EDiJ - Continued

EDiJ #15 - Draw something summer
In this part of the world, the best thing (or may be the only good thing!) about the summer is some of the most delicious fruits I've had - Lychees and Mangoes!

EDiJ #15 (contd)
Mango! delicious mango!!

Of the two best summer offerings - the mangoes and lychees - I can never decide which I like better!

EDiJ #16 - Something I've always wanted
I've always kept my books in whatever shelf space was available, but I've always wanted to have a nice, simple, spacious book-shelf.

Kalam Aaj Unki Jay Bol

A beautiful, inspiring poem, by my most favorite poet ....

This is quite a famous poem, most of us would have read in school text books (though I think the textbook did not have the complete poem, only two paras). For a long while, I was not able to find the entire text on net either. But recently, I did find the complete poem, and it was a great pleasure indeed ...

कलम आज उनकी जय बोल!
    - रामधारी सिंह 'दिनकर'

जला अस्थियाँ बारी-बारी
चिटकाई जिनमें चिंगारी,
जो चढ़ गये पुण्यवेदी पर
लिए बिना गर्दन का मोल!
कलम, आज उनकी जय बोल!

जो अगणित लघु दीप हमारे
तूफानों में एक किनारे,
जल-जलकर बुझ गए किसी दिन
माँगा नहीं स्नेह मुँह खोल!
कलम, आज उनकी जय बोल!

पीकर जिनकी लाल शिखाएं
उगल रही सौ लपट दिशाएं,
जिनके सिंहनाद से सहमी
धरती रही अभी तक डोल!
कलम, आज उनकी जय बोल!

अँधा चकाचौंध का मारा
क्या जाने इतिहास बेचारा,
साखी हैं उनकी महिमा के
सूर्य चन्द्र भूगोल खगोल!
कलम, आज उनकी जय बोल!

KidSpeak / SidSpeak

My blogging activity had again seen an interrupt, as I mentioned earlier. However, here are some collected "gems" of kids' wisdom over this period ....

***

As I got ready to step out one Sat morning: "I don't like your dress. It's not beautiful!!"

***

To N, sitting in some deep thoughts, who he wanted to come and play with him: "Papa, what are you thinking? Come and think in my room."

***

Sid insisted on going to a "toy-shop" with a very specific objective in mind. There, we told him to ask the shopkeeper himself for what he wanted. So, Sid told the shopkeeper, in no uncertain terms, "I want a FLYING helicopter". The shopkeeper kidded him, "Will you take a toy one, or a real one?" Pat came the response - "Do you think I have a license? Can I fly a real helicopter?"

***

Earlier, when Sid was younger, whenever he found a rubber-band, he'd come running to me, "meri chonti (choti) bana do"  [Make a ponytail for my hair]. I thought he had grown out of this phase, but yesterday as I was tying my hair, he said, "Give me a rubber-band too, make my 'choti' also". To humor him, I found a small rubber-band, and tied a small bunch of his short hair on top of his head. He went to check his appearance in a mirror, and immediately exclaimed - "I look like a girl!"

EDiJ - The progress so far

As I mentioned, after the EDiM challenge got over, I was inspired enough to join the EDiJ (every day matters in June) group. I am not a regular like most of the people on the group; I am usually hard-pressed for time, and due to my lack of practice, cant do a drawing quite quickly. So, I skip on the days when I don't have time, or don't find the topic quite interesting, without feeling guilty about it :-)

EDiJ #1 - Draw your favorite well-loved object, or a childhood toy

In childhood, my brother and I, didn't have too many toys, but had a lot of games. This is "Plot 4", that my brother and I played a lot with, over years. One player has red coins, other has yellow coins, and you take turns putting the coins in slots, aiming to make a row of four coins of your color, straight or diagonally.

EDiJ#3 - Draw anything you like

I love flowers, and pansies are amongst my favorites. Tried my hands at oil pastels again ....

