Flowers, Home, Saris and More

She definitely has a way with words.

Regular readers of Dagny know what an inspiring and inspired writer she is. But there is also another side to the nature of her inspiration which I have recently experienced. Her words have the ability to quieten me down, making me ready to discover that deep and calm place within. A place from where emerge some ideas, thoughts, words and sentences carrying that 'feel' of calmness and quiet depth.

To what extent any composition expresses a sense of quietness, that is for the readers to decide. But as a writer I know how I feel when I am inspired to write something at the request of this dearest friend. Zen-like, I think one may call it. Naah! Serene and yet fully present and absorbed in the experience of writing. Serenely Rapt, may be?

Dagny inspires me not only with the stories she tells, but more so with the way she makes these stories seem like our stories, mine and hers, and of everyone else who reads them. The grounded and earthy wisdom that is gently enfolded in her words, the quietness with which that ray of light shines upon the reader's being -- that is an experience felt by all who have visited her space, Serenely Rapt. 

You must have heard that highly creative people are creative in ways more than one. This is true of my friend Dagny too. While the pages of Serenely Rapt showcase her beautiful stories, anecdotes, reflections and ponderings on various shades and hues of life, she dazzles with another side of her creative self via Rugs of Life. If you haven't yet seen this space of hers, you don't know what you are missing!

When she suggested that I write a guest-post for her blog, I was naturally overjoyed. And also a bit unsure whether any writing of mine would stand up to the standard that Serenely Rapt is famous for. That's when the warmth of her love and friendship, and her calm confidence in me, my thought process, words and way of expression came to my rescue. And a post with the title, Musings on Home, Flowers and More took shape.

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MUSINGS ON HOME, FLOWERS AND MORE

I feel a sense of gratitude to those fourteen-plus years of my life when I was living between two cultural spaces. What we Indians call as non-resident-Indian (NRI) experience, gave me ample opportunities to reflect on the meaning of home, being at home and being in what many post-modernists call as a state of hybridity or in-between-ness.

I remember today an essay I wrote about thirteen years ago, in which I had pondered over the meaning of home. The essay, published on Sulekha, was based on an analysis of the voices of a few Indians living outside India with whom I had some interactions in an online discussion forum, combined with my own decade-long experience, at that time, of living, studying and working in the United States. In that piece I had come to a tentative conclusion that perhaps home means “a place where we can be really free, free at heart.”

End of this month will mark eight years of my return to India. No more of that NRI experience. However, at different points of time in these last eight years, this question of “what is home” has often surfaced in different ways – personally as well as socially. But it has also become obvious to me that the question has now taken on a more emotional and psychological shade than a mental or intellectual one, which was the case earlier. The experience of this question is also more inwardly grounded than something that is outward and identity-based. And this, I believe, is what makes me feel more ‘at home’ with the question itself. Let me explain.

About two years ago, I found myself going through an intense phase when this question – what is home – became a very real and living struggle for many months. In a way I was spending all those months ‘at home’ (my parental home, to be precise – the home where I grew up) but then it wasn’t really my home anymore. It didn’t feel like that.

The part that felt ‘like home’ was my parents. Especially, my very ill and fragile mother who was the reason why I was spending all those months there, away from my home and in my mother’s home. And yet the longing to go back to my home was very much there despite the mental awareness that I needed to be at my parents’ home. 

TO READ REST OF THE POST, CLICK HERE.

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A TALE OF TWO SAREES

Like I said, Dagny has a way with words. But then, she also a way with saris. Or for that matter, any old fabric which transforms into something entirely new and completely beautiful when it comes into her hands.

A few months ago, she gave new lives to two of my old saris. The sheer beauty of her work made me speechless when I held in my hands the new-born pieces she sent me. What had been once two old saris were now in front of me in totally new forms, speaking quietly of the remarkable gift and talent of the artist. The experience wouldn't have been complete if I didn't write a little story of that creative rebirth I witnessed. And yes that writing too came about in a moment of quiet and joyful spontaneity.

