Contemplations and Ruminations

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Twice the fun (Christmas decor 2020)

(December 17th, 2020) When there are two homes to decorate the fun is amplified. Here are a few pictures of the Christmas tree and the nativity crib in Chennai home and my hometown. The Ajrakh roof Christmas crib The angel tree topper I made last year… it survived all the squashing away. My brother did say, it looked like it was on steroids. Baby Jesus The tree and crib in Chennai Little paper doily angels… and pinecones. Can you see the elephants in front carrying angels… they add a nice Indian vibe. The crib in my hometown Hometown Christmas Tree The warm lights of Christmas The Nativity tree ornament Here’s a look at last year’s decor, Christmas 2019 . Hope everyone is having a wonderful, safe and blessed Christmas season.

Folktale Week 2020

(November 30th, 2020) Last week I saw some rather captivating images on Instagram under the hashtag of folktale week and I was rather impressed by the mystical and creative work that artists were posting under a folktale prompt, and I decided to give it a shot and see what I could create with the prompts mentioned below. Folktales, or folklores are stories, typically legends or myths, passed on orally and culturally and they usually depict something deeper about the race, people or geographical location from which these fantastical stories originate (I made up my own stories here though). The prompt for day one was Birth, so this is what I drew… a picture of how fairies come into being. All the whimsical longings and yearnings of human beings are collected to create a sweet little fairy that dreams of spreading sunshine and magic when we’re struggling to find our own. Day 2 of the folktale prompt was Ritual, and here’s a mother teaching her child the phases of that celestial ...

My stint with Anosmia

(November 10th 2020) I thought I’d jot this down here, a defining fact of the year 2020 before I forget it with the vagaries of time. It’s November now and about three months back, in July, I lost my sense of smell after a mild bout of fever. I have no idea what I (and a few family members) contacted, but we were all down with mild fever that developed into severe cold and cough for the others, but for me there was no cold or cough or even a sniffle, just a complete and abrupt loss of smell. It was disconcerting initially, everybody was scared and they were talking about testing and I vehemently refused cause I wasn’t unduly sick. It’s a given (atleast for me) that hospitals can cause more harm than good if one runs to them for every small ailment or sickness that the body can easily handle. Of course, my fever had gone by then, only the sudden loss of smell was worrying. And I read that such incidents are quite common and one need not panic and run to hospitals that are already ov...

Is this the society we belong to?

(November 5th 2020) Here’s an article I wrote for the October issue of my church magazine… The month of October is a time to reflect on what Mary and consequently the term ‘Woman’ mean to us. Mary is many things, Mother, Protector, Guiding star, Helper of anyone who calls upon her, and a wonderful Friend and Confidante. And all this rests mainly on her nature as a divine person, it has nothing to do with virginity or the lack of it. She gave birth to Jesus, what if she hadn’t… would she still be holy? Yes, she would, just as you and I are holy, because we all are made in the image and likeness of God and God cannot create something that is substandard. Being the Mother of Jesus, elevated her womanhood and made her one of our most trusted sources of refuge and strength. As I sit here writing this, I am struck by how deep our discord is between the concept of Woman and the way she is perceived in society. The front page of The Hindu newspaper, dated 1st October 2020, depicted two glar...

Another Charcoal Sketch

(October 14th 2020) Charcoal sketching is becoming pretty addictive... A charcoal sketch of Tara J, a writer on instagram… I like her stance, that look of being comfortable in her skin and her hair falling all over her face, which made it easier to draw.

Charcoal Sketching

(October 12th, 2020) Trying out a new medium, charcoal sketching… it is rather captivating, tends to be more fluid than graphite sketching. Eyes that speak... If you’ve seen Stories by Rabindranath Tagore (on Netflix), you’ll know how powerfully captivating his female characters are.Chitrangada Satarupa portrays one such memorable character in one of my favourite stories in the show and when I saw this beautiful picture of hers, I knew I had to capture this pensive moment. What do you think… Just a girl happy to play in a pond… this picture reminds me of my hometown, I miss all the lakes, rivers and our pristine hangout locations.

Sketching and Doodling

(October 9th, 2020) Drew this way back in college... still amazed everytime I see it. A very old drawing, drew it in one of my old practical records from school, notice the punch mark on Jesus’s neck. From that eighteen year old who drew him to this forty year old contemplating him today, I can tell you one thing for certain, He sure came to give life in abundance… and as I sit here typing this out John Denver’s song is playing, You fill up my senses and it seems pretty apt for how beautiful life is because of him. The below picture is a recent sketch, how cool is the action pose... Mandala doodling Another mandala... Drew this long back, when I was in school or college. A recent life drawing sketch Another recent sketch An old drawing, couldn’t draw the rest of her features so just drew a mask like thing… which seems pretty reflective of the times we live in today. This is both a new and an old drawing, I started it long back in college… but couldn’t complete it. I...

