For the love of Art-our first painting class

This is in continuation to my earlier post “For the love of Art”… for those who had been waiting to read the sequel to my earlier post, apologies for the delay! The lazy me, office, home and most importantly, sponsored posts and contests tried their best to keep this post away…but I ain’t that bad a blogger, I keep my promises…

So here we go…

Was it the love for Mr. Hubby or the hatred for my poor drawing skills that convinced me, I don’t know, but the following Sunday, we packed whatever art material we had (just in case we were asked to begin painting with acrylics the same day! Lol!) and zoomed for our class. My condition throughout the drive was that of a kid going to a dentist who asks his mother “will it pain?”…I too kept asking Mr. Hubby, “U sure na I can do it?” And just like the mother assures it won’t pain much, he too assured me I would easily learn to paint with finesse.

All that convincing dashed for the trash bin when we entered the class…for our classmates ranged from 3 to 12 year olds! As the teacher welcomed us, I gave Mr. Hubby a quick “I will kill you” look and he gave me a helpless smile. I was certain the paints and the pencils will continue to rest inside the boot of the car, as this would be a kiddo type class…which meant this was my first and last class, which meant no more painting without the blame on me! Woohoo!

The teacher, who was younger than us, it seems had other plans…

He began by showing us around the whole area and reading my face, even told me that the students range from small kids to housewives and senior citizens! Lovely canvasses decorated in acrylic donned the walls of our classroom. There were also some very interesting sculptures (one even in the shape of a sharpener made with granite!) and the teacher told us those were part of an exhibition recently concluded.

The more artwork he showed the more I feared, for it became clear the class wasn’t meant to be just simple drawing and painting.  I could see a teenager painting stuff that I can never even imagine myself trying in the wildest of dreams. Mr. Hubby however, was completely at ease and I marvelled at the way he discussed stuff like modernism, cubism, works of Monet, Constable, Picasso etc. with the teacher.

We were soon assigned our first task – to do a still life in pencil of two pots and a glass bottle placed on a table.

the prop

Now, you might wonder, what is so tough about making a pot or two? But lemme tell you it is far tough than it seems – getting the entire finer details and shading right (even the glass!) by using just pencil!

Within minutes I realized not only was I a bad painter but also a terrible one at simple drawings. I couldn’t just get 2 simple pots on a large sheet right! If the left of the pot got too curvaceous, the right one was lesser curvaceous. I sat staring at the blank sheet in frustration feeling stuck, somewhat like Pie in The Life of Pie…in the middle of nowhere!

Just half an hour had passed which meant I had to go through the ordeal for another 1 ½ hours! Since we were first timers and adults, we attracted kids; they occasionally peeped from behind at what we were drawing. As I sat tortured, I saw a hyper enthusiastic Mr. Hubby already done with his drawing and asking the teacher for shading tips. 

The teacher praised him for his work and gave me a funny look, yet reassured me in a friendly tone, “It’s your first time, relax…some patience and you will get it right. Look at that girl, she has been painting that setup for a month now and only now is it near completion.” Patience? I was almost in tears and cursed myself for being so impulsive. “Why did I impulsively go for something that requires so much patience? A painting even takes months to complete and here I am hoping to get a perfect still life in an hour! That’s why I love blogging. Atleast at the end of an hour, I have a post ready and uploaded!”

I remembered the art room of my school, it too had similar still life set ups with perfect spot lights and students working passionately for hours getting them right in paint. I had often laughed at them for being so super vellaaa and here I was. Anyway, I soon realised it made no sense sitting idle as I would be the laughing stock of the classroom if my sheet didn’t look any different after 2 hours!

So I began to try, rubbing and drawing, with a frequent eye on Mr. Hubby’s sheet and another on my watch! I had decided it would be my last class, but didn’t want to look a loser at my maiden attempt. 