If you haven't read that little story of two saris and their rebirth, how about clicking it HERE and making that correction now.

And while you are at Rugs of Life, do spend some time browsing through the great collection of rugs Dagny weaves with love and care. A few minutes of going through the different narratives that accompany each of her creations will be sufficient to appreciate the genuine reverence she has for the divinity that hides in matter. That, in essence, is the real source of the beauty that spills out from all that she weaves.

He and She: A Photo Essay

A new post in the series: Things of Beauty

I found Her & Him - Them - hidden in the back in a dusty corner of a large shop in the temple town of Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. A Chola-style Ardhnarishvara, who now adorns a small corner in my home.

The Chola style of Ardhnarishvara form, often cast in bronze or panchaloha (an alloy of five metals -- copper, lead, zinc, gold, and silver), is unique because of three arms, two on the Shiva side and one on the Shakti/Parvati side. However, in the majestic Brihadeeshwarar temple, built by emperor Raja Raja Chola I at Thanjavur, one finds a magnificent eight-armed form of Ardhnarishvara:

When I saw my Ardhnarishvara that evening, I knew why I had stood totally transfixed earlier that morning at the Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple in front of this:

Source

When I saw my little Ardhnarishvara I knew exactly the spot that will be His/Her abode in my home.

Why did this particular spot come to mind spontaneously? Perhaps because a contemporary form of Ardhnarishwara, framed under glass, already has found its home there. 

A painting made by the young Delhi-based artist, Bindu Popli, titled "You and Me 2" hangs on the wall just above the panchaloha Ardhnarishvara. (Actually it is a print of her painting -- can't afford all original works even though the artist is my sister and gives me great discounts!) And yes, there is also a "You and Me 1", a print of which hangs in another room.

I have always thought of this particular work as the artist's vision of Ardhnarishvara -- a totality that lies beyond duality, a non-duality that is beyond the unity of opposites, a oneness that is beyond the complementarity of the masculine and feminine principles. 

Several years ago, the artist had done another Ardhnarishvara, which she actually called by that name. This was a wall mural in her previous studio.

Small photographic prints of this Ardhnarishvara have also found home in my place. In three different versions -- coloured, black & white and sepia under the stairs. 

So yes, I do feel a special connection with this particular form of the Divine, Ardhnarishvara! Here are three that adorn my home, up close. 

May the Two That are One and the One That is Many continue to grace my inner Home too.

          

               

"Without Him I Exist Not, Without Me He is Unmanifest."

(The Mother)

Each now was a part of the other’s unity,

The world was but their twin self-finding’s scene

.......

For we were man and woman from the first,

The twin souls born from one undying fire.

(Sri Aurobindo, Savitri)

Unless specified all photos are from personal archives, taken by family members.

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To see the previous post in the series, click here.

To see all posts in the series, click here.

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To see the previous photo essay on this blog, click here.

Troubling Scribbles

A new post in the series - When a Picture Leads

Going through my old pictures I came across this. I don't know about you, but seeing something like this troubles me a lot. 

A painting that is perhaps 800-1000-years-old
On display in the Thousand-Pillared Hall at Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai

I have seen such ugly and distasteful scribbles at so many places of deep cultural, historical and even ecological significance. On walls of ancient temples, murals, paintings, sculptures, caves, architectural wonders, natural wonders, even the walls of the pathway to the ferry on Vivekananda Rock Memorial! I generally take pictures of such troubling sights just to remind me of....well, the troubling scribbles.  

What troubles me most is this question - Why o why? 

Why do some people think that they must leave their 'mark' on every place they have visited? Why is there this tendency among some people to spoil and soil everything that is beautiful or of cultural value? Why do we refuse to learn how important it is to protect and preserve, to respect and revere? 

"When a country forgets to take care of its cultural riches, it begins to lose its cultural foundation. It is high time we recognise this truth."