EDiJ #5 - Holiday theme.
Deepawali (Diwali) is one of the major festivals in India - the festival of lights and cheer. Modern electric lights now replace the traditional earthen lamps, but those have their own charm, and most people will still light some for the tradition. Many people also create colorful patterns from colored powders in their homes - called rangoli (rang = color). Quick drawing in color pens, to wind up the day :-)

EDiJ #6 - Draw a self portrait

I am not good at portraits, and guess I have been a software engineer for too long. So I decided to make a "functional" drawing of myself.

EdiJ #8 - Draw something tart or sour.
Tried to render some lemons in color pencils.

EDiJ #9 - Something green.

EDiJ#11 - Draw something alive.
What could be more full of life than a child?
Sadly though, my sketch does not well capture the innocence.

EDiJ #12 - Favorite food.
I love cakes!!

The EDiM challenge

EDiM #11 - Something with wings.
Catching up on backlog (May 29)

 

EDiM #12 - Draw a button or buttons
Some belated buttons! (May 26)
I bought these decorative buttons for a dress, but havent yet put them on after a year! :-P

EDiM #16 - A neighborhood store.
This is the first one I did, after joining this group mid-way through May:
I didnt find an interesting store to draw, but there are these road-side eating joints, found profusely specially in southern cities of India, that offer a quick bite, (come/eat-whiel-standing/go) quite fascinate me. This one is on my way to office.

 

 

EDiM #17 - Bread.

This is garlic bread served with soup, I had for lunch that day.

EDiM #17 - Bread (2)
The result of the first attempt was not quite interesting, so I decided to draw the whole-wheat bread (Roti) we usually have with our meals. It turned up looking more like a bun though :-)

EDiM #20 - Draw a streetlight
The streetlamps around were rather plain and boring, so I drew one of these lamps that light up the parks in my apartment complex.

 

EDiM #25 - Flowers.
For this drawing, I borrowed my 4-year-old's crayons (who has by now misappropriated whatver little drawing supplies I had). I wanted to experiment a bit, with color and shading, though the crayons didnt give the results I wanted.

EDiM #27 - Clouds.
Went to a small hill on weekend, and saw a fascinating pattern of clouds. Tried to capture in a pencil sketch ....

EDiM #30 - Something representing your favorite sport.
Well, Table Tennis is the only sport I have ever played ...

 

EDiM #30 - Sport:  Another take.
Figure Skating is perhaps the only sport I like to watch, for their beautiful, graceful movements (and not to say, pretty dresses!). This is my first attempt at oil pastels, all the while trying to ward off my 4-year old who kept saying, "Even I like these colors", "You have to share them with me", etc :-)

I am back. Again.

I am back. Again. Or am I??

 

So, it has been a long break again. I had taken a two week break, and couple of weeks on either side were spent in preparing/settling. And then the usual challenge of starting to write again .....  I'll keep my fingers crossed on the duration of this burst of activity :-)

Other than the vacation which was spent visiting family back in north, there was one significant development in this while.

A friend added me to a group on Facebook, called "Every Day in May" (EDiM). The group had defined a list of things to draw for each day of the month, and the objective of the members was to draw the subject chosen for that day. It is not a competition, just a challenge (and its not even mandatory to post everyday), but just do it, for the joy of it.

My friend had added me midway through, but when I looked at the amazing work done by the people in the group. I was inspired (even though I cant do tenth as well as most people there) - to draw again after a gap of four years.

I no longer had any drawing equipment - whatever little remained of the few things I had, have been "misappropriated" by Sid :-) But, I was inspired enough to draw, even if it was simple sketching, using just a regular pencil on printer paper.

In fact, I was inspired enough to join "Every Day in June" challenge when May ended, and also to buy some new books, paint and brushes this weekend.

Deflating the ego balloon

However self-important you may be feeling, kids can effortlessly puncture the balloon of your ego.

Sid: See, I can do bla ... bla .. bla ...
N: Yes. You are a big guy now!
Sid [in an agitated tone]: No, I am not a guy!!

This left us surprised, rather shocked, and apprehensive of what he might have picked up.

N: Oh ok. And who is a guy?
Sid: A guy is a big strong man.

And this relieved us.

N [with just s wee bit of pride]: You mean like papa?
Sid: No, you are also not a guy.

