Warli Paintings with a modern twist

An old junior friend from my college has started an initiative introducing traditional Warli paintings with a modern touch. This multi-talented friend along with his wife draws and sells various day-to-day items with Warli paintings on them. Some also carry colored paintings unlike traditional white drawings on brown background. Personally being a drawing and painting enthusiast, I love the variety they are bringing each day and I can't hold back from sharing this information with as many people as I can.

Please join me in seeing these creations and if you'd like, you may buy a piece of art or more!

Happy Anniversary to my blog!

I did not notice that my blog has already completed 2 years... So Happy Anniversary to my blog! And Belated New Year 2013 wishes to all my readers..

I came across this beautiful tamil song Kangal Irandal...ofcourse I don't understand it...so I found its meaning too, for my satisfaction! The video doesn't seem great..or it's more like from an older time period, but the song is nice! Enjoy!

My "Inception" Moment

I was in my sleep….dreaming ..now of course I know that …but in the dream I didn’t know obviously that it’s dream. My dream goes like this….(dreams are really weird) my husband and I were talking to a little girl…whats your name, age..school…blah blah. And every time she answered her front tooth which was shaky would point out…it almost was hanging by her gums with a small tissue…and she would pull it in and place it back with her tongue. So I say to my husband that her tooth is going to fall off…and just so she doesn’t panic we should tell her that….so we go ahead and tell her that oh your tooth is gonna fall off…and apparently I have a shaky incisor tooth from the upper jaw and I too push it off with my tongue….and we both lose one tooth each…kinda like giving her company so she doesn’t feel lonely…at this point I am very calm about my broken tooth…

But after few seconds …as I am just rolling my tongue in my mouth another tooth from the lower jaw unexpectedly falls off too, into 2 pieces….one piece is fine the other one is pretty much a crumble. At this point I panic…thinking..woah! I need my teeth to be fine…when I smile…the lower jaw is not visible but the upper jaw is clearly visible with a tooth missing…and I realize that I  need to have a good smile on my wedding day (wonder when my husband sitting next to me was not a husband anymore!)

At this point as my mind is so scared of my missing teeth and I am already thinking of my Dentist doc and  the visits and the expenditure…I tell myself in the dream…that wait! “This can be a dream, wake up and check Shilpa”. And I literally opened my eyes like the dead open in those horror movies…and I rolled my tongue to realize that it indeed is a dream; that I have all  my regular teeth and I can peacefully sleep than take myself through a long mental thought process of my broken smile. I actually smiled and rolled back to sleep!

When I woke up in the morning, I mentioned the entire dream to my husband saying it’s like the movie Inception…where I wake up from the dream by a nudge…to which he said where is your totem….like a jerk or a fall that wakes you up from the dream….I think my conscience is my totem that asked me to wake up! The more I thought of it, I found it spooky or eerie or strange – ‘to tell you in the dream that this could be a dream’. Does that happen often to people?

The Brits we miss!!!

Last week on the occasion of Ganesh Chathurthi, I was visiting my grandparents at my uncle’s place. My grandma had specially called me as she was planning to prepare some old delicacies especially for me. I have missed so many dishes that my mom used to make before I got married. Now I really don’t have the time and energy to make those.I finished my decoration, celebrations and prayers quickly.

Rangoli outside my house for Ganesha :)

Frankly Ganesh Chathurthi is such a grand celebration in Pune. I would start to decorate the Pooja room the previous night, with glittering party streamers, lightings, rangoli’s at each entrance…etc. I miss the loud celebration of Ganpati festival from Pune. Bringing the Ganesha idol in grand style from the store to your home, with the face covered, chanting Ganesha prayers. I am not a very religious person, but the only prayer I know is the Ganesh Aarti. I love it, the Sanskrit words and the tune of it! Miss all this now in Bangalore.

I reached my uncle’s place and they were close to finishing the entire menu for the day. My grandparents were making Kadabu, it’s a spicy item. Kinda like rice dumpling with spicy filling inside. For my husband it was new item. He has always eaten only the sweet version of it we call Modak  J.