(Ref: My new ebook, The Thinking Indian: Essays on Indian Socio-Cultural Matters in the Light of Sri Aurobindo)

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To see previous post in the series, click here.

To see all posts in the series, click here.

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Linking with ABCWednesday, T: T is for Troubling

Also linking with Wordless Wednesday #86

 

Untitled Meanderings

A few weeks ago, a friend and I had a brief exchange of thoughts on Facebook about Raja Ravi Varma's style of painting. I had said to him that I don't really care much for that kind of artistic work, and an interesting discussion ensued about Indian art, the inner and outer dimension of art, personal aesthetic preferences and a few other things about culture and human motives in life.

That exchange sort of inspired this post. I was hoping to go deeper into some of the points my friend and I had briefly touched upon. But as I started writing, the post took on a life of its own and it has now become something totally different.

That's okay, I go with the flow.

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Antaryatra (Inner Journey): Painting by Bindu Popli

Like I said in an earlier post, I am not an artist. Unless one considers writing that I do on this blog as some sort of "artsy" work. I highly doubt that. But I deeply admire and respect the artistic process that artists, sculptors, poets, creative photographers, writers experience - from that first inspiration to the final work of art they consider as done.

At the same time, like everyone else I know, I have my personal preference and taste in art or what I consider artistic. I am not fond of what may be called as realistic art or art that captures reality as is. For me, that piece of art doesn't say much if the only thing it says is an imitation, no matter how good and perfect, of what is found in nature or life. A perfectly done portrait of a person or an inanimate object is not really my preference in art. Where is the mystery, my mind and heart ask. Where is the hidden, my mind and heart search.

All bad art comes from returning to life and nature, and elevating them into ideals. Life and nature may sometimes be used as part of art's rough material, but before they are of any real service to art they must be translated into artistic conventions. The moment art surrenders its imaginative medium it surrenders everything. As a method realism is a complete failure, and the two things that every artist should avoid are modernity of form and modernity of subject-matter.

-- Oscar Wilde

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Over the last few years I have also come to a realisation that realism in writing also doesn't do much for me either. I am discovering that I don't care much for the kind of writing that is merely a documentation of what is observed or heard or experienced. I used to do such writing as part of my social science research training and professional work. Such writing serves an important purpose in advancing our collective understanding of outer human experience and I know from experience it isn't easy to do.

But that was then.

Now I am more inclined toward writing that doesn't merely reproduce the various 'facts' or 'realities' of life and nature as experienced by the subject(s) or character(s) in question. I am touched by the writing that makes room for the unseen, the invisible, the 'un-real' almost. No matter how enjoyable the turn of the phrase and how masterful the wordsmithing, a piece of writing that is only about 'what is' doesn't really move me. I am moved by the writing that seems to invite me to explore 'what isn't but could be', the writing that compels me to 'see' the invisible behind the appearance, to 'hear' the silence between the two audible words, to 'experience' the stillness behind all that is in motion.

That's the kind of writing I aspire to do someday.

No, not fantasy. Not science fiction. Neither fiction, nor non-fiction. Not abstract philosophy. No, no.

O Poet, O Artist, if thou but holdest up the mirror to Nature, thinkest thou Nature will rejoice in thy work? Rather she will turn away her face. For what dost thou hold up to her there? Herself? No, but a lifeless outline and reflection, a shadowy mimicry. It is the secret soul of Nature thou hast to seize, thou hast to hunt eternally after the truth in the external symbol, and that no mirror will hold for thee, nor for her whom thou seekest.

-- Sri Aurobindo

I hope to write of life and about life, but life that isn't only lived on the outer surface. I hope to write about nature, but nature that isn't only seen with the outer eyes. I wish to engage in an experience of writing that tries to seize something that is only vaguely expressing itself, or hiding itself, through the outer expression of words, sentences, paragraphs. The writing that engages with the invisible behind the visible, the eternal behind the temporal, the spirit behind the form.

