A humming word

I remember growing up, my brother and I would cycle to the library. He riding and me sitting in the front. The library was City Central Library. In Chikkadpally. I spent my entire childhood here. My cousins and I hiding comics within text books and reading.  We watched television only in the night for half hour. Else, we spent more time with paper planes and paperboats. As malls sprouted and libraries diminished, cafes with bookracks took over but somewhere stuck on that cycle handle, I realised how wonderful it would be to recreate the spirit of throwing around paperplanes, making paper boats but with our words, moulding it, kneading it and creating art and books together. Join in.. As you lived a childhood as cool as mine. Or create one if you have not.

  Dear Reader, You don’t know me, nor do I know you. But let me tell you where I come from. I come from a land of emotions. I am in my thirties and I run on emotions. My parents are in their late fifties and they ran on obedience and emotions. My late grandparents ran on roles and obedience and emotions. And it continues. Also, we are emotional about the things we care. Be it painting or coding. We treat our work as life, at times. Somewhere the work and life gets too intermingled to even have a balance. And, writing helps. It helps the emotional fool within us to navigate the path of life, often guided my numbers and hours. Our emotions don't know numbers. But writing about it is a sign post for our hours and days. We are not machines to be guided by the northern lights of numbers. We are human to be nurtured by art. But can we organize that? We can try!  In 2007, I started writing poetry, in August, when our city Hyderabad, known for harmony, suddenly became the epicen...

  Raaga Katta is an illustrator based out of Anantapur. Her page Grey Brains is fun and witty and I found it endearing that it is bilingual: Telugu and English. I recently ordered a calendar from her and it sits on cutely on my grey desk.  Here’s a quick interview with Raaga via email! She is equally perky on email too.   Why Grey Brains? When did you conceptualise it? Spill it all out :)  This was back in 2017 (while I was pursuing my MBA), YouTube videos and content creation was a rage. I quite liked the idea of saying quirky things on social media and calling it content. I also wanted to do something like that, but I was and still am a little camera shy (for recording, I love getting photographed) so I thought I will draw and say what I want, I can make characters and make them do any thing that human beings would not be open to do.  It's a different thing that I later learnt this is an actual thing and it is called Illustration (cos like any other Andh...

MR Book Center or as the owner Uncle calls it “Mister Book Center” sits comfortably, tucked under the Begumpet Flyover. The innocent Green and Yellow banner with Bold Letters hide the mammoth collection of the store. Enter it and you’d be welcomed by Calendars, translation of popular books in Telugu and racks and racks of books. It is a wonderland for book lovers.  A thirty-five-year family-run business, MR is the initial of their father’s and brother’s names. The staff is friendly and the owner uncle, another MR, is warm and easy to speak with. He showed us a copy of Quran that had a small note by the Nizam. He also told us anecdotes of book lovers who never married for the fear of not having to keep their books. The eminent Corona and the waning book visitors managed to creep in our conversations. And he immediately mentioned that he partnered with Amazon and Flipkart with a glint in his eyes.   A rare Quran      MR Uncle One would remember that they sol...

After an enriching day of talks on Art and Protest and a day of learning at the conference in Bangalore, I washed my eyes with an art exhibition at the State Art Gallery by Bharath Yadav, who belongs to the cowherd community, displayed an array of exhibits and paintings focusing on buffaloes, pollution, meat shop. What intrigued me was the art installation by this gentleman which was a bullock cart of rusted pipes and a synchronous arrangement of milk cans with a small wooden box with a slit. How often do we think of buffaloes with a pollution mask? Never, right? And with people with masks around, it was amusing so see so. The artist effectively proves his point on how environmental damage is leading us to the claustrophobic polluted air that we've manufactured for ourselves.  The past few weeks, I was inundated with good art that have been linked to protest and focus on the margins. And a play titled Mosambi Narangi, a play abou t  two failed junior artist...

Ever wondered what Kashmir looked like before the militia, the government, the terrorists and the plague of fear took over? Kalakriti Art Gallery, host to the art exhibition: Makers and Meanings, has displayed three tiny room full of photographs, clicked by R.C. Mehta. Mr. Mehta ran the first photo studio of Kashmir and he clicked animated portraits of the commoners and celebrities, alike--Pandit Nehru campaigning in the house boats to shy women and sunkissed soldiers, you will find the breath of Kashmir captured in these portraits. Also, the camera which was used was displayed too. So, go ahead, photo bugs! And, for the poets in us, walk through the bazaars where they sold bread, the farms where women toiled and campaigns in House Boats. What was impressive was that the farmers were women. This was 1940s. Can you imagine? These photo rooms, as I call it, is a time travel. You can see the Dal Lake, the Jhelum, the Shalimar Bagh of the 40s and be awestruck. As I passed by, going ...

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...

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...

What is Kalakriti Art Gallery Kalakriti Art Gallery stacked on the busy road of Road no 10, Banjara Hills, is a haven for art lovers and artists in the same steam. It is a respite for the eyes that's often subjected to insipid landscapes of dust and soot around the growing populace of our city. The library/bookstore stocks books from Tara Books and other publications that assist legendary and upcoming artists to promote their work. And with the addition of Creatif, I am sure the gallery will surprise us with more shows, like the one we went today to: Window to the Gods by various Indian artists including Raja Ravi Verma. The colors and mediums used such as olegraph and chromograph and the fine lines that define their art was a treat for noobs like me (I am an amateur in the techniques). My mum, an art lover and a practicing artist, enjoyed the display too.  The Scoundrel and the Gentleman  But what stole our attention and mersmerised us was the talk by ...