They say art is something that requires immense concentration! And here was me! Sweat, hunger, thirst, urge to check my phone, nature’s call…my mind was full of everything but concentration!

Once a blogger, always a blogger! Soon, it occurred to me that these painting classes can give me good fodder for my blog…imagine a separate tab of posts containing my experiences from being a horrible to a great artist! While struggling with my first sketch, I even started imagining the content of some posts!

A tall shadow got me back to the class! The teacher was standing there, smiling and looking at my sketch. I looked at the watch…time up….”Not bad, he said, your drawing is decent, but you need to work on the shading part…Don’t worry, a sketch a day and you will improve in a week’s time!”.

A sketch a day? Did I hear him right? I am a living pendulum between kitchen and living room when at home, and he expects me to make a sketch a day?

He praised Mr. Hubby for his detailed and clean art work and advised him more practice. As I sat in the car, I announced it was my first and last class. “Why?” a shocked Mr. Hubby asked me. I narrated him the entire story in a cranky childlike tone. But he was quick and clever to get the deal of my interest. He sounded super enthusiastic about my idea of a series of posts on my painting classes. He even offered to treat me to Mc Donald’s burger after every painting class! (hehe…) and encouraged me by praising my efforts and perseverance. Art is about trying and exploring and he sounded certain that with practice and time, I too would get it right…

I had thought it to be my first and last class…

But the person who said change is the only constant had some brains after all!

Two months have since passed and I look forward to my art classes now…initially it was for the Mc Donald’s treat but now it is truly for the love of art! I am surprised at how an impatient me can feel so comfortable with drawing…so much that I have tried out portraits as well!

my first still life

Me wonderzzz…

That’s life…a pandora’s box…we don’t know what lies inside…well, a lot of beautiful stuff does…we just need to explore with an open mind!

From still life to outdoors to portraits to watercolours, Mr. Hubby and I have happily gone through the metamorphosis. But it hasn’t been a smooth one for me…specially the day we were taken to a park and asked to do outdoors in pencil! Wanna know what happened next? Well, will tell you in my next post “For the Love of Art – our first outdoor”

 

Wear your attitude!

Ambi Pur mini vent clip…chhotaa pack badaa dhamaal!

Whenever mom in law goes out of Delhi, Mr. Hubby and I get into a total bachelor mode! Now I don’t mean to sound mean coz the same me also calls her numerous times a day with excuses just because I miss her. You see, all moms are amazing but in the bouquet of care also comes a long list of do’s and don’t’s. And thanks to the caring mom in law I have, the list of don’ts is a bit too long.

So the last time she went to visit her sister, Mr. Hubby and I planned a night out with our gang of friends. Music, masti, dhamaal and lots of good food! Since ma tries her best to keep us away from the “unsafe” street food, her absence was the best time to gorge on that!

You see, we Dilliwaalaas are very style conscious. We might gorge on the local rolls on the street but we like to do it in style. So, every evening you will Dilliwaalas enjoying street food in the comfort of their a/c cars dumped…oops parked near the roadside eateries.

All was perfect that night, till about 10pm, when a call on Mr. Hubby’s phone got us all freaked out. It was a call from his boss. He had called up to inform him of his arrival the next morning. An important issue had to be discussed with the client and he wanted Mr. Hubby to pick him from airport so they could discuss the plan before meeting the client.

We took one look at our car, bits of chips, onion rings, chutney and other food items scattered on the seat and floor. Even if I cleaned up the mess, the smell would tell the tale of the night out to the boss. “I will take a cab instead to pick boss, though I hate giving directions to the cabbie” Mr. Hubby said with a sad face.

“Sprinkle a strong perfume! The smell will go” a friend suggested. “But it will be gone by the time I reach the airport, and would perhaps get on my head before the boss.” Mr. Hubby junked the idea.

However, the dumb suggestion had rung the bell in my mind, and reminded me of the Ambi Pur mini vent clip sample I had received few days back. “Don’t worry, I have something that will turn the smell to smile. Relax” I said with a smile.