After a delicious meal of varied items, we sat down just talking. Suddenly for some reason, I asked my grandma how old was she….82 she said…and grandpa was 84. So we eagerly asked “You were there when the Britishers ruled us. How was it then? Did they really harass you like we read in history books and see in the movies? ”Grandma said, “It was good then! They were very systematic, they had their rules. If you break the rules they would punish, else it was just a normal life style; it really wasn’t that bothersome. OR may only in big cities where there was struggle on, may be those people faced harassment. But we pretty much had a good time. And definitely better than the times today! These politicians who are running the country now are looting us. At least it wasn’t this bad during the British time. The Britishers are better any day compared to what is happening now in our country”.

Through my childhood, my dad used to always say that the Britishers shouldn’t have left our country; for we would have been a much better developed country. It was a mistake to fight for freedom and then take our country to dooms. The leaders who fought for freedom never came up with a proper plan of how to run the country. We know, all the technology that came into India was because of the Britishers. Railways, post office, schools and hospitals, eradication of so many blind belief and bad social practices. They brought these facilities for their easy of life in India… and it stayed after they left. So imagine if they stayed a bit longer we’d be a much developed forward country. True eh!

Now when we look at our country we are in such a bad shape. There is no equality in society; we have extremes of everything – rich poor, educated-illiterate etc. We studied how the freedom fighters sacrificed their lives for this country. Name one politician now who wants to do that? The congress govt. is a deaf govt. who is not listening to any needs of the common man. My civics book taught the govt. is “of the people by the people for the people”. So if the people don’t want this govt. anymore, shouldn’t there be simple way to remove them? How can the ruling govt. overpower the people? So where is the democracy in this democratic country?

Greatest speech ever

I got this youtube link from a friend. Does it strike a chord? Does it shake you up? Does it make you say - I know....exactly! I say I agree!

I replayed it again and again to feel the rush!

Women and Cultures

Since I moved to Bangalore I have had a maid at home to do the daily cleaning; just like my Mysore days. But a much better experience than the super-smart maid Radha in Mysore. Here I have a Muslim lady coming to work. Actually they are a bunch of ladies that work around here in my locality. So all are related to each other like sisters-in-law (in Indian terms they are Bhabhi, Nanand, Devrani, Jethani to each other)My maid Salma, recently started to bring a little girl…by which I mean a short girl really. Chandni, damn adorable girl with a very very innocent smile..just about 4 feet or an inch. On day one I wasn’t sure how old she is and I really didn’t want a little girl (minor) to work in my house. So I quickly asked Salma if Chandni was her daughter. She said no, Chandni was her brother-in-law’s wife. I was so shocked to hear this little baby faced girl was a ‘married woman’. I asked Chandni how old she really was and she said she was 19. That relieved me! Next day she mentioned she had two kids. I was again shocked to know she was already a mom with TWO kids! So in my head was calculating that its fine..she might have got married when she was 17 and then had the babies…which I think is common in Muslim custom (but not generalizing).

A week later she hadn’t come with Salma. So I enquired if she was fine. Apparently her kids were not doing well. And I felt sorry for her thinking her little kids must be sick and this little girl is supposed to nurse her two kids. When she came back to work after couple of days, I enquired about the well-being of her kids. I just generally asked how older her kids were…”One is 5 and another is 2”! Shocked!! I didn’t take too long to ask her ‘How old were you when you got married’. 12 was the answer!!! I was totally speechless. In my head I was thinking when I was 12, how I must have been in 7th grade..with images of my 7th grade classroom flashing before my eyes…the fun we had..the small events from 7th grade suddenly coming alive after so many years! And this girl was married at that age!  In coming days…I have always been very fond of her; her innocence, her child-like face. One morning she was done with the dishes so I was washing Spinach in the kitchen sink. She asked me “Don’t you wear Bangles?” Embarrassed, I answered quite vaguely..”err…neah…no…not always…like if there is a celebration or special occasion…I wear them”. It somehow felt like I was such a bad ‘Indian’ woman! The next day my mom was with me at home. We were busy in the kitchen. After her work, Chandni was watching us, when she dropped another big question; “Don’t you wear a nose ring?” I was so very embarrassed this time. I laughed out and said..No dear, I don’t wear a nose ring!!!