If I had the Midas touch, that's the kind of writing I would like to do...



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You may also like a few more posts on writing - On Writing in English,  Blank Pages No More, Light is All You Need, Why Should I Write

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This post has been picked as a WOW post by BlogAdda. The topic this time is - "If I had the Midas touch...."

Beads that Matter

A new post in the series - Reminders to self

I discovered a beautiful article yesterday on my daily digest from Dailygood.org 

Something about the piece stayed with me for a long time, including the title itself, Beauty and The Dumpster. I share below the last two paragraphs from the article, the essence of the piece in my opinion. Or at least the essence that spoke to me. So very directly. So very quietly and strongly.

My ancestors also were first-generation immigrants, who arrived in this country with only what they could carry. The little they came to own was theirs for a lifetime. Anything that broke was repaired; chairs and sofas re-covered, tables refinished. Objects did not come and go but remained stable, adding to the stability of the world. What I have of theirs contributes to the weight of my being.

It is common these days to lament how materialistic we have become, but I do not believe this is accurate. It seems to me that we have not yet begun to value matter. Much that is made today is not intended to last and cannot be repaired. Mana is unable to fill our possessions. Lacking substance, they cannot become proper vessels for spirit. We may ask where objects come from, but they no longer have stories to tell. They too have lost their roots. How, then, are we to leave tangible mementoes of ourselves when we go? What will be left to caress?

As I kept mulling over what I had read in this piece, particularly the last paragraph, I was reminded of those days last year when my sisters and I were trying to sort through some of the possessions of our mother after her departure from this world. I found myself looking carefully, really seeing and feeling through some of my mother's personal objects that have made their way into my home.

Like her sphatik mala that she used for her japa practice, which now adorns the frame housing an old B&W picture of her and my father taken a day after their wedding. The picture rests comfortably on a cupboard which serves as my dressing table, and every time I gaze at the sphatik mala I hope that something of the magical healing power of those beads will rub over me. Every time I wrap that mala over my wrist I hope and pray that something of the energy and force added to those beads by my mother's constant japa practice over many years will rub on to me.

It seems to me that we have not yet begun to value matter. Much that is made today is not intended to last and cannot be repaired. Mana is unable to fill our possessions. Lacking substance, they cannot become proper vessels for spirit. 

This reminder was needed. This reiteration is needed. For me. For all, I suppose.

Meditating on this thought also reminded me of two posts I had written during the time I was engrossed fully with the task of organizing and sorting my mother's personal possessions.

In "The Stuff of Our Lives" I wrote:

And ultimately at some point in time, that definitive moment comes when all our possessions, all the objects, all the stuff we so meticulously collected over our lives stays here in this physical realm, as our last journey out of this realm commences. What happens to all that stuff – the stuff of our temporary lives? Do we ever wonder about this all the while we are busy collecting, possessing, accumulating? Do we ever imagine, even for a split second, how will our loved ones handle all that stuff we so carefully kept in our closets, cupboards, and drawers?

In "Material Life" I reminded myself of the eternal advice from the Mother:

The Divine is in things also and that is why they must be treated with care.

Today I remind myself again of this reminder. Today all I can write is this:

If only we can learn how to feel and value the spirit in the matter. If only we can learn how to transform our material possessions as vessels for the spirit.

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To read the full article "Beauty and the Dumpster" by Meredit Sabini, click here.
To read my post "The Stuff of Our Lives", click here.
To read my post "Material Life", click here
To read all the posts in the series "Reminders to self", click here.

Photo: mine

Of Spaces and Lives

A new post in the series - When a Picture Leads

The bookcases filled, the tabletops decorated, the walls adorned, the shelves artfully arranged. I like it all, enjoy it all and care for it all. 

Yet sometimes a feeling enters, quite quietly, a sort of a longing to escape from it all. Of wanting to give it up, almost all. 