The Miracle Boy of Santhi Nialayam

(September 28th, 2020) This is an article I co-authored (for the silver jubilee souvenir) along with the Mother Superior of the special school I used to work in, Santhi Nilayam. I recently spoke to Mother and she gave me the sad news of Nagarajan’s demise and I always feel such special individuals who don’t know how to hate or bear grudges or contempt against another or thine own self will now be more at home in a place where such concepts do not exist. Rest in love Nagarajan, you’ve made us better human beings by showing us how selflessly you embodied love. One fine day in May 1996, a small boy named Nagarajan, son of Mr. Velayutha Perumal and Mrs. Saraswathy, arrived in Santhi Nilayam with his parents. Born in 1980, Nagarajan is the only child of his parents, who realised their son needed special care and sought admission in Santhi Nilayam. Nagarajan was an energetic, smart and affectionate child who had mild mental retardation and slight hearing problems. His enthusiasm was contag...

Lockdown Videos

(August 19th, 2020) What started out as a school assignment to involve family members in a group activity has now become a favourite lockdown activity. I have two left feet when it comes to dancing, but Caleb Marshall, our (lockdown) fitness dance guru makes it look quite easy and dancing to his fitness videos has become a fun ritual every evening. He has brought a lot of joy during this quarantine phase; his energy and enthusiasm is infectious and we’re grateful to Fitness Marshall and his team for all the fun memories we’ve made dancing through a pandemic year.

Sketching After Ages

(Aug 7th, 2020) I used to sketch quite a lot back in school/college, I was always doodling away on my arms, on my desk or in my note books… and somehow along the way, life picked up pace and it all stopped. Now due to the quarantine, I picked up a pencil recently and it feels good to draw after ages. Here are few recent figure sketches/ life drawings… And here's my pretty sketch book.

Detachment, is it viable…

(August 3rd 2020) So my yoga group was discussing the above message, Choiceless Awareness, a term popularized by Jiddu Krishnamurti, an Indian philosopher and writer. They were talking about Brahmam, Atma, sat-chit-ananda and the like and how everything in this world tends to be an illusion, Maya. I’ve had similar conversation with friends many times, about detachment and its probability when one is in human form and how it sounds easy as a concept but quite difficult in principle. Anyway, this is what I wrote in the group… thought of posting it here. Choiceless Awareness as a concept is quite intriguing, but as social beings can one sincerely be without a thought, idea or opinion? Choiceless awareness could serve us well, when we learn to observe the happenings in our immediate environment (low energy events and negative vibes of the people around us) without prejudice or condemnation. Times like this, choiceless awareness can be a way of finding peace in the midst of unnecessary ...

Stole of Bravery

(July 22nd 2020) So this happened two years ago during the long Republic Day weekend when the choir girls had decided to meet up in Madras. We were lunching in Pumpkin Tales on Republic day and Jen and Teenu who used to sit together in class were discussing their school days and how they were always upto no good… they were reminiscing about school and all the mischief they did. So anyway, we ate our food, sang a little birthday ditty for Jen (it was her birthday week) and then we went to a mall to hang out. So while we were trying on clothes, Jen takes a stole and she’s admiring it and since we were just talking about the shenanigans they did in school, I said why don’t you girls flick it. I usually joke like this, and it usually ends in more banter and boisterous laughter. This time, a naughty spark went off in Teen’s eyes and she was like yeah, let’s do it. After that there was no backing down, everybody got into it, like a top level secret mission. We checked if there were camer...

Year Transition 2023 to 2024

Been quite a while since I wrote in here. Atleast once a month I think about writing here, but I lose track of time and before I know it, the year 2024 is already here. Anyway, let's see what I've been upto... Christmas was fun in Chennai. Chennai feels alive in December, there's this magic in the air when the temperature drops. New Year's in my hometown was chaotic; it's ironic how life in the city seems calm and peaceful as opposed to my little hamlet which is always bustling with craziness. Cribs were set up in both the places and I love the crib part of Christmas, it's just so embraceable. As the years go by, more creatures, animals, rocks, things that I find/pick up from different places find their way into the crib and it's beautiful to see them all sitting in a perfect nativity glow. Lots of cakes/brownies were baked and distributed, partied with cousins and friends and of course visited the sacred mountains, fields and seas of home. The ...