Clean it up

 A Painting and a Story # 25

'Who is coming?' asks Magan. He is not being rude. He is genuinely concerned. There is a pandemic and literally no one visits no one! Yet here is Meenu (short for Meenakshi) cleaning up the house like we do to impress a special guest. The teak top of their precious dining table is now clearly visible. Come to think of it... it is really a lovely piece of heritage furniture. The pictures on the wall are replaced. And she is attacking the clothes cupboard. The large heap of clothes on the carpet has some faded, some that fall into the 'I never wear it' category. Soon they all get swept into an extra large bag, ready to be gifted away.

Magan tries to disappear into the laptop but that is not working. She sends him to the books shelf. 'Get this sorted. What you don't want put it on the table. I will upload pictures and share with apartment friends. Whoever wants can take it. I want to free up some space' she says enigmatically.

'But who is coming??' Magan still does not know. 

His mobile makes that peculiar beeping sound. It is a warning message from the Security at the apartment gate, 'You have a visitor - You have a visitor' it blinks. Magan is relieved. Now he will know who's coming! When the doorbell rings Magan rushes to the door, he is really curious. But it is a delivery boy with a bunch of flowers. 'Flowers??' Magan is now worried. Is it their anniversary? Her birthday? The anniversary of their first kiss? Gosh! He cannot remember!

Magan is sure he is in for trouble.

Meanwhile Meenu is humming a little tune and looking up a recipe for Seven Cup Burfi. It is fail-safe. She has all the ingredients too. The coconut is large and has a tough shell to crack. There is a strip of stone at the back entrance, the hosilu, the threshold. She bends down to break the coconut on the hosilu and straightens in a hurry. He is already here! When did he get in? No hugs, no claps, no fireworks, no noise. He has come in silently.

Meenu is flustered. Her breath comes in short sharp gasps. What will he say. What does he bring? But his presence is calming. His face glows with promise and hope. 

Dramatically Meenu feels better.  Meenu breaks the coconut, gently collects the water and drinks it up. It is sweet. She pulls out the brand new Bangalore Press Calendar and places it on the side board in the hall. 

Magan takes a deep breath soaking in the fresh fragrance of her shampooed hair and feels the warmth of her arms around his neck. '2021 is here'. She whispers to him happily. 'I promise I will live every moment joyfully and do what is needed to help others be joyful too'.

Magan turns around smiling, 'Yes Let's do that. Shall I grate the coconut for the burfi?'

Happy 2021 my dear friends.

This painting is by a good friend. We tried oil pastels and she has been far more successful in her attempts. Oil pastels by Tara Gopinath. I call it Joy

Reaction

 A Painting and a Story # 24

She looked at the comments on the new cane juice advertisement in horror. The disaster unfolded the minute the video clip went live. People found all sorts of things wrong with it. Regressive, anti-women, farmer-unfriendly the list was endless. Meenu (short for Meenakshi) is in shock. The project is partly her responsibility. She knows the lines are beautiful, the images are dreamy and the message is clear. She really thinks she has created something wonderful. 

Suddenly her world has collapsed. Husband has made a plate for her but she cannot eat. Oh yes! She has the quotes on her wall. Success comes only to those who try. If you don't make mistakes you are not trying new things. Accept responsibility and move one. Meenu knows it all! She has even said the same thing to others. But all this advice is not working. She is feeling miserable and that is the truth. She doesn't have tears flowing down her cheeks. She has a sunken feeling in her gut that does not go away. She is thinking of the loss, to the client, to the company and to her confidence. Her restless mind is all over the place! She paces up and down the hall. Her breathing pattern changes. She finds herself sweating. Her throat is dry. She feels her pulse. Is she going to faint?

With a determined step she goes to wooden shelf in the corner behind the dining table. Magan looks at her helpless! He has tried to reason with her and received a sharp retort! He knows when he needs to keep away! She pulls out knickknacks lined on the shelf and dumps them on the table. 

A couple of paperbacks joins the pile on the table. A brass elephant clangs harmlessly to the floor. Meenu pulls out a CD in a plastic case and gently wipes off the dust on it. Scrawled into the paper inside is birthday wishes from Hoo Ffu Kaka. Gradually the gentle strings of a veena blends into the soulful melody of violin. It is coming from their music system in the hall. The music seeps into her. She becomes still. The music flows over her, around her and into her. The racing mind empties itself. The problem has not gone away. It still needs to be addressed. But what is important is the SHE is not the problem! She walks quickly to the table and picks up her plate. Magan knows she will be fine. 

When the sun sets, when we are ready to go to bed, there are two things we can do. We fret at what went wrong (we recall disasters in vivid detail!!). Or we consciously decide to do whatever it takes to quieten the mind! Any route to achieve that is okay, as long as the route does not take us through chemicals!

My painting for today is Sunset on the Beach in oil pastels. I think I used over 15 shades to create this! With oil pastels there is no dust on my table but my fingertips hurt with rubbing them and blending them into the canvas! I sometimes use my finger joints too! 

Sunset on the Beach in Oil Pastels

Learning to Learn

  A Painting and a Story # 23

The second Friday of the month is special to her company. At exactly 4 pm most of the 27 of them assemble in the conference room. It is a short 15 minute session where an employee shares a video or a presentation. It is Harish's unique way of allowing colleagues to share their outside life and hobbies and interests.

Today Meenu (short for Meenakshi) reluctantly drags her feet to the conference room. Every attempt to satisfy the specifications of the client has fallen flat. Really! She has done this a zillion times and suddenly this particular client seems to object to everything she suggests. She is at her wits end. Her team is only adding to her woes. And she really has no time for this FRIDAY BONDING! Her head is throbbing.

The room is darkened. The projector throws a sharp white light on to the white wall. And the video of what appears to be yet another tiring Safari begins. But wait the camera zooms into a tree, a nest, a weaver bird nest. A well blended presentation of several short clips shows the male weaver-bird building a nest. He takes blades of green grass and knits them together to make the nest. It takes about 200 blades of grass to make half a nest. The lady flies around inspecting the incomplete nest. And with a toss of her small head she rejects it. The guy doesn't give up. He starts all over again. Again a quick inspection and a shake! Reject! The male bird flies around his nest. And begins again. Every time he modifies the location, or the way it attaches to the branch, or the selection of the branch. There is silence in the conference room as the bird builds for the third time. It takes about 300 blades of grass! And then he flaps his wings and calls the lady for inspection. This time she approves! And joyfully the young male completes the 'house'. She sometimes gives finishing touches to the interiors with some soft mud! The video ends with the lady getting into the tunnel shape of the nest and inspection done she hops to the edge of the nest and calls out her approval. The room erupts into joyous claps! And the session is over. 

Meenu walks out with a smile. At her desk she thinks, doing the same thing in the same way over and over again does not lead to perfection. That only results in mindless habitual thinking. Even the weaver bird evaluates every situation with a fresh look and here she was, basking in the glory of earlier success and blaming the client for being unrealistic. 

She takes a fresh note pad and begins to look at client requirement with fresh eyes. The solution she knows, lies in some important detail that they have all misunderstood. 

My painting for this week is an abstract in soft pastels. 

Co-existence - Soft pastels