Mr. Hubby was up early next morning and was still upset to see the remains of last night in the car. While I had the car all cleaned up, the smell refused to vacate the premises, just like troublesome tenants refusing to vacate the house!

I opened the clip and fixed it in the car. “Can this small packet do what a strong perfume cannot?” Mr. Hubby was still doubtful. “Rest assured. Ambi Pur is especially designed to eliminate bad odour and not merely mask it. Don’t worry, the smells will be all gone by the time you reach the airport.” I reassured him.

A smiling Mr. Hubby came to pick me from work that evening. As I sat inside the car, it felt like some other world to which I was transported. Not even a trace of the smells which could speak of last night. “So, did your boss smell something fishy?” I giggled and asked Mr. Hubby. “Smell? Oh, he was all smiles…in the evening, on his way back to airport, he even asked me what perfume do we use inside our car as he found it very relaxing.” He said. “And what about the smell?” I asked “No smell, only smiles…we got the deal done! “

The deal was done for me too, for my chhotaa clip had indeed managed the badaa dhamaal!

This post is written for the Ambi Pur mini vent clip contest by Ambi Pur and Indiblogger. Ambi Pur, from our very own P&G has come up with an entire range of air fresheners to transform your driving experience from smelly to smiley. Available in five exciting shades - New Zealand springs, Lavender comfort, Sky Breeze, Light Citrus and Thai Dragon fruit! Do try and escape into freshness whenever you drive!!!

Mind Rocks youth summit, Delhi 2013 – a rocking experience that made my day

There are some moments in our life that give us immense joy…moments that are remembered forever. For me, Mind Rocks 2013 summit Delhi was one day full of pleasant experiences that I will never forget.

Waking up early in the morning on a lazy Saturday and reaching the venue at 8.30am seemed a task to me. But when I reached Siri Fort auditorium, I was amazed to see the swarm of youngsters at the registration desk, eagerly waiting to be let in. Once in, counters distributing the goody bag and food coupons welcomed us. Munching my donut, sandwich and sipping the flavoured milk, me and my blogger friends quickly surveyed the goodies inside the yellow sling bags…tummy full and bags full, we were all smiles as we entered the auditorium. And inside, the best surprise awaited us…bloggers had been allotted special seats in the front! “Wow! That means we can watch Farhan Akhtar & Virat Kohli that close!”, the three of us echoed in excitement!

Rocking Start

The auditorium was full of young power, students, professionals; all awaited the event to begin. India Today surely knew how to energize the crowd on a boring morning. So when the winner of Mind Rocks Be a rockstar contest, rock band Antriksh began their performance, the thump of the drums and resonance of the guitar strings had the crowd swaying.

The performance was followed by welcome address by Kaveree Bamzai, Editor, India Today. We were eagerly waiting to catch a glimpse of our favourite youth icons…

Sportsmanship at its best with Leander Paes

When Kunal Pradhan, Deputy Editor, India Today, introduced the first youth icon for the day, Leander Paes, our eyes went wide with excitement. For not only was Leander looking super fit and dashing but the humbleness in his tone and the simplicity with which he spoke bowled us over! He shared the story of his childhood, his passion for the game, his struggle in the journey to success and his zest for life that keeps him going. He had mentioned he goes for any event only when he believes in it and his quotes did prove that. “If you can handle triumph and disaster at the same time, then let’s play the game and play it hard”...good words flowed until the buzz of the siren signaled it was time for the next session.

Bhangra with the rap queen

We were wondering who next and suddenly RJ Aparshakti Khurana from Oye 104.8 FM announced Hard Kaur! Hard Kaur, with her bindaas attitude and witty answers was an instant hit with the crowd. The story of a simple girl of Indian origin, Taran Kaur Dhillon making it big in the male dominated UK rap industry had us all impressed, while her impromptu bhangra and rap with the crowd had us all pleased. “Nobody is a superstar, skills come first”, was her mantra before the siren went buzz for the next session.