To experience the simplicity, the emptiness, the barrenness almost.

To be in a space that has all the room for stuff of life, yet is content with simply being. Unadorned, untouched.

Balancing the simplicity of minimalism and simplicity of fullness - my ongoing struggle with designing my space, my life.

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This post is inspired by the two pictures, shown above, of the two vases by Japanese American artist, Isamu Noguchi. I first saw these pictures a few years ago on the WWW, and since then I have simply loved the simplicity of these designs. Noguchi designed these vases in 1952 and called each of these simply as "vase". Perfect. Simple. Timeless. 

To see the previous posts in this series "When a Picture Leads", click here.

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Linking this post with WriteTribe 100 words on Saturday prompt: quite quietly

2 Objects of Joy

That's enough. I give up. I am giving in to the temptation. The temptation of wanting to possess. Beautiful objects, beautiful things. Not for me, but for my home. (Same difference?).

When I started this blog almost a year ago (it will be a year on April 14) I had decided that I would never want this blog to promote or have any role whatsoever in promoting a mindless "buy more, consume more" mindset. Even though the inspiration behind the blog does recognize and accept the inner beauty of form, I didn't and don't want this blog to become a vehicle for showcasing pictures of beautiful objects from exclusive designers or expensive brands. So far I have also been able to avoid the trap of writing blogs on topics or themes sponsored by product brands and other companies interested in promoting themselves for free via the blogger community.

But the temptation is now too great. In my frequent travels through virtual world, I see such beautiful pictures of beautiful things on different websites or blogs I visit. So what about my resolve? Well, okay, I am still not going to start writing my posts to promote different product brands. That will be totally against the spirit of this blog. But once in a while one is permitted some indulgence, no?

Plus I have a reasonably good reason to give in to the temptation, at least that's what my mind tells me.

You see, I have a casual interest in creating harmoniously beautiful living spaces for myself and my family and I have my own ideas on how to do it. And it is this interest that also drives me to browse through some interior design and lifestyle blogs. I don't follow any particular design trends (I find them too limiting and I like freedom), nor do I like to spend exorbitant amounts of money on beautifying my living spaces (mostly because I don't have it). I just go by what feels right to me, what feels beautiful and comfortable and creates a harmonious and serene ambiance.

I try to follow as much as possible the advise of the Mother about taking care of material objects,*** which requires that I don't keep too much stuff in my house which I know I won't be able to take care of. I must keep a check on how much stuff I accumulate, because stuff always has a tendency to accumulate! For the most part I am able to go by my self-made rule which goes something like this - "practice restraint and mindfulness and not allow the spaces and objects in those spaces to overwhelm the people living in those spaces". So while I try to satisfy my desire to make my living space beautiful I also try to be mindful of how I do it. While I give in to some temptation, I also try to practice some restraint and self-control. At least as much as I can.

But today I am giving in to the temptation. Partly or fully, mindlessly or mindfully, let the reader decide.

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. ” 

― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

I am starting a new series today - Things of Beauty. I did a post earlier with the same title (in singular), the opening sentence of which actually provides a good inspirational and philosophical context for this new series. I had opened that post with a quote from Rabindranath Tagore:

“Things in which we do not take joy are either a burden upon our minds to be got rid of at any cost; or they are useful, and therefore in temporary and partial relation to us, becoming burdensome when their utility is lost; or they are like wandering vagabonds, loitering for a moment on the outskirts of our recognition, and then passing on. A thing is only completely our own when it is a thing of joy to us.”

This new series will showcase some objects which I would very much want to possess for the sheer joy of having them around, near me, so whenever I want I can see them, touch them, feel them. Some day, whenever that some day might be.

Because I am not into brands or labels, I will try to ensure as much as possible that almost all of the objects showcased in the series are what marketing people call as "unbranded"...at least to my knowledge. Or let me put it this way, because I don't see myself going out to expensive boutiques or exclusive stores - real or virtual - to verify if these objects are some big-ticket designer items or their replicas, I will consider them as "unbranded". My only criteria for picking these objects will be whether they appeal to my sense of beauty, and if they are the kinds of things that I would perhaps some day like to acquire for my home. And because something in me tells me that these things of beauty will bring me joy for ever.

