the boy who paints portraits

I sit down to paint your portrait
and I cannot,
after studying you slowly
end up thinking
that missing
in my paints
are those intense colours that reflect a rare creature

I can not
capture your smile
recreate your look
but little by little

I think about you

You still return every time
and continue standing there, posing
with a lot of patience
because, and even though my canvas
remains blank

the hours
pass by flying
and very little progress
has gone into your portrait

I suspect
you're in no hurry
and its ok
to see things through little by little

I think about you

Entry. Andrea Ramsey’s Dreambook (Undated)

“There are no futures.
There are only streams of endless possibilities that collapse into one present as we rush head long into them. But even the present is an illusion, slipping from our grasp as we reach for it, becoming the past.
It is only the past that truly exists.
The past that scars our minds with memory.
With reverberations that dictate our lives.
With traces that haunt our eyes till death”.

The interesting things you find in odd places

With all the clutter that has collected between my ears over the past few years, I managed to remember that someone had said that I need to write to clear my head up.
So, will try and clear out the muck and grime by conveniently dumping it here on my blog.

You can use it.
You can ignore it.
You can laugh at it.
You can ignore it.

Till the first dump...

23rd December 2004

She might perplex you,
for a moment,
amaze you the next,
turn you around to face something disgusting,
push you around,
blow smoke in your face,
offer ladoos,
she is around you,
dancing the Thandava at a frenetic pace,
blood pulsing, heart-beat racing,
lazing on a charpoy,
in the bundles at the Thasildar's,
BPOs at midnight, break-neck speeds,
traffic jams, information freeways between paddy fields,
droughts laced with floods, beedis with speed,
brown, tan, white, black,
red, pink, green, saffron, blue,
allah, shiva, buddha, guru, infant jesus
camels, dogs, bullock carts,
her sinewy muscle drawing a plough across a fertile land of more than a billion
the land of contrasts,
the land that is ours,
this is my India,
My mother.
My mother's mother.

[Inspired by "Don't ever loose faith in India..." Sri Ram Goburdhun]

Cubic Tragedy

a 3D comical tragedy with a lady 'trying too hard'

BKF Dhwani 2006

Day 1 pictures:

Kyoorius Designyatra 2006

+ Andy Altman, why not associates. + Nick Bell, Nick Bell Design. + Peter Bi'lak, typotheque. + Neville Brody, Fontfont and Research Studios. + Vince Frost, frostdesign. + Paul Hughes, lava. + Sujata Keshavan, Ray+Keshavan. + Elsie Nanji, Ambience Publicis. + Rajiv Sethi, Asian Heritage Foundation. + Sudhir Sharma, Elephant design.

Paloliem Beach, Goa

Mornings being thirty

Es un peligro levantarse
cierto, cuando ya cumpliste los 30
son los recuerdos que te mandan a la mierda,
Un traguito no mas,
justo para olvidar, para dejar de recordar,
por unos momentos.
No los puede borrar,
son un parte definido de uno.
Por eso debes escuchar tu musica favorita.
Me quedo con mi pata Illayaraja o Miguel Bose.
Y tu? Con quien te levantas?

Synaps - Check This Side Up is out!!

Awesome stuff!. Check them out here. My favorites: 2. My Side Up 4. West Side Difference 6. Freedom 9. The Last Chapter

Morning on a train

Morning welcomes me with fresh smells,
of a million defaecating souls on the fresh dew,
innocently awaiting the cleanser from afar,
struck by a reminder of endless horizons already cluttered,
living off a land that is reluctant to give.
Home has no sweeter meaning right now,
as I smile at the petty thoughts of artistic inclinations,
rotting even before they ripen in my head.
The blue mountains wait, expectant,
wondering if another foster son,
might feel the pangs of a better home.
A heavy door slams my thoughts and those millions shut,
leaving nothing behind,
except for my nostrils filled with fumes and brake dust.

Kyoorius Designyatra 2006

Kyoorius Designyatra 2006 could well be the higlight for this year in Indian graphic design. Its got all the bells and whistles for a belter of an event. With the kind of speakers lined up, think its worth getting the whole 3HEAD design team out there.
The venue is NOT in Goa, but on the edge rather, sorta across the border from Karwar. But from the pictures we've seen, think it looks fancy. The happening Goa looks like a loooong drive from the resort. Well, the team and me will be packing up and getting away from Bangalore hustle-bustle for some madness and debauchery in Goa... sorry, this resort on the course.

Hospet and Hampi in 2 days

George and me visit Hospet & Hampi...

Dancing by the projector

Watched the quarter finals onwards on large screen at home. Yay!
Then used the half-time break to have fun with Vedha and boy did she enjoy it. Its amazing to see what kids can do when given a chance to let go. And they are really good at it.

Who is my neighbour today

I always wanted to click on that link at the top, right corner of my blog.

Got around to it today.
My neighbour (I visualized that we'd somehow be parked next to each other on Blogger.com's server) is this person: www.kabobfest.blogspot.com





But to my surprise (yeah! big surprise), this person wasn't there the next time I hit the button. Maybe he got evicted. Sensitive issues et al. But no, he's still out there on Blogger.com and still posting healthyly. So why are these people moving in next to me and then out the next click? Or am I being moved around. Bloody hell! No time to catch up with the neighbourhood even in the virtual world.

June 8th - World Ocean Day

Whose side are you on?
From Greenpeace.org:
"June 8, World Ocean Day, a chance to celebrate and reflect on the beauty and life of our oceans? No way! It’s the day before the kick off of the Football World Cup and we want YOU to take action. Protect the world’s oceans by getting involved in the event of the year ….Oceans World Cup!
Ever 4 seconds an area the size of 10 football fields is destroyed by deep-sea bottom trawling.
A neat video on Bottom Trawling.

More facts on the effects of deep-sea bottom trawling here.

Never be the same again

The famed Sakleshpur trek route is all but gone. With broad gauge railway lines open now, its a busy stretch. Did the route just before it was opened up. The seemingly short stretch is a hard one on ill equipped teams but its worth the pain. One word - awesome!
More words - I'm proud that my country has green cover (though shrinking) like in the Western Ghats.

Synaps opening for Taxiride

Bangalore, Palace Grounds, it was raining for an hour before the show and the place was packed. With Synaps opening for Taxiride, we had the advantage of walking out if Taxiride didn't make an impression. Ofcourse, they didn't. So we left to down some beer at Windsor Pub.
The guys from Synaps had it bad. They are a pretty tight band and play mostly their own stuff - which is good. But then the crowd didn't take to them thrashing a guitar on stage. Bloody uptight crowd I thought. Then it all fell into place. I hadn't heard them. Then I did. A pansier version of Sound Garden is a close description. So off we went to console ourselves with cold draught and squid rings.
Managed to get hold of 2 pics from this show. Will post a links to their first album songs that I'm trying to upload.

Synaps @ The Forum

Synaps rocking Bangalore again! Pictures are from the show at The Forum.
Pictures from the 2nd June show @ Palace Grounds next. Will also try and upload a clip from their first album. BTW they had a surprise up their sleeve. :-)

por ser quien soy

Soraya Raquel Lamilla Cuevas
(March 11, 1969 – May 10, 2006)