[ ... phussss .... ]

N [now less cheerful, and rather puzzled]: Why is papa not a guy?
Sid: No, A guy is someone much taller and stronger than you.
Thankfully, Sid didn't have any specific example of a guy :-)

Mera Sambal

It is quite a surprise that with all the poems that I have been posting, I have not yet come around to post anything by Bachchan. The first poem I am about to share is something I have always found rather special - its a short, crisp verse, somewhat different from his usual, verbose, song-like style (I love those too!), voicing eternal hope.

मेरा संबल 

  - हरिवंश राय बच्चन 

 

मैं जीवन की हर हल चल में
कुछ पल सुखमय
अमरण अक्षय
चुन लेता हूँ

मैं जग के हर कोलाहल में
कुछ स्वर मधुमय
उन्मुक्त अभय
सुन लेता हूँ

हर काल कठिन के बन्धन से
ले तार तरल
कुछ मुद मंगल
मैं सुधि पट पर
बुन लेता हूँ।

Conversations with Sid

I want to fly ...  so high ...

Sid has a great fascination for vehicles (as all boys do), and most of his toys are cars, trucks, planes etc. Of late, his specific attention has been on things that fly - they have been a constant topic of our conversations, and he has now established a 'pecking' order amongst them - on basis of what else, but speed - helicopter, aero-plane, rocket, spaceship.

Yet another conversation with him, as he was playing with one of his toy planes:
Sid: When can I sit in a helicopter?
Me: When we see a helicopter, which is allowing people to fly in it, we can buy a ticket and sit in it.
Sid: When can I sit in a fighter plane?
Me: For that, you have to be big and strong, go into army (air force), and become a pilot.
Sid: No, I don't want to drive (fly) a fighter plane, only sit in it.
Me: For that, you must become a minister!!

Well, next he asked me how to become a minister, but I had no answer for that one - I couldn't very well advise him to get some experience in "gunda-giri".

Trapped ... again

Of late, Sid has started using a little too much logic in his conversations that we find it difficult to keep up with him. Yesterday, we promised to get him some ice-cream after his dinner. About half-way through the meal, when he was no longer too hungry, he started making excuses for not eating his food.

Sid: I can't eat any more.

N: No only 4 bites more. You are 4 years old, so you can have 4 more bites. *

Sid: No, I am 0 years old. I cant eat anything. [Reference for "0 years" is here :-) ]

N: But babies of 0 years can't eat anything. They don't have any teeth, so they can't even eat ice-cream.

Sid: (In wonder) Babies of 0 years don't have teeth? 

N: No.

Sid: They have a tongue?

N: Yes, they only have a tongue.

Sid: Then they can only lick the ice-cream?

* The first time I wrote this sentence, I typed "bytes"! Nerd!!

Ham Panchi Unmukt Gagan Ke

A simple, sweet, beautiful poem - and again, a memoir of school days.

हम पंछी उन्मुक्त गगन के
  - शिव मंगल सिंह सुमन 

हम पंछी उन्मुक्त गगन के
पिंजरबद्ध न गा पाएँगे
कनक-तीलियों से टकराकर
पुलकित पंख टूट जाएँगे ।

हम बहता जल पीनेवाले
मर जाएँगे भूखे-प्यासे
कहीं भली है कटुक निबौरी
कनक-कटोरी की मैदा से ।

स्वर्ण-श्रृंखला के बंधन में
अपनी गति, उड़ान सब भूले
बस सपनों में देख रहे हैं
तरु की फुनगी पर के झूले ।

ऐसे थे अरमान कि उड़ते
नील गगन की सीमा पाने
लाल किरण-सी चोंच खोल
चुगते तारक-अनार के दाने ।

होती सीमाहीन क्षितिज से
इन पँखों की होड़ा-होड़ी
या तो क्षितिज मिलन बन जाता
या तनती साँसों की डोरी ।

नीड़ न दो, चाहे टहनी का
आश्रय छिन्न-भिन्न कर डालो
लेकिन पँख दिए हैं तो
आकुल उड़ान में विघ्न न डालो ।