The fruit of risk taking

Dhruv Shringi, co-founder and CEO, yatra.com spoke about the importance of failures in ones life and how the disappointments are just a catalyst to propel you to work harder towards your goal. He called the story of his life, his meandering ways – from his stint with entrepreneurship to his MBA from Insead, from the aftermath of 9/11 on his career to the life changing decision he took after being fired….he shared it all as budding entrepreneurs in the crowd heard with attention. “Don’t be afraid to take risk. You don’t know what will happen until you try it out. Seize the opportunity with conviction, focus and self belief” was his mantra.

Crime not age

If you thought Mind Rocks was just about fun, well, MindRocks also creates awareness in the youth about their rights and duties. The next session, crime and age spoke about the need for amendment in the juvenile justice act, in the wake of the Nirbhaya Gang Rape case. Dr. Kiran Bedi began the session explaining some eye opening facts about the juvenile justice act to create awareness amongst the youth. Despite being the icon that she is, she hit an instant connection with the youth when she said “Dil ki baat hoti hai to Hindi mein hi nikalti hai!” Gul Panag shared her concerns about women safety and earned a housefull of applauds when she questioned people naming their shops “Gulab Chand and sons” and not “Gulab Chand and daughters”while Nishta Gautam got us all emotional with her heart touching poem on the Nirbhaya Gangrape case. 

A panel discussion on juvenile justice act followed with focus on the need to amend the act so that crime, not age becomes the topmost priority in the eyes of law.

The appearance of Nirbhaya’s parents at the summit was a real emotional moment and many tears flowed as the parents spoke about how the act should be amended to punish true offenders who get unfair protection by the tag of being a juvenile. They also unveiled India Today’s campaign on juvenile justice act amendment “Crime not age”

How I wrote my first book

Author of the famous “Shiva Trilogy”, Amish Tripathi was next youth icon on stage. Taking us through his journey towards his first book, Amish spoke about how self belief, focus and being pragmatic helped him achieve success in his field. “Be open to questioning and stay focussed” was his mantra.

First Time Voters, critical elections

The next session was a real stormy one. For the panel included representative each from the major contending parties for the assembly elections – Deepender Singh Hooda from Congress, Mr. Sanjeev Kaul from BJP and Arvind Kejriwal from AAP. It was a real treat to hear the three of them talking about their commitment to improve the state of affairs and at the same time, telling their party to be better than the other two. Rahul Kanwal as the moderator was at his best, sometimes throwing the perfect question to get the Netas talking and also to cease fire whenever someone went overboard. The icing of the cake was when Arvind Kejriwal stepped to give his speech…for the crowd went bursting with enthusiasm as Slogans like “Bharat Mata ki Jai” echoed the venue.

Pet Pooja

Rain started by the time we were out for lunch and between the hide and seek that the raindrops played, we gorged on the spread laid especially for the young delegates. It was also time to tag our facebook profiles with the Mind Rocks hashtag and some picture posing with the mind rocks placards.

The real youth icon

Lunch was followed by an award ceremony to felicitate a young icon who worked to educate herself and others in her village and also took initiatives to create awareness about various social issues in her village. To our horror, our reserved seats had been grabbed by some college kids and negotiation skills were tested big time as we convinced them to get our seats back.

Chance pe dance with Lauren and Salman

The girls went ooh and the guys went aah as Salman and Lauren entered the stage and had the crowd rocking with their “perfect” lift and dance moves. They even obliged some enthusiasts from the crowd to join them for the dance moves while others danced in their seats. It was fun to see Lauren try Bhangra moves with much enthusiasm. She came across as someone very cute and friendly yet focussed. “Never give up, always push towards your goal” was her mantra.

Virat Kohli!!!

