The Road to Painting

As a teenager in my school days I always dreamt of being a creative person. There was always an urge to create something that will belong solely to me. The quest of creativity began early in my life, when I started to make doodles drawing haphazard lines all over white sheets, wherever I came across them. I joined an art school and took baby steps to filling up human caricatures with crayon pencils. I then graduated to water colour painting thus brushing the canvas with strokes of emotions or sometimes infusing a new breath of life in the whiteboard. There was never a moment of dullness in life. A spray of colours spread all over causing them spilling joy and warmth all over my mind.

 

The relationship of art with me is that of a colour with water, which when mixed gives birth to something which one hasn’t seen before. With each stroke of the brush, there are thousands and lacs of dreams that are born. Dreams that take you to unseen places with the surroundings where you desired to be. Your hand is the sailor who sails the ship through scenic routes and takes it to its desired destination.

Art is a form of self-expression. It rests the flying mind to a halt thereby focusing all the creative energies to one place. There are no limits and no full stops. The road to painting is unending and full of surprising stops. It even lets you change the direction of the road with that one single stroke.

Today, after a long hiatus of five years, I am going to start painting again. Excited and elated I am. Let’s see what comes out of these hands that were left abandoned to writing for few years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Growing Up with rains

Nostalgic Rains

The pitter patter outside reminds me of my childhood memories. The russet sky reminds me of the poem which my grandmother used to recite as I sat in her lap.  I remember the aroma of the potato fries and the many other delicious edibles which were prepared in our house on the eve of first monsoon. Ignoring the sight of elders once I eloped from the house with my cousins to enjoy the rains. Boats, muds, football, climbing mango trees; we did everything we could followed by a cold cough and high fever when we returned home.

 

Romantic Rains

School days weren’t different either. Rain was a good reason that helped me to skip a day in the class, but not every time, because it was on a rainy day when I met with my first puppy love. She was all wet and look scared in her big tinted black glass. With a big umbrella I went up to her and asked, “You can come with me if you want.” Skeptical at first, she sighed a bit, thought for a while and then gave the final nod.

 

Creative Rains

Who said it was only in isolation and a quaint place where a writer could express his or her thoughts? The constant dripping sound made by the rains strike a chord in the inner mind, urges you to pick up that pen and start scribbling words. You can pen down a philosophical thought about life, write a poem or can also start humming a song – such is the power of rains as it helps to pour in all the creative thoughts.

 

In the constant humdrum of our lives, rains splash our minds with its beautiful drops of joy. Happy Monsoon!

 

A Booky Affair

It’s Saturday afternoon. The clock says 11:00 a.m. The sun has decided to take a toll on the homo sapiens. A hot wind blows through, bringing in the loo with itself. Deep lines of sweat appear on the forehead of shopkeepers  who are about to open their trade for the day. I move a few steps further and it seems as if I have entered the high-street fashion zone and why not this is Khan Market. A number of street shops, sport the latest trendy garments as if saying to the window shopper, ‘I can add the zing to your look’. A Lamborghini zooms by making it my first view of the sports car in the city.

Before I get distracted by the glitz and glamour of the place, I finally find my destination – Café Turtle. Hidden between numerous street shops and bars, it’s rather easy to find this book reading café of South Delhi.  As I enter the Café, an ocean of books greets me and arouse the bookworm inside me. Fiction, Non-Fiction, Sci-Fi, Historical books occupy the shelves. Ignoring the curious looks of the books, I made my way through the stairs to the reading Café.

White, Yellow and Orange colors adorn the walls. The peppy background music adds to the ambience of the Cafe. A young boy in his mid 20s is deeply engrossed in a book. Besides him, an elderly couple is enjoying an Iced Cappuccino. I take a window seat that offers a picturesque view of the world outside. As I peep through the window my attention falls on the beer bottles that have been beautifully recycled into flower pots. My attention shifts on the books that are beautifully kept on a small hanging shelf. Quotes from famous writers and paintings add to the ambience.

You can either pick up a book from the bookstore or can write a one sitting in the Café. But what makes Turtle Café the perfect place to give your creative mind a toss? Well, it is the ambience. The quaint and calm atmosphere in spite of visitors pouring in will still keep you engaged in your work and won’t divert your mind.  You can immerse in deep thoughts for your next literary piece, chat with anyone who is a reading buff while enjoying sumptuous food.

A mix of old world charm with a bit of sophistication, Café Turtle is the ultimate place to spend your literary time.