town have a wild party every summer. All the roads are pretty much covered with pink snowflakes during this time. 
The picture of the spectacular tree above was taken from the car while on my way home and the giant pink candy floss in the picture below is mine, right inside my garden, greeting me with gentle confetti whenever I stand outside.

This is what I see when I look up.

And this, when I look down.

This is the huge pile of pink snowflakes ready to be cleaned up again and again, pretty much like how they shovel snow in that other city where I used to live.

The Bottles at my Window

There are no lines in nature, there are only areas of color set against each other.
~ Edouard Manet

Gold Tree

Last evening, as I was driving home, I caught sight of the Peepul tree in front of Buddha Vihar. The tender new leaves, yet to turn green had turned into pure gold instead. The entire tree had turned into this shimmering cloud of gold which was sparkling in the evening light. I stopped my car, got out, stood on the road and stared. The pictures I took in my camera are a pale shadow to what I saw in real life and I swore to come the next day and photograph it with my DSLR.

This morning the leaves had already changed color, still spectacular, they had turned a copper red. I did my best with my camera and these are the results.

I have been told that the Peepul is called the Tree of Life because the leaves never stop moving. Indeed the cloud of leaves on the tree tremble with life and energy and it is probably for this reason that the tree is considered holy and has temples for worship built under it.

I am adding a picture of another Peepul tree below. This one from my childhood which I used to pass on the way to school every day. It has a temple below it. When I took this picture which was some weeks ago, the new leaves had turned a bright, clean and sparkling light green. They shimmered and sparkled with life above the sea of traffic.

I wish all the trees in Bangalore are considered holy. I wish there is a complete and total ban in cutting them.

Paper

The picture above shows beautiful sheets of drawing paper including some extra large sheets of excellent imported paper at half the price I pay for a sheet of Canson. I also got 100 sheets of regular tracing paper to cover my work. 

For the 20 years I've been going to Marudhar Papers, I struggled with them in my Hindi and they struggled with me with their English. There was a certain amount of brusqueness from them. Discounts were grudging. Then this time suddenly a barrier broke when I tried Kannada and they, Marwadis, replied in perfect Kannada. I praised them: How well you speak Kannada! They blushed and became extra accommodating. "We know you have been coming to us for a long time!" Just before I left they said, "Wait madam, gift, gift!" and gifted me this nice spiral bound notebook. I am totally floored.

A Bangalore Montreal Dialogue

Every Sunday, Julie and I upload all the drawings that we do that week on a tumblog called Hello Every Sunday. You've seen the icon on the left and yes, Facebook readers already know, but since I love my blog I must put it here as well.
Over here in the about section you can read why we do what we do. 

Otherwise do follow us and cheer us on as we drive this little monster forward every week throughout this year.

The top and bottom pictures of the first four photographs are mine, and the pictures in the middle are Julie's. See the difference in lighting of the two countries - the golden winter light from South India and the blue winter light from snowy Quebec.

Here are pictures of the sketchbooks that we are using and that we arrived at by trial and error -
This is the sleek sophisticated fancy Stillman and Birn which Julie decided would meet her needs.

And the bright and chubby Lekka Pustaka (account book) which dazzled me with its red shirt and swore to fulfill all my desires.

When I look at how different the sketchbooks are from each other, I cannot help but think of all the opposites in this project: The cultural differences in the two countries, the different colors of the light, the opposites in temperatures, the fact that we drink tea and coffee respectively, Julie's systematic way of working and my last minute jams... Still, art communicates through all kinds of differences and boundaries. I am sure that towards the end of this project we both will carry away with us a lot more than we ever expected when we started this.

Over at a Blog Down Under

I am guest writer over at Local Story Space, a wonderful Australian blog featuring creative women. I decided to write on the subject of what Beauty means to me, why it is so important to me and how it inspires what I make.
You can read the post by clicking the link over here >>>

One Glorious Spring Summer Morning

Since a meeting with new Banglurean blog friend and avid instagrammer Priyanka Sacheti Mehta was long overdue, I invited her for a walk at Lalbagh which she happily accepted. I remembered how gracious my Kochi and Kolkata hosts had been to me and tried to emulate them. I remembered that the first great Bangalore experience usually always consists of the walk in Lalbagh and the meal at MTR afterwards. If you haven't done this, you haven't seen namdu Bengluru.

Here is what we saw during a glorious Springsummer morning today. Isn't it utterly gorgeous? Every visit to Lalbagh always has new surprises in store.

This new creepsome element below right next to the rose garden gorden - Snow White's cottage no less! And with the requisite dwarves and Bambi flitting around as well! So much imagination I tell you!

 Then MTR. When people I meet with say things like, "Oooh, I've eaten and come off, I'm not hungry". And, "Let's share just one plate of Idli", I usually delete them from my list. I was satisfied to note that Priyanka enjoyed food with enthusiasm. We ate a 15 course meal at MTR. They kept bringing course after course and dessert after dessert. They kept saying things like, "Just try a leeetle bit to taste, now go on, try some more..." and then, "Wait, it's not over yet! Other things are coming!" How much more bozz, we've eaten so much already? "Arrey madam, still several more are lined up!"

So here are the pictures that I managed from that orgy. I've managed to photograph the start of the meal with the pooris and the colorful end - the famous candy colored MTR ice cream with the saccharine sweet cherry on top. The entire meal was pretty much the food equivalent of the glorious Silk Cotton tree that I've posted as the first picture.

This was one very satisfying day :)

Sigh...

Burp