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Art through the eyes of children- Sep 22, 2012

Weekends are nearly exclusively time for friends and family. We also try and catch events, exhibitions and shows on weekends. Today, we were able to kill two birds with one stone at the Gurgaon Art Mart at Epicentre, where a dear friend’s mother who is also a favourite aunt to us was exhibiting her art for the very first time. Lekha Aunty is a natural and her work was very interesting. It was also fun to see the sheer variety of art work, both in terms technique and sensibility.
Of course, reactions from Udai and Aadyaa were a source of constant amusement and amazement. Where do children get the knack for understanding art? They see and interpret so astutely, it puts most adults to shame. At one point, I heard Udai having a detailed conversation about a particular painting with the artist, who seemed genuinely curious to hear the perspective of an eight year old. Aadyaa went around pointing work she liked rather spontaneously, rather guided by color and form as one would expect from a child her age. Krishna as a theme resonates with her strongly and there were plenty of depictions of both Krishna and Ganesh. I was glad see less of the Buddha, who has become some sort of urban craze and dominated the pop art scene for years.
The icing on the cake for the kids was the opportunity to paint on canvases open to the public. They really went for it, both of them, opting for big bold strokes. Outside in the amphitheatre, Danceworks put up some interesting choreography in the contemporary style, which immediately inspired the kid to perform their own antics.
Cultural spaces like the Epicentre, though a tad too formal for my liking, are a boon to places like Gurgaon. A much needed oasis in a cultural desert. Today, I enjoyed experiencing the space and the art through the eyes of my kids.

Posted in Arts

Lessons from a month of daily blogging- Jan 31, 2012

Jan 31

Posted by ramblinginthecity

I’m over the moon at completing a month of daily blogging today. It’s not been easy, but it’s been addictive and here are the highs and lows.

Off the cuff

An overall positive reaction It’s been a high to get appreciated certainly and thanks for all the pats; it makes it worthwhile going on. However, I am particularly grateful for the constructive criticism from my closest friends. Pointing out typos, inconsistencies and debating points via the comments made some entries really worth the effort!

A growing and varied readership In the beginning, it was only my friends list on FB that read my blog. In the latter half of the month, though, some new bloggers from around the world have joined the list and that has been gratifying.

A new ability to shed inhibitions One of my earliest lessons was that it is easy to get caught up in the diplomacy game. I decided I would blog honestly and express opinion without reserve, as far as possible. Am hoping to sustain that!

A huge lesson in self-discipline Being able to exercise the discipline to write everyday and make some sense has been the single largest achievement of the past month. There are days I have literally punched away not knowing where the heck the words were trying to reach! Thanks to all those with faith who cared enough to worry about the days I posted at nearly midnight and shared my relief when the post actually went up!

Self-criticism

Not enough ‘city’ in my posts The subjects I write about are a bit all over the place right now. Yes, you can’t really focus too much without boxing yourself in and boring the reader, but some posts really struggle to fit into an urban context. Hope to correct that over time!

Too affected by the site stats Once I discovered the site stats pages, I was in a tizzy. Much as it is gratifying to see what posts really pushed buttons out there, it is equally discouraging to see phases when traffic simply peters out! Sometimes I see a pattern and quality of content plays a significant part, but sometimes the logic for the highs and lows is not very apparent. I think starting today, I will try and tone down my focus on the stats and focus the next month on just writing!

Brevity, where art thou? The posts are far too long. I pour my heart out, but its not always fun to read more than the equivalent of a single A4 page! And if there is a point to make, I should be able to make it in about 500 words, right?

New strategies

Here’s what I’m focusing on in the coming month- Resisting the urge to ‘plan’ the blog and keeping it spontaneous for now, trying hard to pack in the punch and not ramble too much, exploring new directions and new urban topics, constantly trying to build correlations among diverse areas of interest, not pacing things out but letting some posts be intense and others dull kind of reflecting the state of mind at the time…

Appeal

I still don’t know where I am going with this blogging deal, but I would be grateful to all for comments, honest opinions and suggestions…. and please don’t worry about being too nice!