Paint my soul

M. F. Husain once said, “Hold the sky in your hands when I paint, coz I do not know the limits of my canvas.” Painting is a love affair. If you do it, you do it whole heartedly. Painting is one of the forms of expression of soul amongst many others. Art, as I see it, is the expression of my soul. If I can express it correctly, I am a good artist. Expression could take any platform; dance, music, words or anything else. It is important that you express, as an artist.

I recently took up painting and graffiti again. I used to do it some time ago and then I got busy with other stuff. I started it again. To help me experiment with it and to help me improve my skills in the area I compiled a list of different styles of painting and sketching. This helps me practice, to experiment, to be able to know my stuff. Eventually, you do not need any styles. You develop one of your own. This will take time and effort and most importantly heart. Artists are not heartless persons, remember. They are sensitive to nature.

1. Paint a non living subject.
2. Paint a living subject (portrait/landscape).
3. Free style painting (Picasso).
4. Throwing paint on the canvas directly, without using brush (Pollock).
5. Paint with hands. Once you learn to paint with hands and fingers, trust me, brushes won’t be necessary.
6. Sketch from memory. Paint it.
7. Paint directly from memory.
8. Paint from a picture.
9. Sketch from a photograph, paint it.
10. Explore different materials. Some of them could be: pastels, charcoal, color pencils, water soluble colors pencils, fountain pen, poster colors, water colors, oil colors, leaves, flowers, fruits, vegetables, aerosol sprays etc.
11. Sketch a moving object. Paint it. Remember, animation is concentration.
12. Paint hands and feet. Hands and feet are one of the most difficult subjects to paint.
13. Paint robes. Robes have enough curves, folds for you to practice.
14. Paint with only one color. Use the background as the second color.
15. Paint on glass.
16. Sketch cartoons/caricature.
17. Paint on wall (Graffiti).
18. Depict a story/poem in the painting.
19. Paint self portrait using a mirror.
20. Paint self portrait using a photograph.
21. Paint self portrait at different ages. Grid or accordion style could be used.
22. Paint portraits of loved ones.
23. Spray painting. Aerosol spray paints could be used.
24. Paint your room with your stuff in it. (One of the famous Van Gogh painting).
25. Experiment with light and shadow principle.
26. Observe deeply. Photograph often. Learn by doing. Remember, painting is to paint and not some thing to read about.
27. Body painting.
28. Paint nudes. Try to get the curvatures and veins structure right.
29. Paint greeting cards, book covers etc.

A list of To-Dos when you don’t know What to do!

Ups and downs are a part of life. Highs are not permanent, neither are lows. Life is always fluctuating between two extremes. This very nature of life is visible in all the smaller attributes of life. Extremes could be really good if used properly. Extreme moments are great possibilities. Considering these positive aspects and considering the amount of time I waste everyday wondering what to do and where to start, I have compiled a list. Feel free to customize this list for yourself and as per your moods. Remember, this is just a start. There could be many more creative things to do.