Let me also add that if at all this series promotes "buy more, consume more" mindset I sincerely hope it will be a mindset of mindful consumption, the definition of which I leave it upon the reader to decide. For I personally like to go by the advice of the Oscar Wilde - "To define is to limit." And as I said earlier, I like freedom when it comes to decorate my living spaces!

So with all this long preface, rationalization and justification for starting this new series, I feel I am now happily ready to share two such "things of beauty" for this first post in the series.

The first...

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What a cute little planter this is! I mean, look at it. How can anyone say no to this one? It is one of those things that every gardener should have it! Well, I don't know about every gardener, but I should definitely have it, I think. Actually I am quite sure that I should have it...I will have it some day. If I keep saying it like this with such hope, one day it will appear in my home! Obviously because it is a natural object made into a planter with some human handling, mine will not probably look exactly like this. Depending on the size and texture of the pumice stone used for making my planter, mine will perhaps look even better. Or at least I can hope it will :)

The second...

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Now, isn't that a great looking wind-chime? I already have...let me count...5 wind chimes (including a very special one from Svaram) in my outdoor living space - made of 3 different materials, but I would love to have this one too. I don't have one made out of little seashells. But that's not the reason, or at least not the only reason for wanting to have this wind-chime. I am taken in by the sheer charm and simplicity of this piece. The little touch of wicker on the top adds so much beauty to it, I think. And since I live quite close to the sea, I think it would make perfect sense to have such a wind-chime making its pleasing sea-shell sound in my courtyard. Now that I have also discovered a rational argument for possessing it, what more can I say in my defense? Done...this wind-chime too goes on my "must have" list!

O alright, their reasonably decent look-alike might also work.

Well, folks, that's it for this joyful post. Two objects of beauty on my "must-have" list for my home...garden, actually. Objects that will surely bring more joy to my home and garden!

One last, but certainly not the least, thing before I close. It is more of a disclaimer, actually. By saying what I have said in this post about my personal decisions regarding what I don't do through this blog, I do not, in any way, intend to make any judgmental comment on any of the blogs which review, endorse, promote or write for various product labels or brands. Some of these writings serve good purpose, I am sure. I am merely stating my personal preference, my personal bias, if you will, about what I think I should or shouldn't do via my blog. To each his/her own, that's how it is in the blogging community as I am beginning to understand it a little bit. No judgments of any kind, no imposing of personal biases of any kind. Completely democratic, completely free. That's what keeps this whole exercise of blogging meaningful and relevant - for bloggers, readers and the larger social-cultural context. Having said all this, let me also offer in advance my apologies to anyone who might have felt any sense of discomfort or displeasure at reading any part of this post.

More objects of beauty and joy to come in the future posts in this series...whenever inspiration strikes!



*** Here is the Mother's advice:

"Not to take care of material things which one uses is a sign of inconscience and ignorance. You have no right to use any material object whatsoever if you do not take care of it. You must take care of it not because you are attached to it, but because it manifests something of the Divine Consciousness."

~ Collected Works, Volume 14

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Linking this post to ABC Wednesday: J is for Joy.

Verb in the Garden

1 - Devi with the Ivy

"A garden without its statue is like a sentence without its verb."

~  Joseph W. Beach 

My little nephew, who is almost two years now, likes to speak in sentences without much use of verbs. That's okay for a baby. Even okay for casual speech or writing by an adult :)

But for a garden, it is absolutely no no. A garden of whichever size - small, medium or big, even a balcony or terrace garden with only potted plants - always needs its verb, I mean its sculpture. While a verb generally represents an action or being in motion, a garden sculpture is something that provides a type of groundedness for all the delicate green stuff around, in a way it makes it more bound to the place, the earth itself. This is what I have always sort of intuitively felt.