She retorted back saying, “Your mother doesn’t wear either”. For this one I had an answer. I told her how my mom used to wear earlier, until it started to hurt her and she stopped wearing her nose ring. She also noticed my mom’ bare hands ..no bangles. My mom had a better convincing answer! Since we work at home and office…we try to maintain the bangles from water and stuff..we only wear it to work and remove it once we’re back home! Chandni nodded in acceptance and said..”Well in our community we have to wear bangles and nose rings compulsory…or else, we are scolded”. I told her that in our religion/community, there is no such hard and fast rule to follow such customs…at least not in my family.

I have always thought of how some religions or communities are so strict and strong on their rules…especially rules that are made for WOMEN! It makes me go back to the same old thoughts of how all the rules in the society are made for women…around women…and if there are any rules for men, they can always be broken and adjusted, right! I have grown up with couple of rules for being a girl too..safety wise..and I still hear even today from elders of some rules and ways of living for a woman! I choose to decide myself..what is required…what can be ignored! But little Chandni hardly has any choice to think or decide or ignore any rules! She does what she is told and thinks that is what life is all about!

Chicken tales

Fragile Chicken

My weekend was hectic travel one. I travelled from Bangalore to Salem to Mysore back to Bangalore. We went to visit my husband’s grandfather who is ill. My aunt-in-law who is taking care of him lives in a more village-like part of the Salem town. Like they actually have a well to draw water and have baskets of chickens.




 

Light colored babies



Water drawing from the well



Feisty Mommy!



It’s always been a small wish to hold chickens in my hand…and I did so this week..cute little black chickens…gosh! They are so adorable…and they are pretty loud when the squeak..and their tiny little wings! Very cute! When they were let out to roam..the view was beautiful; one black beauty – the mommy and 14 little baby chickens! All running and following their mom at all times. The mom would scratch the soil and dig out while the chickens would probably eat ants or something.

Artistically Dented

There was a moment when a dog came around…and man! The way the mom chased away the dog ….like in flash of a second…was a total Animal Planet scene. I always knew dogs are scared of cats, but this one was a shocker! A hen attacking a preying dog with open arms, literally! Poor dog..haha! Great motherly instincts!

 Life is quite simple in small town. I got to eat curry made from banana flowers; flowers that would eventually grow to become bananas! It tastes really good. The neighbors baby was laid on a simple cradle made of a long cloth..with a simple wooden seperator that also hold the twirling toy to keep the toddler busy! Super simple design!



Banana flowers for curry

 



 

And the well, I tried a few times to pull out water. Yes its fun J. But frankly these women using wells must have really good muscles! I mean really easy workout if you want to have toned arms! The little girl pulling our water performed a whole gymnastic activity with all her might pulling out a full vessel of water & picking and re-filling a pot. The vessel to dunk in was surely a piece of art! Still life art! The number of dents on it speaks of its journey! Totally funny to look though!

 Salem was hot as always, but not that bad. What’s surprising is how the temperatures across the border of Karnataka & Tamil Nadu change drastically! Like you suddenly have air conditioning the moment to leave Tamil Nadu and step into Karnataka. Bus ride to Mysore is beautiful. Mysore genuinely is beautiful with the green paddy fields, coconut trees, red Gulmohar trees, cool weather, less traffic and people (compared to Bangalore).  Visited the Nanjangud temple again with grandparents and uncle.  

Baby in the home made cradle

Life is quite simple in small town. I got to eat curry made from banana flowers; flowers that would eventually grow to become bananas! It tastes really good. The neighbors baby was laid on a simple cradle made of a long cloth..with a simple wooden seperator that also hold the twirling toy to keep the toddler busy! Super simple design!



Mysore Police....still living the Royal times!!!

Nanjanagud Temple

I think family get-togethers or short group trips are a good change for our routine life. It was a fun-filled weekend of travel, food, jokes and laughter. I wish travelling would be so easy w.r.t work days, leaves, transport availability, good company and good places. I wish we had a bus or train pass for lifetime and could travel anytime anywhere! What a fun life eh!