A humming word

Ruskin Bond is an invertebrate diarist, says the blurb of Landour days. Open the faded brown pages and the scent of various flowers, anecdotes about writers, poetry, recipes, will fill your mind and soul. A skilled writer, Ruskin Bond also offers a list of skills a writer must posses. Here are a few: Have any? By the way, I did not know a Sparrow Hawk either. For those of you who love walking, here's a tidbit: Did you know that many herbs were discovered by long walks into the forests and the ailments were cured by the walks itself? The diary is 140-pages and divided into seasons. Monsoon. Autumn. Summer. Winter. The weather in Mussorie (named after a herb) is conducive to art and no wonder, Bond loves living there. Many a writers have houses there and even in the 1850s, Irishmen built mansions,now unattended. The illustrations of plants and flowers that occupy the margins are like hand and glove. Pick this up for a leisure read and for a quick spa to the aching soul...

Art is a semicolon for our life; on either side, the independent clause is related but a breathing connector, helps us ease our routine. You will still get irritated with the bump holes, changing government policies, changing socio-economics among other labyrinthine problems of life, but knowing that each of us go through the same and when captured on an easel, it relieves you. Look back, after five years, and you’ll realise your worries were in vain. Meanwhile, take a glance at the everyday trance. Aptly named as Trance Everyday, Moshe Sayan, a self-taught Hyderabadi artist, uses vivid colors to capture the rainbow of colours in the sky. You may have captured from your cubicle at work, while sipping some chai or from your pantry or from your balcony but the watercolors carry their own charm. While oleographs, serigraphs are like nymphs and gods in heaven—beautiful but unattainable, watercolors and sketches are the shiny pebbles on earth—natural and attainable. A woman da...

The Indian Photo Fest claims to be the largest photo festival in South Asia. And rightly so. The fest that’s being held from September 20, 2019, to October 19, 2019, chose the right venue as well.   The State Art Gallery is a haven for art lovers. Nestled surreptitiously beside D Mart, the gate leads you to an uphill, dotted by metallic structures of crocodile, deities, and birds; the parapet wells are painted red with Worli art.   Enter the mammoth gallery of three floors and you’ll realize what a beautiful art space is hidden in the concrete jungle of Cyberabad. And you’d thank yourself for dragging yourself through the boisterous traffic to view the annual Indian Photo Festival, that boasts of an illustrious exhibition, book launches, work shops and a dedicated bunch of volunteers and participants. The sprawling exhibition that narrate emotional stories need space and time and what better than this gallery where time pauses for you. With adequate seating arrangemen...

We collect dirt, dust, and grime, not only on our bodies but also on our souls. In the glittering images and persona of Facebook and Instagram, we don't share the innermost thoughts but what if there was an avenue to do that. And that's what Sammy Sahni and Uzma Hyder facilitated at the office of Pause for Perspective. Tucked in a lane in Begumpet, the office of Pause of Perspective is a retreat for the soul. One can grab a book and read there or attend a Slow Down Saturday workshop to reconnect with yourself, among the other activities that they conduct. In a mileu of chirping birds, dragonflies, the scent of fresh air in a balcony, we sat on the floor, in an hexagonal shape and our connecting points were Sammy and Uzma, Ruhi of Pause for Perspective. Sammy read poems from her latest book, Iridiscence, and each piece was followed by discussions on what we felt. The motley of crowd from a yoga teacher to a student to psychologists, gave us fresh perspectives. I parti...

Nadia is tempestuous and independent. She lives in a war-stricken country, in the top floor of a two-storied building, alone. She enjoys the texture of her independence. Despite being stuck in a finance job, her creative outbursts seeps into margins of a notebook during a course in Finance and Corporate. Saeed is pursuing the same course. Saeed is calm and conservative. He lives with his parents and enjoys doing so. He works in an advertising agency and to augment his career, he takes the course. And this story is about these two individuals. In a hushed corridor, Saeed asks Nadia for coffee. She refuses initially, but after Saeed’s persistence, she agrees. In a war-stricken country, there’s space for bombs, and hate, but love is dismissed to tiny corners. They meet in her room and smoke marijuana. And this is how Saeed enter Nadia’s room: The bag landed beside Saeed with a muffled thump. He opened it, found her spare downstairs key, and also one of her bla...