The 'Karela' Tales

 

'Karela' is the Hindi name for the bitter gourd.

2016

In the summer of 2016, I think my mother planted a few karela seeds as her friend encouraged her to try growing these at home. Or maybe because as she always threw the vegetable peels into her pots to make manure, a few seeds invariably made their way into the mix, sprouting with the rains. Anyhow, a couple of karelas came but were quickly infested. Mom was disappointed with her maiden attempt at veggie growing and threw away the spoilt produce. But the vine remained...

Then in autumn she suddenly went away. In my grief, I preserved a leaf from the karela vine planted by her. It was one of my ways of paying tribute to her green fingers while creating a tangible memory for posterity.

Karela Leaf - 2016

2023

On a whim, I planted some karela seeds in summer and numerous vines came up. Only this time, though the initial produce was not very encouraging, I persisted. Once the rains subsided, the plants picked up and gave us continuous produce right through autumn. Incidentally, the karela vine has very pretty shaped leaves. So I decided to incorporate some into my artwork this year too.

Karela leaf prints - 2023

Managing to grow the karela successfully was a strangely inexplicable experience, as if I was completing a task left halfway by my mother. Seven years later, life had finally come full circle! Now when I place the two pieces of art together, it gives me a sense of continuity.

From one generation to another, life flows on...

The Lepidoptera Artist Book

 

This month I'd like to bring you my 'Moths and Butterflies' handmade journal, prepared from scratch by recycling common materials around the house. Click here to see a process video of how you can also make a junk journal or artist book of your own.

Pages from the Moths and Butterflies journal

In my artist book, I am trying to capture all the pretty Lepidoptera (species of insects) seen around the area I am located in. 

Close up of the hand-painted images

Being in the midst of green open spaces, we are lucky to have a wide variety of beautiful insects not commonly seen in urban settings. There is a wide range of butterflies, right from the tiny grass ones to large beautiful swallowtails and tigers. The moths here are also larger and include hawkmoths, strikingly colourful and positively exotic.

Given the way climate change is creeping upon us, I'd like to capture the beauty of these Lepidoptera for posterity so that future generations aren't deprived of the pleasure of knowing about them.

Happy Thanksgiving

India has been making news globally but not always for good things. Earlier this month, the episode of the horrendous Delhi pollution that left us choked and coughing, covered in a blanket of yellow-grey smog, really made me worried about the planet we are leaving behind for the generations to come.

This is not the Earth we inherited.... then why are we ruining and vandalizing it? Do we have no responsibility towards our children; how will they survive when the very air they breathe is poisonous! 

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am grateful for we still have much to be thankful for - the rising sun, the spells of rain, the growing greens, the chirping birds, and everything else that is bestowed upon us by Mother Nature.

Only, we have to learn to respect, preserve and nurture these gifts. Especially in a day and age when our kids are getting pollution holidays....

Hope you liked this gratitude postcard. You can see some of my earlier ones here.

Gratitude Postcards

Just about 3 weeks into the new year and I am trying to get things back on track in my world. I'm no spring chicken - having spent enough years going round the sun, I can safely say that 2016 has decidedly been the worst year of my life thus far, with so much going wrong on so many fronts. But then the only way to move forward from all that drags one down is to count one's blessings. So I just have to be grateful for all the things that did go right in the midst of all that chaos last year.



Hence this first post of the new year is dedicated to sharing with you the gratitude cards that I made while trying to recover from loss and pain. They were simply my way of adopting a grateful attitude, of showing thankfulness and gratitude for the life that I live.



As things stand now, a lot of things have changed around me. How that pans out and impacts my creative self and my output is something that will show as we traverse through 2017. Here's hoping that the changes in my personal sphere only serve to act as a springboard to greater heights in the creative realm. Signing off on that optimistic note....

Here is something you may want to follow this year:

Wishing all my readers a wonderfully creative 2017 again....