When Virat Kohli entered the stage, it was as if the whole auditorium was on wild fire. Jumps, shouts, shrieks, the crowd when ballistic with excitement. But that didn’t deter Virat, who shared how he learnt the right way from his mistakes. It was really inspiring to hear him talk about the rough patch when he was expelled from the Indian team. However, instead of sulking about it, Virat was positive enough to keep practicing and got back to his form, earning much appreciation and fame. “Stay determined, stay focussed, stay yourself” was his mantra.

Love, life and Relationships

After success tips by Virat Kohli, it was time to discuss love and relationships with Aditi Rao Hydari. However, more than the session on relationships, it turned out to be a session on Aditi herself. While RJ Aparshakti kept throwing requests for song, dance and her personal life, Aditi too was very sweet as she interacted with the crowd. Though it seemed her outfit was making a bit uncomfortable for her to dance so she tried her best to perfect the repetitive moves. A small contest followed where 3 guys from the crowd were asked to write a post card expressing their feelings to Aditi and the best one chosen by Aditi won a prize.

Stay Hungry, stay smart

Ajay Bijli of PVR cinemas shared his story from a boy who loved to watch movies in Priya cinema to the entrepreneur who revolutionized the entire experience of cinema theatres. From his favourite PVR theatre to getting the latest technology to viewers, his session was a real interesting one.

Icing on the cake

The last session was the session I had been awaiting all day long. And perhaps the whole lot of others too. For when Farhan Akhtar came on stage, the crowd went uncontrollable. The moderator Kallie Puri had to try hard to get the crowd calm so that Farhan could speak. Me and my blogger friends were just speechless, capturing every moment in our eyes, with a wide smiles on our faces. Farhan spoke about his passion for cinema that pushes him to try something new every time. His passion was evident from the fact that in childhood he watched a film everyday before going to school (and wake up early morning to watch the movie). With a great sense of humor, Farhan took on the house. The crowd couldn’t help but ask for more of Farhan and he too gladly performed a song and dance with the crowd.

After a day full of sessions, it was time to unwind. Hard Kaur took on to the stage and the crowd grooved to her performance on popular numbers.

Meeting so many youth icons on a single day was like a real dream come true, a magic box of celebs. Thanks India Today for making the day so special and the opportunity to be among the official bloggers for the event! 

You can catch highlights of the event at

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/youthsummit/delhi/2013/

Book Review – Beaten by Bhagath!

Author - S.V. Divvaakar

Publisher – Frog Books

Pages – 193

Price – Rs. 125

Sneak preview from the book –

They went to the same college,

Even stayed in the same room,

One saw his popularity zoom,

The other sank into depths of gloom.

Their books, they had the same grace

They ran together, the same race.

One rose to the sky and became a star;

One crashed and burned, with a lifelong scar…

My View –

We bloggers and writers are a crazy lot – we cherish and adore our writings, almost like mothers adoring their children. Every appreciation gives us a high which spirals our enthusiasm to new heights. Sometimes so high in our dreams, expectations and aspirations, that when we open our eyes, the real world hurts. Welcome to the world of writing!

Beaten by Bhagath was a refreshing change from the boring and predictable stuff floating around these days. Every reader nurtures a desire to write his own story someday. Every writer longs for that one break that changes his fate forever. But is the journey to the top as easy as it seems?

Well, welcome to the world of Mr. BB, an executive in a reputed international consulting firm. A comment by his attractive boss one day introduces him to a talent he had comfortably forgotten – writing. Especially, when the boss tells BB he can write better than Ketan Bhagat, BB’s college friend turned celeb writer, BB’s mind goes googly woosh with dreams of him becoming a famous writer! And so begins BB’s struggle – Skimming through all the reigning bestsellers in the market, then penning down his own story. With his labour of love ready, it seems to BB that battle is half won. Poor soul, few emails later realizes that all is not crisp and clear in the world of sparkling pages decorated with words in ink!