1. Go on a vacation to relax your mind.
2. Join a course. For e.g. music class, salsa, or sky diving.
3. Complete your studies, if you had missed any or had planned to do it later.
4. Take certifications related to your career profile.
5. Adopt a pet.
6. Start a sport.
7. Invent something.
8. Start a blog.
9. Create a business profile website.
10. Start painting. Painting is one of the best ways of expressing your thoughts freely on canvas using colours.
11. Make new friends. Famous social platforms could be a great start. Face book, Orkut, Hi5 etc.
12. Create a yearly planner. List down the tasks you would want to complete this year. Break them into months and weeks.
13. Maintain a Birthday list. List down the birthdays of friends and relatives, especially the ones you forget often.
14. Get involved in a relation. It could be serious or non-serious, or just friends.
15. Start reading. Read what you like, not necessarily bestsellers.
16. Watch movies. Keep up with all the blockbusters you have missed. I find this a great pastime as well as a great source of inspiration.
17. Arrange your wardrobe in an innovative manner. For e.g. based on seasons, or based on colours or based on the type of people you have to meet everyday.
18. Write a Composition / Poetry. Pick up a pen and a blank sheet of paper, and express yourself freely.
19. Attend a guest lecture.
20. Donate old stuff that you don’t use anymore.
21. Visit art galleries. They could be a good source of inspiration.
22. College reunion. Time to catch up with old friends. You never know what could become a possible opportunity.
23. Pay a visit to Old age homes or an Orphanage. They do not have many visitors.
24. Listen to music. Listen to your favourite music albums that are catching dust in drawers. Music is a therapy as well as meditation.
25. Speak up. Record your voice. Talk freely about any topic you like. Listen to it, find your mistakes and record again. There are many websites where you can submit your pod casts which people can listen – paid or free.
26. Fix your old electronic stuff.
27. Join a health club. They say, “Health is wealth.” nothing is changed so far.
28. Learn cooking. Cooking is a great art, and trust me, not everybody can do it.
29. Practice Yoga / Meditation. This relaxes your mind and body. Try different experiments. I enjoy doing this everyday. This could be a great way to understand yourself more and unlock hidden talents and skills.
30. Fix your computer.
31. Collect your favourite books from new or second hand stores.
32. Collect your favourite music from new or second hand stores.
33. Flash back experiment. Spare few hours and visualize your life backwards or forwards, as you are comfortable. Close your eyes and imagine your entire life is playing in front of you like a movie. Remember every detail as possible. Make a list of the mistakes, you feel, you did. Good moments will make you happy and bad ones will add in your experience list. Nothing to lose.
34. Learn photography. Firstly, World is very beautiful. It has to be recorded somewhere and secondly; there are many websites, where you can make some bucks by submitting original photographs.
35. Improve your aptitude skills. Time to solve some quizzes, puzzles and mysteries.
36. Draw some Cartoons / Caricatures. Remember, animation is concentration. The world would have been a very dull place, if there was no humour.
37. Write original jokes.
38. Mend broken hearts. Buy and present a gift to someone you care for.
39. Invite friends for dinner and spend a good time.
40. Help someone. What can I do for you? This question is worth asking. Try to ask this question with the right attitude to someone, and you will be surprised to find you could of great help.
41. Decorate your house / room. Try new ideas. Rethink about old posters and arrangements of furniture.
42. Gardening. Plants have a life. Plants are also sensitive to love, anger, hatred, music and other emotions. Try yourself.
43. Feed birds and animals. Feed oats and water to hungry birds and animals. This is a great satisfaction always.
44. Spend a good time with your parents. They have always been there for you. It’s your turn.
45. Set mini goals. Reward yourself if you complete on time.
46. Adopt a good habit. Like keeping silent for 4 hours or helping a needy one on some day. This could be fun as well as satisfaction.
47. Check out old photographs. This is a great nostalgic tool and a natural way to mend old relations or to relive beautiful moments of life.
48. Adopt a child. There are plenty who need a parent.
49. Go green. This means to try greener ways of doing things. This also means doing things, which would save environment.
50. Plan your investments. Consult a financial planner if you need.
51. Create something from used stuff.
52. Spend time with yourself. This could be a great way to identify your mistakes and find solutions to problems which seem impossible otherwise. This could also help you to grow spiritually.
53. Go and watch a live music concert.
54. Write your autobiography.
55. Write testimonials for your friends. Testimonials need not always be about things you like in the person. Honest feedback and appreciations always turn out a reward in the long run.
56. Change your profession for a day. Try and sell some shampoos or dog food for a day.
57. Take a dark bath. Take a bath with lights turned off. Check if you can manage.
58. Visit a library. Browse through your favourite books or encyclopaedias. Find out what is the capital of Mongolia, or most selling food in Brazil.
59. Try to use a different writing instrument. For e.g. use a charcoal or graphite pencil, permanent marker, colour pencil, sketch pen, glossy pen, etc. instead of a normal pen. It is fun.
60. Maintain a NOT-TO-DO list and DO-ONLY-WHEN-NEEDED lists.
61. Create a vision and mission of your life. Write a punch line for it.
62. Write a bucket list. A bucket list is of the tasks to do before you die.
63. Play videogames. PS2 or Portable PS are fantastic devices.
64. Watch online videos. Type a random keyword in search and check out the videos. You tube could be a great start.
65. Visit a museum. Museum is a good place to learn history.
66. Spare a few hours to check your bills. Mobile bills, electricity bills, Food bills, Pub bills, Credit card bills, Shopping bills etc. Check if you can cut down somewhere and save some bucks.
67. Vacuum clean your store room.
68. Take a walk. Fresh air is very relaxing and rejuvenating.
69. Experiment with coffee or tea. You can try adding one or more of these: Cream, Lemon, Cinnamon, Clove, Pepper, Aloe Vera, Bread, Orange juice, Fruits, Vegetables etc.
70. Go to a beach and enjoy sea waves.
71. Make a list of your girlfriends/boyfriends. Then categorize the list into serious/non serious ones. List could be further detailed adding the following things: date/time when met, time spent together, best moments together, worst moments together, things you learned from the person, things you liked/disliked about the person. This could be a great challenge and rejuvenation. This might help us to see our relations though an entirely different perspective. Only one thing to remember BE HONEST.
72. Change your hair style. Visit a stylist and demand that you want to look like Elvis Presley.
73. Eat fruits only for an entire day. Visit a grocery store and ask for all kinds of fruits they have. You will be surprised to see few which you dint even know.
74. Clean your mailbox. There are great chances of hitting across an important mail you had missed to see.
75. Update your contacts list. This could apply to your contacts in a mobile, PDA, outlook etc.
76. Call up an old girlfriend/boyfriend and request for a date for old times sake. Beware; this could turn out to be a life changing event
77. Change hands. Try to do things with your left hand against usual right hand or right hand for left handed people. Try to do this for an hour, and could be for an entire day, if you can manage without much problems.
78. Try to remember every face you know with a punch line. For e.g. Johnny, the liar or Suzanne, the pink skinny girl or anything else. Try to use punch lines which define the central quality of the person. This would help you remember more faces and deal with them appropriately.
79. Donate Blood. Thousands of road accidents happen everyday.
80. Go for a routine health check-up to your doctor. Pay the bill even if you are healthy.
81. Find and read about Native American tribes.
82. Count the number of traffic violators on the way while driving to the office.
83. Write a letter to Mr. President, asking when is the economy condition of the country supposed to improve and how can you be of help?
84. Remember and Write the dream, you had last night.
85. Read a story. Think and suggest a better title.
86. Go for a test drive of your favourite car.
87. Go for window shopping in the most expensive street of the city.
88. Steal something. If succeeded, return the same to the owner, with due respect.
89. Laugh aloud. Remember a funny moment and laugh freely. This will change your mood.
90. Go on a blind date. Internet is a revolution. Many websites can help you fix a blind date.
91. Sell your old pair of trousers at half.com
92. Take a shower.
93. Take a day off and visit a local place you had always wanted to.
94. Go for a swim.
95. Day dreaming. What happens if you become the president or what happens if Julia Roberts calls you for a date kinda stuff.
96. Cut your old pair of jeans to make knickers.
97. Carry an Idea Book with you, to note down important ideas and thoughts wherever you go.
98. Make a silent confession. Go to the place where you feel calm, close your eyes, and confess everything you want to say.
99. Google for your name.
100. Find out why Baby Sitting is a better profession than Dentistry.