A garden sculpture doesn't have to be an expensive statue in granite or some other massive marvel in stone, even small beautifully carved terracotta figurines or other object d'art made of natural material that provides a sculptural interest can work wonders in beautifying our little green living spaces.

Ok, that's enough of my little amateur landscape design tip. It is time now for a few more pictures from my somewhat wild and over-grown tiny little garden, with its appropriate verbs and wines!

2 - Amidst the greens, yellows, reds and whites

3 - Guardian 

4 - Seated in a corner

And I have saved the best for last.

The picture below is NOT from my garden, but oh how I wish it would be! I am not sure, however, if I can create something like this or if I even want to create something like this in the little open space I have. But this is an image of a serene Japanese garden that I have always found so beautifully inspiring and aesthetically pleasing, just looking at it I feel trasported to a quiet place within.

5 - Tranquil

Knowing that a place like this exists is enough to give me joy, peace and contentment. Why wish to possess it?

Picture credits: 1-4 are photos from my garden, 1,2, 3 - Suhas Mehra, 4 - Sugrutha Kamat,
5 - Source unknown 

Led by a Photograph

Source

Yes, this is the photograph. The photograph that led me to an interesting and beautiful discovery.

I first came across this photograph a few years ago on some website but didn't really bother to read anything on that page and was simply mesmerized by the picture itself. Or perhaps at some level I was also somewhat aware of what this picture seemed to be doing to me -- inviting almost to just experience it on some level. There was something so genuine, so tender, so sweetly real about this picture, at least to me...so I just downloaded it and saved it on my computer in my already-brimming folder of inspiring photographs I find on the web. 

Every few days I would simply open this file and take in the beauty of this picture for a few minutes...not at all trying with my mind to decipher what was going on in this image. I would just simply look at it...merely to enjoy it, if you will. During a few fleeting moments however, the photograph did reveal some meaning or message, and in fact on a couple of occasions I even used that "meaning-laden" version of this picture as part of my presentations or classes for my teaching work. But for the most part, I simply enjoyed the beauty and gentleness of whatever feeling or emotion this picture was trying to represent or perhaps even create for me at that moment in time.

I didn't have any curiosity to know anything about this picture, where it came from, what was it about, who was the photographer, nothing...just that this picture existed was enough. 

Until today....

Today I finally used the trusty Google Image search engine and was delighted to find that this picture is actually a shot from a 2009 film based on the letters written by the great English poet, John Keats to his beloved, Fanny Brawne during the last three years of his very short 25-year-long life. Don't really know why I got curious today, but I did. And of course, I am now quite curious to watch this film, titled after one of Keats' poems, Bright Star! But what I find so gratifying right now is that the picture I have enjoyed for last several years without knowing anything about it actually does have such wonderful context around it. Joy of spontaneous discovery, I suppose!

I wonder however, if after watching the film, and particularly the sequence where this particular shot appears, the photograph will still continue to retain that unspoken mysterious appeal for me as it did until today. Maybe I will come to the conclusion that perhaps sometimes we don't really need to know! But who knows, maybe I will find the photograph even more beautiful after I watch the film. Maybe John Keats did say it right when he said - "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever". But speaking very humbly, I am now also quite curious to see if he was indeed right about this :) 

I can see that a sequel to this post might be on the cards soon!

A Thing of Beauty (Endymion)

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: 

Its loveliness increases; it will never 

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep 

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep 

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. 

Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing 

A flowery band to bind us to the earth, 

Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth 

Of noble natures, of the gloomy days, 

Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways 

Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all, 

Some shape of beauty moves away the pall 

From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon, 

Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon 

For simple sheep; and such are daffodils 

With the green world they live in; and clear rills 

That for themselves a cooling covert make 

'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake, 

Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms: 

And such too is the grandeur of the dooms 

We have imagined for the mighty dead; 

An endless fountain of immortal drink, 

Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink. 

