Colors of Nature

All of us have a bit of 'artist' within. Be it a delicious dish we make or the way we keep our house ... it's all about art. Art has always inspired us in all it's forms ... pictures, paintings, sculptures, dance, music or drama .... an artist lives all his life in the world of creativity. Capturing colors of life on a Canvas has always been a tough job for me, for my threshold experience in painting.

Still it interests me so much that I can't resist sometimes picking a new canvas board and stroking brushes on it. Last night, a lotus lake landscape was keeping my interests up and high. Thus, when I started this painting I actually felt that it is more than a painting if we think of it. The first step was ofcourse making blocks for lake (water) and the banks of the lake. It was a bit mechanical. Then I stopped looking at the original and my brush strokes started listening to my mind and not my eyes. My mind said ... why not some reflections of floral creepers in the lake? Often stagnant lakes are dense, dirty with beautiful lillies and lotuses. Thus, I introduced some lotuses. Though I painted only white and pink lotuses, they arrayed many shades of colors. The water looked still! I sensed that even a stagnant lake can be so colorful ... it can have shades of green leaves immersed as well as growing upwards ... only dirty water can be a bed for lotuses, right?

When Sun radiates and reflects on the water, new colors associate with water such as yellow and orange, and even white! Banks of lakes are often very messy to walk on ... but when viewed, they look so beautiful, the grass taking the direction of breeze and immersing itself in the lake to fill it's thirst.

There are many colors in nature that we can observe. Nature in all it's form reflect serenity. A close watch on the colors of nature can rejunuvate our mind. Remember, everyday Nature has something to offer us everyday, so watch it everyday and if you can 'capture it' too!

This lotus lake painting I did gave me immense satisfaction, my teacher was definitely my mind that had captured lakes I have watched 'some time back in my life ...', I look forward to be a key observer of Nature if I want to be a true Artist ...

Woh Kaagaz Ki Kashti Woh Baarish Ka Paani ...

Today's mornings Rain reminded me of my childhood ... of those cozy malnaad days ... many of those days I spent on those wet wood logs of Hunsoor (near Mysore/Madikeri) reading Amar Chitra Katha.

Rain not only brings us fresh moods but also makes us remember those lovely moments we spent in while it rained as kids. First song that comes in my mind 'Woh Kagaz Ki Kashti, Woh Baarish ka Paani' ... how lovely one has written this song and how well Jagjeet Singh has rendered it. I often remember Mummy sending Teju or Seema to call me back home, I would get down carefully from those slippery logs and get back home. If my mom wanted to ensure I reach home before it rains heavily, I would ensure my cats and dogs are warm and dry inside the house. House cats specially needed that attention, they knew they had to get in but still would not rush till I called them myself. Everytime it rained, my Mom would take help of my elder sisters to chop onions very small with many green chillies and make hot 'Uppittu'. We would always crave for second serve, perhaps even today I can't find anyone else who has made 'Uppittu' as tasty as Mummy made. We would enjoy watching it rain through our window, even when it stopped, we enjoyed watching rain drops on those red roses of our garden. Rainy moments were a part of our daily life, all those who have lived in Malnaad will say this. People walk and go to work or school .. rain or no rain. Making paper boats, sometimes special shark boats were equally exciting. Today we have so many other means of getting happy, but can anything be as lovely as those moments of making paper boats with sisters? Can our valley be as green as what we saw as kids after it rained? With increasingly busy life, plastic thrown everywhere, trees cut everywhere and so many tall glass buildings ... will we ever get back our garden city charm back? I wonder!

Rimjhim Gire Saawan is perhaps the best song to listen to on a rainy day ... I look forward to listen to this song today, as no one can touch my heart and create rain-romance mood as Kishore Kumar did.

Small things of daily life ...

Our daily life has to offer us a bit of everything ... be it joy or sad instances. However only the gist of the most impacting instance of a given day we end up remembering on some other day of life. I believe, making a note of small things that bring us 'small happiness’ too helps.
As I woke up today, I realized it was not my cell phone alarm that woke me up. It was actually a Nightingale bird who woke me up. She was singing so beautifully that I could got tempted to hear her with more conscious in me. Her every note of the song represented her happiness upon the sunset and her enthusiasm to start the day. Her song was so soothing for my mind, the same experience one goes through when a classical tune is heard.
Then when I make my coffee, Kitty and Panda say they are hungry. Once they are fed, they give endless entertainment ... playing, scratching, purring and even sometimes sitting in a mud pot and watching our lotus tank. The Aroma of coffee in my nostrils, a blissful moment of watching my cats play and now and then giving attention to nightingale's song made the moment very memorable. Other small birds too made their presence felt as they come and swing on our hibiscus trees ... sucking hibiscus flowers and singing in chorus for the Nightingale.
Every morning is different ... each day the Sun reflects a different shade of yellow as he sets on the sky, each day of summer the nightingale sings a new song ... and every day my cats play a different game. Only we, the people rush to start our routine without relishing these moments. Small things, detailed observations over small things give us so much happiness ... this state of mind can kick-off my day for best results from me. After all, happiness is a state of mind and in our mind when such small happiness gets recorded ... we are bound to feel more refreshed about life!