Effects of Alcohol

Alcohol is a magical drink. It really does magic. For some, words come out of the heart; for some, words go back in the heart. Some feel introvert and feel like sitting silent for hours and talk to self whereas some become extrovert and continue talking with the world for hours together as if they are a politician. It is a magic, isn’t it? 

What happens actually when you drink? Or what happens when you drink, smoke or inject drugs? They all have similar effects on your body, although the intensities and shades are different. 

First thing these drugs do is they loosen your brain cells. They dilate your brain parts, which creates energy. Let’s understand by an example: 

Let’s say an electric motor throws water through a pipe. The amount of water thrown out every second is proportional to the area of the pipe, isn’t it? What if you replace the smaller pipe with a bigger one, the motor would start throwing more amount of water. 

Something similar happens in your brain, when you are high. The valves dilate and the cells loosen up. This process creates energy and you feel different. Some people use this energy to become introvert and use their mind to think about a lot of difficult matters in a short time, since the brain starts functioning very fast, so fast that the body is not able to catch up with it. Let’s understand with the same example: 

Let’s consider the same electric motor symbolizes the human body and its water flow symbolizes the working of the brain. As you increase the area of the pipe, the water pressure increases proportionately. However there is a threshold till which you can increase the area of the pipe. The moment you cross that limit, the motor would stop working, why? – Because, the motor capacity is not able to catch up with the increased pipe capacity. Similarly, when your brain starts working too fast, the body is not able to catch up with it; after all body has its own limits. Hence when you are high, you might experience your brain flying like a flying saucer but the body looses control, you can hardly stand properly and normally fell down. Synchronization is lost. 