And that’s when the book becomes a real page turner (in BB’s own words!). BB’s struggle at each step – the rejection from Publishers, publicity, readership is a real eye opener for anyone dreaming to see his writings published. A real eye opener to the big world of publishing, where survival is just not about how you write, it’s a lot more about how you promote.

A half fulfilled dream is worse than no dream at all. And BB too falls prey to his passion – to beat his old friend Bhagat, in his maiden attempt. It’s both funny and sad to see the extent to which BB goes, just to give his failing aspirations some life support. His wife though remains supportive throughout and the bubble of her anger bursts only when she figures her hubby has blown up everything to get a failed book living!

BB too realizes his mistake, but only after trying and failing every possible way. Sometimes the extent of damage makes the loss irreparable.

Is he able to get the broken pieces together, is he able to give a fresh life to his dream? Well, then grab your copy now!

The author has maintained a good pace throughout and you can almost imagine each and every incident happening in front of your eyes. Its only towards the last few chapters that you smell a sort of impatience to wind up the book. Plot changing incidents covered in few pages, well that could have been better. But alls well that ends well, and when I flipped the last page over, the book had left me with some learnings about aspirations and our attitude towards them.

Recommended for anybody who writes or aspires to write, for the author has done a great job at taking the readers through the arduous journey a book travels from the author’s mind to the reader’s wow!

About the author 

S.V. Divvaakar, an IIT Delhi alumnous & an international Monitoring and Evaluation specialist also dabbles into music, singing, and blogging. This is his second novel.

The book was received as part of Reviewers Programme on The Tales Pensieve.

Get rocking with MindRocks!

A successful nation is the one that unleashes the power of its youth and channelizes it for development. Youth has the power to make the impossible possible, the spirit to strive for a better tomorrow, the courage to stand up for what is right and the brains to think and innovate.

Recognizing the potential of the Indian youth and giving them a platform to express their opinion, India Today Group organizes Mind Rocks youth summitevery year. Since its inception in 2010, Mind Rocks celebrates the spirit of youth through ideas, music and art. The forum brings together youth and their icons, and when so many great brains get together under one roof, the flow of ideas is simply inspiring! While the icons share their success stories and tips, the youth share ideas bubbling in their mind. There are contests, performances, forums, lots of like minded people – all the ingredients for a perfect youth event!

Last year, Mind Rocks Summit in Delhi saw youth icons like Priyanka Chopra, Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Kanwal, Mary Kom, Imtiaz Ali and many others who shared the stories of their struggle to success. There were views, Q&A, contests and a rocking performance by Indian Ocean. You can read a snapshot of last year’s event here.

This year too, India Today is all set for a spectacular summit. The recent summit at Kolkata was a huge success with the likes of Chetan Bhagat, Brett Lee, Irrfan Khan and many others share their success tips. You can read the details of the event here.

The summit promises to recreate the same magic in Delhi on September 21, 2013 at Sri Fort Auditorium.

The speakers include icons who have made their mark early in their respective fields –

Virat kohli – Vice Captain, Indian Cricket team

Hard Kaur – British Indian Rapper & Hip Hop singer

Farhan Akhtar – Actor, Producer & Director

Mahi Vij – TV Actor & Model

Jay Bhanushali – TV Actor, Dancer & Anchor

Dr Kiran Bedi – Former IPS Officer & Social Activist

Amish Tripathi – Author

Ajay Bijli – Chairman & MD, PVR Ltd

Gul Panag – Actor, Model

Shraddha Kapoor – Actor

Leander Paes – Tennis Player

Chris Gayle* - Cricketer – West Indies

*Invited

Other Highlights of the event –

·   Interaction with the speakers

·   Live Rock Band Session

·   Digital RFID;

·   Photo Booth;

·    Like-man;

·   Gesture Music Game Kiosk etc. 