Tuxi, Tutu, Brownie, Bushy ... My Wonder Cats!

Always, there is a 'wrong notion' about cats in India. 7 out of 10 say, 'I hate cats ... they bring bad omen, they are selfish' and rest 2 will say, 'yeah cats are ok ... but I love dogs, don't you love dogs?' and there is this 1 last person like me (perhaps) who will say 'Cats are so cuteeeee'. I am not saying everyone in this world should love cats as I do, but definitely I would like to say, respect all animals and have compassion for them. If you don't feel for them, who will?
My passion for cats has been there from the time I started seeing things in this world. There was a 'mother cat' we used to call it 'taayi bekku' gifted to my Dad by his close friend 'Abbas uncle'. She was very dignified, polite and homely. I have been with cats since then. It was always 'Cats first' and 'School next'. Not that I did not have other pets, historically my parents had kept rabits, deers and even leopard cubs. Thanks to my dad's profession, as a Forest Officer he was not only committed to protect trees, he also had compassion for animals - wild or domestic. We had 2 dogs - Tiggy and Twinky ... both of them were so dear to us that loosing them was most bitter experiences. Somewhere, a young me thought 'I can't cry again in my life like this for another dog ... I can't be this emotionally drained for a dog' ... perhaps Tiggy and Twinky remained as the last pet dogs in our lives. I shall cover some other day, a detailed blog on both of these wonderful personalities, both of these wonderful friends I had.
After seeing many different cats like 'biliya' (white one), 'kariya' (black one), 'gunda' (round one) I had almost experienced several cat personalities. After my marriage to Srinath, it was very comforting to realize he too dotes on cats. One of our first cats after our marriage was 'Tuxi' (a short form of name Tuxedo). He was very fat, old and tabby in appearance. He was very dignified and never asked for a cup of milk when I was making Aloo paratha's ... his parience was enduring. Only a few days with us, once we saw him limping with a bit of pain in his leg. After that day, we never found him ... even today, he remains as 'Dignified Cat' we ever had, we think very high of him.
I was looking for a full time cat for our home, thus my search ended when I spotted this white bushy tailed stray cat. He was hungry and happy to see an enthusiastic pet lover like me. I actually walked 200 ft to keep some milk for him from my house. He would gulp milk very fast and run away. This happened almost for about 6 months and finally he entered our house. He did not mind me or Srinath or my in-law touch him too. He was so lovely, so majestic in appearance. He had only one weakness of fearing of others who visited our house. Often he relished curd rice and he ensured we cook rice for him early morning, that too regularly. He chased off almost all other cats who visited our house like 'Tutu' (Tuxi's Two, a look alike of Tuxi) and 'Brownie', a wonderful stray kitten.
Sadly, during one of my trips to Indonesia ... he passed away after he had some injuries. Srinath and my inlaws tried hard to save him, but ... he never returned to die in isolation.
Bushy will remain in our hearts for ever for his strange qualities like 'possessive about his domain', 'gracious and good looking', 'had a passion for a multicolored lady cat' and also 'his love for home cooked curd rice'. My in-law shed tears ... but something in me said, I can't break down .. I must be strong to take this moment of loss.
After we moved into our new house, one fine day Srinath agreed to take me to CUPA, so that we adopt a cat. The feeling was lovely and I wanted a little grown up tom cat. To my surprise, In CUPA, I actually met my dream cat ... my second 'Bushy'. He was beige in color with bushy tail, hungry for love. He had enough good food available there like fish, milk and other grains but what he craved for was 'love and attention'. He hugged me and never left me from that moment. Bushy's home coming brought back our lost happiness ... he was everything, a centre of attraction in our house. Like other cats, he broke an umbrella, a telephone instrument, some crockeries and we praised him for that! He was so creative in his games, we often played hide and seek. I also loved it when he behaved like a kid, pampared with attitude!! Bushy fell in love as he came to his teens with 'kitty', for his love life sake we even adopted Kitty. Bushy and Kitty spent many good moments together ... but like it happens with any other pet, it either disappears or dies, this time ... he disappeared. His loss can never be componsated, for the very personality he was .... so different from other cats. He was emotional, cute, good looking, loving, intelligent, full of attitude and a real fish foodie. Many other cats will come in my life, in future ... but I know for sure ... I can never share the kind of rapport I shared with Bushy - II. Bushy was more than a cat to me ... he loved me endlessly and in my life, he remained number one priority. Bushy ... I hope you are alive and doing well, no one can fill your space. Love you.
Today, we have Kitty and her kitten Panda with us ... life goes on ...

My First Blog 7th May 2008

Well, this is my first blog! I've heard a lot about this .... specially offlate ... supposedly a place where we pen information we have or narrate some of our experiences, etc.
I could not think of a better Blog title than 'Thoughts & Experiences', simply because I am either seeing, feeling or thinking ... all about our thoughts and our experiences. Alas!
I am neither a writer nor a very well read person, I am just passionate about everything good in life. Be it animals (specially cats) or flowers or paintings or music, I love them all. I have a lot to share on things am passionate about, hopefully I do it with this net space/blog.
Today I believe I have found a medium to be creative, a space I ever wanted to put my thoughts and experiences on internet. With this happy note, I end for now ... My First Blog!