It is sad that only few people understand this process appropriately and use that energy to create wonders. They could well solve impossible problems, create eternal paintings; write immortal poems and things of that level. This happens due to the extra energy; although there are limits. 

When body is not able to catch up completely with the brain, you cannot achieve much because body is the medium to act; to perform actions using senses. Till the time your body is in tune with the mind, you find people doing much when they are high, don’t you? They are found singing, dancing, abusing others, talking too much, over reacting, behaving erratically, freaking out and so on. This is due to the extra energy. So get high, but do use the energy properly. It is beneficial and could create miracles, if you learn to control it properly. Energy is like power; if you can handle it well, you are a hero but if you cannot handle it well, there is always a chance of harming yourself. So learn to work on it. 

Few tips: 

1. Know your limits. Consume only within limits.
2. Five Ds for alcohol (Duration, Density, Diet, Dilution and Sun-Dawn).
3. Use the extra energy produced for creative purposes, you will be surprised to see to the results. Try it yourself.
4. Do not consume outside unless really important, if former is the case, consume within your limits. Home is heaven.
5. Do not let others utilise your extra energy for their selfish motives.

Taare Zamin Par – A Masterpiece

It is really difficult to talk something about the movie, since “taare zameen par” was a piece beyond words; however I would like to jot some of my thoughts about it. 

It was an exclusive masterpiece of a kind which is made once in years. It was full of energy, colors, creativity and a master theme which was well illustrated from start till the end. 

It is very difficult to feel boredom, if you are watching such movies. Aamir Khan was brilliant in the movie, but Darsheel Safary (Ishaan Avasthi – name in the movie) has outperformed him.

The kid has given a message to the entire world about relationships, love, energy, emotions and colors. The movie is well directed with amazing photography and spellbound performances by the cast.  

I recommend all of you to go and watch it at least once. This was one of the best movies I had ever seen. 

The movie connects to the unending, undiscovered and infinite possibilities of the humans. It relates to the divine relation of a mother and son. There is so much more to life, it goes on and on and on, you might quit the race or get exhausted but the colors keep changing.  

Sunlight shines new rainbows everyday, clouds keep pouring their love on new grounds and trees continue to fragrance the world. Birds keep singing, unaware of the noise made by the world; stars shine everyday irrespective of the other lights around them. 

Open the eyes within and around, try to collect gems, one by one from the never – ending pool of creativity, you yourself.

There is so much more to life!

Have you ever imagined how beautiful life is? All what you can see, hear and feel is a very small part of all what can be seen, heard and felt. A big portion of the nature and life is unseen, unfelt, untouched. It is waiting for us.

Have you ever seen the beauty of wet shining leaves when they shed off their dirt during monsoon? Have you checked the black clouds singing and asking the monsoon to pour on them? There is so much more to life than you can imagine. Explore new things. Explore new activities. Learn new things. There is a famous old story about a frog considering his small well as the entire world; once he comes out of his well, he realizes the world is so big. There is so much around to be explored. Our lives are like that. We are living like a frog considering our small well of illusion and experiences as the whole world. We never know what is going to happen next. Keep jumping for chances. They don’t have to hit you always. You should hit on them.

Check out the bright sun rising everyday and giving energy to the whole universe. We don’t remind Sun to rise everyday. Nobody does and nobody can. It does its duty duly and respectfully everyday without anybody’s reminders. The Moon shines everyday and fills the world with its beautiful, holy and peace giving moonlight. No body bothers about it. The stars shine like pearls and rubies in the sky. People are busy collecting useless, perishable rubies and diamonds. Have you ever bothered about how many stars are in the sky? Have you ever given a thought about any more planets like Earth, having any existence of life? Nature has so much to tell you. Walk around. Break old illusions, crap traditions. Remember a rule is something which somebody felt was right, he jotted it down. You may feel something else is right. Don’t trust or follow other’s rules and regulations blindly. Crave your own path.

Not only God Made entities are beautiful. Man made entities are also beautiful. Try to see a five star hotel shining with thousands of small lights appearing as shining dots from a plane in the night; ever heard of Taj Mahal, Pyramids etc. Why are they called wonders? They are really wonderful! All the verses of the “Quran”, the holy epic of Mohammedan’s, is carved on the walls of the Taj Mahal, the Indian wonder.