·   The ‘Real Youth Icon’ an initiative to recognize and reward the ‘Unsung Heroes’ in our society in association with UNICEF India

·   ‘SingAlong’ - Online KARAOKE Contest and their winners singing Live at the event in association with Singchana 

And that’s not all, the icing on the cake is a live performance by none other than Hard Kaur! Yipppeee! I just love her Hip Hop & it will be a treat to watch her perform live! Read more about the program at the Mind Rocks Summit official webpage at

Food, fun, contests, views, reviews, tips, performances and a lot of engagement – Mind Rocks promises to give youth the best of all! So, what are you waiting for? Registrations are open!

So calling all you future icons of tomorrow, come, hop in, Mind Rocks is sure to get you rocking!

This is a sponsored post for India Today Mind Rocks summit. I am proud to be among the official bloggers for the summit. Keep hopping in to my blog & twitter (@shaivisharma) for more details and live coverage of the event.

*Information courtesy India Today. Programme subject to change at the discretion of India Today Group and other event partners.

A Salaam for the Namaste

“She has snatched my only son”, she often cribbed. She had sent him to the city for a better life. And he had chosen to stay there, marrying the girl of his choice, that too from the opposite religion. Her husband had been killed in Hindu Muslim riots few years ago. “How can I accept a girl from that religion as my Bahu”, she often wondered. 

The son never forgot his mother though. He would write her letters, asking forgiveness for hurting her sentiments, often explaining how the turn of events almost forced him to take that decision. They had studied together in the same college and liked each other a lot. The riots that wiped out her family, his love and concern, the big bad world, that now or never decision that changed their lives forever. He knew the mother would never approve, so theirs was a court marriage.

The mother had read the letter, each word piercing her soul like the dagger that her husband was killed with years ago. She had turned into a stone, deciding never to see his face again. His letters & the money continued to come without fail. The mother had taken up a job as a sewing teacher in the local school and never took a single note out of the monthly envelopes he sent. “He thinks he can make up for the loss by these pieces of paper?” And so she wowed never to reply.

The mother inside missed her son every moment. On Holi, she would remember how he loved the riot of colors, Janmashtmi reminded her of his childhood mischiefs just like Lord Krishna. Every Diwali she silently prayed to Goddess Lakshmi to give her son prosperity, for by now, she was convinced the son would have ceased to be a Hindu and would have broken every rule of the religion by marrying a Muslim girl. He never mentioned it in his letters and she never asked it.

The son had himself become a father now. He had sent a small pic of the baby, freshly born and all red, too pure to understand which religion he belonged to. He looked just like the son, when he was born. The mother kept looking at the picture till tears blurred her vision. The letter also had a ticket and the usual money. The son had made an extremely emotional appeal in the letter. “I know ma you will never forgive me, but what wrong has your grandson done? Is he so unfortunate as to not even see his grandmother once is his lifetime?”

She felt like grabbing the next train and be with him, but the thought of the Muslim daughter in law grabbed her everytime into the endless whirlpool of revenge and despair. She decided to go though, not for the baby but to return the money the son had been sending all these years and she had kept away untouched. She wanted to tell him how he had hurt his dead father’s soul by marrying a girl of the religion of his killers. She wanted to curse the girl for having snatched her only hope in this world.

It was early morning when she reached the city. The Azaan from the Masjid made her decision even stronger. As she reached the lane with numerous houses, she asked the shopkeeper at the tea stall for the address of her son, Gopal Chand. The shopkeeper gave her a long surprised look and asked, “You want to meet Gopal? But he was killed in a road accident six months ago. Poor chap couldn’t even live to see his unborn child. His widow stays in that house” he pointed to the house and resumed his job.

The mother felt a sudden heat behind her ears. She had felt it once when destiny had snatched her husband that unfortunate night. Suddenly, all things became clear to her – the money never stopped, the letters had become more emotional of late, the appeal in the recent letter…SO it is that Muslim girl stepping into the shoes of my son?

