Dec 3, 2011

Indian Bazaar

Local bazaars never cease to fascinate ...
(Scenes caught on my lens at a market in Gangtok, Sikkim)
Linking up to Mosaic Monday at the Little Red House, and The Creative Exchange.
To a colorful week ahead!

Nov 9, 2011

Fallen Flora, Singapore

It is not that fallen leaves and flowers are any different in different parts of the world ...

... but these pictures come from our hawaii chappal trails in Singapore.

The weather is fine at this time of the year,

with occasional thunderstorms leaving the greens lush, ...

 ... walkways wet, and fallen flora glistening.



A hot cuppa seems just apt now, doesn't it?

Nov 6, 2011

Jimbaran Bay, Bali

Seafood and sea lovers don't miss this place on a visit to Bali! In fact, it cannot be missed since it is very much in the tourist circuit and everyone comes here for a fun evening by the sea, to bite into freshly grilled crab, oysters, prawns and other fish while listening to local bands or watching occasional Balinese dance performances on a makeshift stage.

As you approach Jimabaran Bay by road (just South of the airport), you are greeted by rows of seafood restaurants and a strong waft of grilled seafood. (So strict vegetarians who cannot stand the yumm fragrance of fish being cooked/grilled, could opt out of the fun!) You enter a restaurant after being greeted by a pretty Balinese girl with a headgear made of frangipani flowers, and she gracefully takes a flower from her basket and pins one in your hair above your ear. 

Walk in and the restaurant opens into the beach where a few hundred tables are laid out, and lit with candles (by evening). Reach by sunset, watch the sun and the sky mate with the sea. It's a "wow" sight to behold.

Settle down with a few drinks...

... as you are entertained by dancers swaying to local music.


An infectiously enthusiastic local band comes to every table, and sings you a cheerful song, and sometimes in your regional language. We for instance, were sung 'Tum paas aaye' with a Balinese accent, to our surprise and delight :-)

Then came the seafood, which is well done and worth a try. Needless to say, it will be better if one goes without any expectations of getting a masala fry or a tamarind gravy. Bland is the word, but that's the way it should be!

After this, a walk on the beach through the water makes a perfect ending to the night!

Balinese offerings

On a visit to Bali it is difficult not to step on atleast one of these compact offerings the Balinese make to the Gods several times a day. They are seen offered in front of all temples, buildings, stores, homes, inside vehicles - in small neatly woven palm-leaf baskets called canang-sari, and is always accompanied by a couple fragrant incense sticks.


Inside the basket would be a banana or sugarcane slice, grains of colored rice, bright flowers and leaves, and sometime biscuits as in the one above.




In a way, it symbolizes the eternal all-powerful relationship among people, spirits and the all-powerful nature ... and is offered to appease the benevolent spirits.

A Taste of Balinese Artistry

Back from a vacation in Bali, with fresh memories of the beaches, paddy fields, wood craft, seafood, wayside temples, rustic orange brick buildings, friendly people, frangipani trees and fallen flowers on the streets.

I read this somewhere "The soul of the Balinese is in his religion, so it finds its expression in the arts." Indeed!
What I found irresistibly attractive were the artist villages all along our route to the town of Ubud. It just seemed that every other person was an artist in some way - kite makers, painters, weavers, stone and wood carvers, mask makers ...

We visited a few homes/galleries where the artists live, work and sell their creations.
Dear readers, here's a glimpse of it -

The master artist adding his finishing touches 

It's all in the details

Plenty more to choose from
Art supplies in the backyard

Carved in stone - A streak of sunshine falls across his curls, and all-knowing smile

The hundreds of these sculptures didn't seem to compete for the buyers' attention - they just stood weathering rain and shine, at peace with their surroundings
After day one of our stay, I sighed in realization that our short trip was going to be just too short for this beautiful a place, and resolved to come back for longer, someday ... for a better taste of local Bali.

Balinese (art) villages - I am certainly coming back for more!

(Linking this to And then she snapped.)

Oct 11, 2011

Three Delightful Stories


Two weeks ago, I got hold of a sketch poem book by Bangalore based artist Prabha Narayanan who blogs here. Delightful to say the least, the book is on and is called Nature and comes alive with easy watercolor strokes and poetry in the artist's own handwriting, and fits snugly in my palm. 
I first read about it in Priya Sebastian's The Plum Tree, and knew instantly that I had to buy it. A few email exchanges with Prabha and a copy of the book was mine. I have it up on my ledge like a fresh piece of art.



I also logged into Twitter after ages, never really understood the fun in it. But now I'm sort of hooked! I see several folks who write wittily, gives me interesting links, travellers, illustrators, and those who just write creatively about what they see around them. I really don't mind spending some time during my 1.5 hour bus journey to work, reading observant people who can play with words.
Tell me you are there too! You can find me @PopOfBright.


Let me leave you with this today...
                                                                  I opened an old book, 
Smelt the old pages.