Listen to the birds singing in the evening. See the thousands of penguins filling the seacoast like a painting done in black and white. Feel the chilling breeze touching your face when you drive a bike at a high speed. Ride above at a height in the night and check out the traffic on the road. It creates an illusion of a train of candles moving slowly. There is so much to live and experience. Find your passions, discover your interests. Create new interests.

Life has so much so much to say about it. Check out! Open your eyes.

The “M. F. Husain” Fever

 If you are reading this article, I hope you have something to do with Mr. M. F. Husain. Anyways jokes apart, anybody can read this and comment too.

My M. F. Husain fever more or less started with my sketching classes. I have always been a lover of arts, sketching, painting etc. In those days (First year Engg, 2004), I was looking for some classes to tune up my hands on sketching. One fine evening while discussing with an artist friend, I came to know about a class (Kalakalpa, Nullstop, Pune) which used to give sketching materials and three workshops in the total period provided you enrol! It was more like a distance learning course with only three workshops or to be called face to face sessions. They had three types of course sets designed for sketching: Portraits, Landscape and Basic. I ran to their office and got enrolled for a Portraits course. It went well. But as per my habits, I am always deeply engrossed with anything I do. I do it full heartedly. I went too much into arts fever mismanaging most of other college works or other activities.

Class materials and workshop sessions were going on well when I found about Mr Husain. I read about him and saw his paintings. I realised lots of new things in him. I had seen lots of other paintings, but his style was different. He has his own way of painting and creating big canvases out of his master brushstrokes. I really mean you can see a painting, and find out if it belongs to Mr Husain or not. His style is clearly reflected in any of his works. This marked the beginning of the M. F. Husain fever phase. I became more and more interested in him. I started collecting news articles, stories published from and about him. A clean neat file was separated from other files just to file those articles, news stories and painting published. The fever kept on increasing. I used to sit on the internet for hours downloading his paintings and articles. The folder on my old pc at home, dedicated to him finally contained more than 200 paintings. I simply liked his style, his choice of colours, his attitude towards life and painting. I read all the reviews by different artists on his paintings. He has always been in some or the other controversy every now and then. It may be due to his affection towards Madhuri Dixit (the famous actress of Bollywood), or his movies, or walking barefoot or throwing his brush on the screen in the “Hum Apke hain kaun” show or anything like that.

The fever was not over yet. It went on. I read somewhere that there are some books about him. I also found that he has his autobiography published with co-writer as Khalid Mohammed, the famous Bollywood director. I checked it out in the Crossword. I had only seen that copy once in the Crossword, Sohrab Hall. I was very disappointed because I did not have enough coins in my pocket to buy it and that was the only single copy left. I started saving pennies, cutting down my expenses. It took a long time, since the book costed 1500 bucks. You can imagine, I was just a student and not a self-earning guy. I did not want to trouble my parents for the cost. One more reason of not troubling parents is that I liked Mr Husain, they dint. Finally after few days, I was able to save the kind of money required to buy that book. But to the biggest disappointment, I searched for that most awaited collection at every possible place but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I still checkout big bookstores for it, but no lucks so far. In the mean time when I was saving money for the book, I wrote a letter to him saying that I really love your paintings and asked for his autograph and visiting card. But sad, I never got a reply. I kept visiting art galleries during all the exhibitions, especially when it was his. One day, to locate one of the galleries where his exhibition was displayed, I kept searching for whole day. I finally reached that place after searching for almost 4 hours. It was a non famous kind of small restaurant at a place called deccan in Pune.

There is one more thing to be brought to your attention. I knew that he had created a movie called “Gajagamini” showcasing Madhuri Dixit. I was desperate to find the CD since it was the work of my admiration. I kept looking for it. However, the movie did not work so well, so even to get a copy was difficult. I checked local stores, rental stores. Then I approached some big stores. One of them had a copy (only one) and that too dint work when I asked him for a trial. Then it took me one more month to find a guy who could get me this CD from Mumbai for 200 bucks!! I saw it and I realised that movie was not worth wasting two months to find it. If you see it from an artist’s point of view, then It was really blossomed with various different styles, canvases, it was like a painting drawn on very big canvas.

Nowadays I am not so much into it, but I am still a fan of Mr. Husain. I still have the collections I did in past, still my eyes search for that book whenever I visit any bookstore. Out of these few visits, sometimes I cannot control my heart to go to the beautiful girl standing at the counter and ask her, “Ma’am, Can you get me copy of ‘Where art thou lives’, the M. F. Husain autobiography. Ma’am I had seen it here once……………………………………..”