~ John Keats

Postscript: The sequel to this post did come about after watching the film. You may read it here.

A Thing of Beauty...

Rabindranath Tagore once wrote: “Things in which we do not take joy are either a burden upon our minds to be got rid of at any cost; or they are useful, and therefore in temporary and partial relation to us, becoming burdensome when their utility is lost; or they are like wandering vagabonds, loitering for a moment on the outskirts of our recognition, and then passing on. A thing is only completely our own when it is a thing of joy to us.”

Beautiful words from Gurudev. And how profoundly meaning and immensely helpful this thought can be to us every time we feel the urge to simply grab one more object from the shopping mall! We really own something when it is a thing of joy to us, and only then that thing becomes beautifully and completely our own. But perhaps when something is indeed a source of joy to us, the urge to own it also disappears and all that remains is the feeling of joy that arises because of the mere existence of that thing. Truly, we may possess something only when we have mastered the urge to possess...because then all is anyway ours to enjoy, simply because it exists.

Easier said than remembered every time we go shopping! Easier remembered than actually practiced!

These words could also have some significant implications for designing our living spaces, be it our homes, gardens, a room or even a small corner. More on that in a later post...for now let me close this with a picture of a small corner of our humble garden that is always a thing of joy for me and my husband.

....is a Joy for Ever.

Sunday Morning Lesson in Beautiful and Precise Action

Had the joy of having the freshest possible idlis and steamed dosa for breakfast yesterday at the Visitor Center at Auroville. The joy was doubled when I saw a sweet lady come out of the restaurant kitchen with a basket full of assorted flowers and a polished-to-shine urli filled up to brim with water. She was about to start arranging the flowers in the urli - something that one can see on the restaurant main counter every time one visits this delightful eating joint. Leaving my husband alone at our table, and taking my coffee cup with me I went near this petite lady and after greeting her with a smile and hello, asked her if I could simply stand there and watch her do her ‘thing’ with flowers. She smiled a sweet smile and said yes.

And then it began...the delight of watching one of the sweetest and most beautiful work in progress.

All the flowers from the top of the basket were first laid out on the counter and separated by colours. First came a layer of delicate flowers (Rose periwinkle/Madagascar periwinkle/Catharanthus roseus; Spiritual significance given by The Mother – Integral Progress). 

Photo courtesy here

Each flower was floated in the water with careful precision and delicacy. After all the flowers were arranged in a circular pattern, the lady very gently pulled at one of the petals of each flower in order to leave just a hint of a space between the rim of the urli and the flower. This made the water sparkle in the combined light of the shiny brass of the urli and the white brightness of the flowers.  And I thought to myself – what a nice idea! How beautiful it looks.  But within a second I understood her actual reason for doing that.

She had discovered a whole bunch of tiny purple/lavender flowers at the bottom of the basket (Wishbone flower/Bluewings /Torenia fournieri; Spiritual significance given by The Mother – Krishna’s Play in Matter) and this tiny little space between the rim and each of the white flowers was just enough to float those purple gems. 

Photo courtesy here

And then it began again...my awe at how she was so carefully handling each of these purple flowers and arranging them in an exact precise manner so that their petals were floating in the same direction. No randomness, all in perfect order and harmony, and yet all done with such flawless spontaneous movements of her fingers. The flowers were so tiny but her soft eyes and gentle fingers were so observant and exact that not a teeny-weeny extra bit of an over-grown petal or accompanying leafy material made it to the arrangement.

Perfect precision in creating a work of art from the heart. I wish I had the camera with me to capture that gentle perfection in progress....but perhaps it is for the best that such beautiful moments of creating beauty are simply experienced in the flow of the moment, and not frozen.

Beauty of the action...

Perfection of the form...

Seeking the divine harmony behind everything...

The Sunday breakfast turned out to be a perfect lesson!