With heavy steps, she open the gate of the house. To her surprise, she spotted a lush Tulsi plant in the Balcony. Tears filled up her eyes as she remembered how she had taught the son that Tulsi brings happiness in the house. Her feet suddenly stopped when she saw the son’s widow watering the Tulsi with a Kalash and chanting the gayatri mantra. “So she never changed my son’s religion?” The tears overflowed.

As the girl finished her Pooja, her eyes met the mother and widened in surprise. She walked up to the mother, touched her feet and said “Namaste ma”. The mother, unable to bear the guilt and sorrow, hugged her tight and said “Salaam beti”

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

For the Love of Art

It’s good to be a supportive spouse most of the times. Just that sometimes your overenthusiastic efforts bounce back, leaving you with no option. Well, something of this sort happened to me recently.

From Salsa to French lessons to MBA and what not, Mr. Hubby has been at his encouraging best. This time I thought of a role reversal. I had often seen him appreciate good art and the hunger to paint and draw in his eyes. Often, I asked him to resume what he left behind in school, but hubbies, you know, have a mind of their own. An year ago, I got him Canvass, paints and other tools to get going. Many art exhibitions added fuel to the fire. We even did some paintings together on our Lansdowne holiday (sorry haven’t mentioned it on my Lansdowne post). All my efforts finally paid off when few days ago, Mr. Hubby walked up to me and said “We are joining painting classes. I have enrolled and the classes begin this weekend!”

Wow! Mission successful! But hey, wait…rewind…what did he say, “WE are joining”…when did I become a part of this?

Me, from the moment I can remember, had been terrible with anything and everything remotely related to art. Drawing was the most dreaded period in school. While all kids were busy fine tuning the anatomy of the human structures, I was still struggling with getting the left eye symmetrical to the right eye on the sheet that often turned black or even tore by frequent use of eraser!

My moment did come once though in the 4^th standard, when the teacher was surprised to see my perfect drawing. The drawing is still afresh in my memory – a birthday party, huge table, ballons, birthday cake and excited kids eager to get their piece of cake. Somehow I had even got the eyes symmetrical this time. So when the teacher appreciated, I was elated! The teacher asked me to fill up the colors. I attempted my creative best, and loved every bit of the painting when it was done. Wish there were Camera phones back then. But then, a child is the apple of his mother’s eyes, irrespective of how s/he looks.

The elated feeling came down with a thud when the teacher gave a look and shouted her lungs, “What have you done? The whole painting is spoiled. Since when did tables become purple in colour?” Her shout was loud enough for the whole class to hear and I could feel the heat behind my ears in the silent room. Sheepishly, I took my drawing and went back to my seat, ignoring the giggles on the back bench.

And now, when I look at modern art and houses with red walls and so many odd combinations done at the pretext of creativity, I wonder, if a wall can be blue, why couldn't a table be Purple back then?

That was it. I called it a day and parted ways with drawing; never ever told about that class incident to anyone. My parents tried a lot to revive the interest – taking me to art competitions, getting colors, books etc. But nothing much happened apart from a few participation certificates. I did manage the drawing part very well later in project work and zoology practical files. But as far as drawing and painting was concerned, it was over for me.

So, when Mr. Hubby gave me the shock of my life that day, I just kept gazing at him. No amount of pleading helped. Mr. Hubby of course knows about the school incident and felt the only way to resume what I had left then was to give it one more shot. Oh God, what goes around, comes around! I was cornered.

Like a dutiful wife, I did surrender, well more because he had already paid the money for me without informing me. By now, he has learnt enough emotional drama from me so insisted he would only go if I accompanied him. In short, I was left with no other option!

We did go for the art class.  But to know whether I rocked or shocked, you will have to wait, coz it deserves a separate post. Right now, am almost late for work and I obviously can’t tell boss I got late coz I was finishing my blog post!

So, part –II in the evening. Stay tuned!