Tuesday, April 24, 2012

So many things in my head


This entire month has been a whirl of activity for me. It’s been an absolutely crazy time, of which I’m really grateful as it helps me focus only on the important things, I crib that I don’t get enough sleep. While my sister thinks I crib about everything under the sun, I take great joy in it. Wanted to write about many many things but will not stretch what can be said in a few words to an entire blog…
 - Watched and loved Vicky Donor. From the dadi to Delhi, it was a great movie. Wish the ending was twenty minutes shorter though. Snow White and Seven Dwarfs was just about okay. Julia Roberts was wicked but felt that something was missing throughout the movie.
- The mangoes are what I’m really looking forward to…had some yesterday but let’s just say they were really really sour.
 - Its been more than 3 months that I’ve thrown the Television out and am so surprised that it makes no difference. Life without the idiot box is so much more sharper…reading more, focusing more on things on hand. To think that it took me an year of dilly dallying to do that…
 - Work has been really haphazard of late. Sitting idle for weeks and getting done crazy amount of work in two day’s time. It’s been hectic but what I’m really looking forward to is a one month break from mid- May. No writing. Yes.
 - Is having a massive crush on someone who is going out with someone okay? Just cant help it though, just like I can’t help hoping that we will miraculously end up together!
 - Read Sandra Brown’s Lethal and really enjoyed it. As a rule I stay away from thrillers but sheer boredom compelled me to read this one and it was quite interesting.
- Finally got a raise at work…finally!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Imagine a life entirely different from the one you lead. What would it be?

Had to write an essay for the above question for Na, I know they are a tad similar but am posting them here as I don't remember the last time I managed to only just cross the word limit (here it was 250 words)...

An artist:
As someone always interested in the creative arts, the life of an artist, a creator and destroyer is something which has always intrigued me. The creative miasma of paints, thoughts which is a combination of imagery and sheer skill to bring to life images and instances which have been birthed in the labyrinths of one’s imagination is something which has always excited me. From a childhood which had many summers spent with brushes, paints and chart paper as friends; sketching and drawing as constant companions, the effortless transition to adulthood immersed in an art, wide and compassionate has been enriching and elevating.

My life and work as an artist has enriched me in numerous way. The challenge everyday to do something new, the effective outpouring of my energies which results in giving shape to a stray thought and the capture of a long struggle in the final strokes of a painting which brings it to life. The colors which individually look proud and unrelenting but work just as well when combined, the strokes, clear and independent but conveying the weight of an entire thought and the effective disbursement of energy and expertise resulting in raw ideas turning to creative outlets.

Taking cues and inspiration from the Nature around me, the people who shaped me and the experiences which transformed me, the life of an artist is one full of challenges and initiatives. What attracts me to the art of painting is the melange of opportunities it offers. A stroke here and a color there would change the entire way your work is viewed which makes the process of creation exciting. With each day bringing with it a fresh perspective and newer pursuits, it’s no one that every dawn brings a smile to my visage.

A book jacket illustrator:

An avid book reader since childhood who used to be lost in the many details of a novel, the life I lead today is perhaps a natural symmetric progression of my first love of reading: that of a book jacket illustrator. The old adage, “Do not judge a book by its cover”, never holds ground for me for what’s on the cover is only a prelude of what’s to come.

The art of giving someone else's work a face and an identity, the preface to a story and a calling card to the words ingrained in it is filled with enormous opportunities which excite me.

My life revolves around the minutiae and the symbolic, and to decide how best can a story be represented by one image. Something arresting but not overtly so, catchy but not trivial and finally accurate yet mysterious. The soul of the words written conveyed in a simple and effective manner. My work involves reading a book and providing it a single door of communication which will allow people to visualize the magic of what’s inside.

The subterfuge of colors and the solidity of narration are the two main ingredients of my work. My work poses numerous challenges and questions each day, while bringing with it the responsibility of providing a premise to someone else’s labor of love. To visualize a written word and interpret it in a delicate manner and convey thoughts, anecdotes and experiences is an immensely satisfying quest bringing out the best in me.

With something new to look forward from every new book, it brings out facets of my personality in unexpected ways. As every passing day brings with it something unique, it is little wonder that I consider my vocation an extension of myself and not merely a job.

Monday, April 9, 2012

TV Turn off

As someone who has sworn off TV, on a boring Sunday while I was flicking through the channels I was unfortunate enough to catch a two minute travesty which made me glad that I dumped the idiot box. The telecast was that of Nita and Mukesh Ambani’s “private” party for Sachin Tendulkar. Now how the private celebration was aired on National Television is anyone’s guess…but what was remarkable was the inane sycophancy involved. Priyanka Chopra tripping over herself while gushing about Nita and Salman going on and on senselessly…why does glamor and wealth always make us bend backwards? An inherent “class” legacy left by the British is still around and makes it presence felt at such nauseating events. That Sachin was sticking to it was a disappointment but guess even Gods like their adulation…

Riots in Hyderabad and just when we though we got rid of Telangana, we have a new headache, that of a far more dangerous communal riots. With curfew in place its business against for leaders and more worries for us common citizens. With the state the city is, it’s a wonder people are still coming here. Bad roads, terrible governance and a new disturbance every month…Brand Hyderabad.

Was at the fantastic Park Hyatt for a media lunch and was flabbergasted by the Gothic grandeur of indulgence…what was funnier was one of the owners (Rajya Sabha MP Subbirami Reddy) insisting people to check out the “lights” imported from Czechoslovakia. Yes sir, well worth the rumored 400 crores you invested!