As I flipped through the story, 
Which climaxes in Spring,

I found pressed 'ol flowers 
Between the pages.


Good day fellow bloggers!

Sep 13, 2011

Pattern Inspirations from Hampi

As you drive past wayside scenes as regular as small colorful houses, children playing on the streets, pigs and cows and dogs on the road, bullock carts, and old men sitting under the shade of trees, little would you think that this small village in North Karnataka was the capital of an Empire more than five hundred years ago.

A visit to Hampi, as any site of ancient ruins, evokes in you a strong feeling of awe of how prosperous the place must've been in its heydays. The temple stone carvings here are not as elaborate as you would see in other parts of India, but are awe-inspiring nevertheless. Now in ruins, they stand a reminder of the invasions by the Muslim-ruled Deccan Sultanates way back in the 1600s.

Apart from memories of the kingdom's past grandeur, I also brought back in my camera some of the simpler, easy-to-reproduce patterns from the ruins .... simplest among all the complex ones I spotted there.

As travel memories at home, I must try painting them onto fabric, paper, canvas, walls, urns, or tiles - to remind me of the place each time I walk by!




How about these as borders?

This string of elephants would make a happy border along the edge of a wall, or on a stole!

I got to try this one

Have to add in this pic of an elephant we spotted.
Love the frame - colors on his trunk, and the blue window behind.


On another note, let me proudly share this too ... that A Sunny Yellow Window has been added to the Directory of Best Indian Blogs in the Arts category, and I am Mighty pleased! :-) A big thank you to the IndianTopBlogs.com team. Do visit their website for a listing of several wonderful Indian blogs.

Coming back to topic, tell me which heritage site has inspired you to Create, Write, Paint, Stitch, Engrave, Decoupage or just Poster-it-up-on-your-wall.

Aug 29, 2011

Dear Paint, love the way you do that rainbow!

'tis the story of five mud pots that lived in a corner of home, and needed some Color!

Out came my acrylic paints ...

Did a deep blue on two of 'em
With a white twig on one.

Merged blues, white and green on another ...

Popped out one dirty fellow with a yellow...


Gave the fifth a worn out look, as if the blue-green-pink pattern inside was washed away with many years of the dark brown.


Up they perched on my ledge, 
Along with a painting of mine.

Go, Show off yourselves to all, 
The shapes and colours of thine!


What is your critique, and pick-of-the-lot?
Am linking this to The Weekly Story @ Colours Dekor.

Aug 23, 2011

Travel Blogging!

(Update Dec 2014: All posts from the travel blog moved to this blog. However you can definitely proceed to read the post below :-)

The most unassuming of all foot wear, the flip-flops or the desi Hawaii chappals instantly strike a chord with most Indians. The slap of these blue-whites against heels is an all too familiar sound, isn't it?

Most of us keep them for home. Random cyclists wear them for the road, the Mamta Banerjees wear them to work, "cool" college goers wear 'em to classes, avid trekkers wear them while at their passion ...


Cushions your feet while walking, takes you from place to place, simple, elemental.

I also believe a place should be explored on feet to really appreciate the small wonders it has to offer. So go as you may - train, air, road ... but at the destination, tread joyfully on the roads less taken, breathe in local flavours, chat up with the locals, taste their authentic food.. What do you think??


With that I welcome you to the small wonders in travelling, and to my new travel blog - The Hawaii-Chappal Trail :-) As cool or uncool as that sounds, it is what I love about travelling ... basic, refreshing experiences through walking the planet! 



Do peep in, and let me know in a comment if you have a travel blog too, would love to read it!
Here's to a sunny week ahead.

The Nilgiris Mountain Rail

The Nilgiris Mountain Rail from Coonoor to Mettupalayam is a charming old one.

It uses the rack and pinion system to chug up the steep gradients of the mountains. Here's a glimpse of the rack in between the rail track... seen in the premises of the Runnymede Guest House, Coonoor which boasts of sprawling tea estates and a portion of this heritage railway track running through its property.


Old wooden sleepers on which the steam locomotives chug along rattling at it's own slow pace, leaving behind clouds of black smoke...


In all its glory, reminding one of bygone days of the British rule in India.


Linking this to  

Aug 12, 2011

To get that rustic look on furniture!

Have you ever worked with chalk paint... (not chalkboard paint)
I've been wanting to try it on a piece of furniture!

Photobucket

Miss Mustard Seed uses it brilliantly, I simply love her work... authentic! Have a look at some of her creations.



A few rounds of sanding after painting gives this beautiful effect. That awesome chalky finish.


And here's the work of Shaunna @The Perfectly Imperfect blog..
Photobucket

And from another...
[chalk paint 6--annie sloan facebook page[5].jpg]

Are chalk paints available in India, does any manufacturer sell them here? Have come across Annie Sloan's, but they aren't sold around here.

The alternative is to try dry brush painting to create the faux weathered texture, as in...

Anything for this rustic charm!! What say?

[Click on the pictures to visit their sources and for how-to's.]
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