Rural Rajasthan

@this painting is copyright of shivali.

   














Let me come to lend you a hand;

Sit together and sieve the grain;

Before floating clouds reach with rain,

Though we know, it's hoped in vain……

Nostalgia

image@google

 Things which have passed away
Seem to happen just yesterday,

Though they are far across th' shore

Can be experienced even from th' bay......

They come to lure with all their charm

Try to embrace me in long, alone arm,

Though put off after burning with time

Heat of affection ever keeps them warm.....

How much I crave for their presence

All fresh n' green with a nostalgic sense!

Though withered away in wind of change

Retreat alive to me with all their essence.....

                                                                                                          -Shivali

Let Me Serve the Muse!

image@google

Let me serve the Muse to amuse my soul!

Who whispered into my ears
a secret of making mirth

through dancing, moving damsel
of nature in air of music divine.

Every flame of grief, expectation  
blew off with rhythmic blessings 

leaving for me nothing to pine.

Let me serve the Muse to amuse my soul!

Who handed me a brush oar 
to sail through blank and 
rough texture of life making 
deep or shallow folds negotiable.

Quenched my quest to shrink
th' world within reach and make 
its shiny n' gloomy hues appreciable.

                                                      

Let me serve the Muse to amuse my soul!

Who held my naive hand 
to spill droplets onto white;

embellished and drenched 
in sheer emotions n' thoughts

to reveal rolling intricacies of mind.

Opened gate of mysterious world
of aesthetics and chose me 
to board on this wondrous ride.

                                             -Shivali

Reminiscences

image@google

Reminiscences are the off-springs of isolation. No second thought invades in the realm of mind when surrounded by people, but whilst surrounded by solitary silence, a rail of reminiscences passes by mind containing goods from olden days: some spoken, some mute, some irksome, some calm, some beautiful and some ugly. This moment it drifts by with a snap on a smooth track of mind and the other, slows down to pass through its narrow lane. 

It drags us down the memory lane of childhood spent in a small countryside, playing innocent games with siblings somewhere in the porch of a large house encircled with green fields. These heavenly images of careless infancy days under the cool shadow of elders begin to take silhouettes out of the winter’s fog. Sometimes it carries on an expedition of adolescence whilst so many dreams swim in our eyes as rainbow of monsoon, although, we don’t know if they were going to be brighter or would fade away with the dust of time. We just keep on floating in the cool breeze of peers’ company. And here we are, with memories of responsible adulthood- fresh and warm as a dazzling sunlight of summer, which makes every picture translucently clear, revealing the bitter truth of the mercenary world.

The rays of them reach us with a smile of sunrise and also bring tears in the eyes with arrival of dusk. Some cast a veil on reasoning to leave us in utter chaos, while some others take us off into a beautiful and serene world like a sprinkle of water on a simmering pan.

Nevertheless, these sweet and sour reminiscences fill the blank space in our life and provide an insight to comprehend good deeds as well as committed errors in the past. They acquaint us with our well-wishers as well as with opponents. The same insight gives birth to deep thoughts too: positive and negative. But do they all leave the same effects on our mind? Butterflies of multi-colored thoughts can’t be held for long. No sooner you open your palm, they fly away. Despite of that, an effort can be made to curb them, as introspecting on positive thoughts is far better than reflecting on ugliness of existence.

But it’s human nature to lament on merely the adversaries of life which dwell on your mind like a vicious enemy instead of preserving the treasure of pleasant thoughts. However, you can’t filter their amalgamation. One ought to be honest with them as they reflect the true image in the mirror of mind and make us realize where we all exist.

Book review- "The Namesake"

"The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

With the advent of globalisation, culture is also being globalised because of the flood of people’s migrations to the other countries. With this cross-cultural flow, the English fiction  writings is also brimming with themes of new-world identity, problem of assimilation, nostalgia for homeland, hybrid generation etc. which gave the term “diaspora’ an  eloquent voice in English literature. Jhumapa Lahiri also has left a remarkable mark in this voyage, who is an immigrant herself living in America.

The plot of this novel takes off from the flight of a Bangali couple across the ocean from Calcutta to United Stated. Ashoke Ganguli and his wife Ashima beget their first son in America and wait for a letter to come from India for an Indian name to be decided on, but in urgency they name him Gogol, borrowed from Nikolai Gogol, a Russian novel writer. Gogol abhors his strange and antic name and feels embarrassed in the company of his American friends and teachers. He tries to detach himself from his burdensome heritage and assimilates into the the ways of American life. He develops an affair with an American girl Maxine but breaks up after a fight. He realizes his mistakes, returns to Ashima after his father’s death and feels a responsibility towards his family makes an effort into the direction of accepting his parent's background. He marries a Bangali girl Moushmi but divorces her because of her indulgence with somebody else. This clash between his past and present does not let him find any ease in life. Towards concluding the novel, it's suggestive  that Gogol tries to re-conciliate with his conflicting situations, but the novel has an open ending leaving reader guessing the upcoming happenings in his life.
Ashoke and Ashima always find it difficult to assimilate into the new culture of foreign land and their intense craving for their own culture, customs, food, etc. can be sensed throughout the novel. Gogol represents the hybrid generation of immigrants, that considers itself as an American and does not feel any affinity with their parental culture but also can’t get rid of its burden. The theme is universal and can touch the heart of those uprooted from their ground because of any cause and face the cross-culture conflicts. The migrated family has at least some abode to call their home  but their children find no such place as their own.
The plot runs in a crafty manner, a well known style of Lahiri. It is pregnant with emotions and elaborate and ironic description dealing with the themes of "the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the conflict of assimilation, and, most poignantly the tangled ties between generations".

I have seen the movie  "The namesake" too, based on the same novel directed by Mira nair, acted by Irfan and Tabbu and Kal Penn and found it worth watching.

Reflection

image@google

Art is spontaneous.

I paint when I feel like to fill my world with colours, I write when I try to pour out something struggling inside me.

I always loved creating something artistic comprising a hidden challenge in providing it a perfect shape. Gradually it swept me towards painting or better to say, to recreate the beautiful images of various colours in our natural surroundings,which have been already created by omnipotent God. As the whole universe is God’s creation, we should always have an eye to appreciate it and thank to Him for sending us on earth as human being to feel it, to see it, to smell it, to taste it.

I admit that generally, leisure-time artists are quite moody sometimes and they don’t do as much as they are expected to. They like to remain in their own realm of mind reflecting on the things occurring around them until they are evoked by the Muse to let their imagination fly and expressed in suitable ways. That may be articulation, painting, music or any other medium.

I have been an ardent lover of reading too, specifically fiction that is enriched with emotions but not alien to the harsh reality of the world encircling around us. The thought of writing never came across my mind; until the invasion of computers into our lives. It always seemed to me a cumbersome task to hand-write. Another reason being, as we know that no piece of art can be excluded from an impression of artist’s personality and I was afraid of bringing in any subjective feelings into my work. But, is it possible? No, it's not. You cant resist to the impulsion of your inner voice for long to make it out. And now, here I am. Sharing my views with you all, catering an optimistic view of enhancing my art skills.
Let’s see how far this journey goes.

Sparkle of Light

@ This painting is copyright of Shivali.

To sprinkle the colors on white canvas of life, 

  To catch through dark rocks a sparkle of light,

To dig out diamond from a black coal-mine,

To pluck a delicate rose from bed of spike, 

To get pleasure among pains one has to strive.

                                                                          - Shivali

Book Review-"In Custody"

"In Custody" by Anita Desai

Booker prize nominated novel is about the fate of extinguished existence of Urdu language after the partition and about its custody and custodian.

The novel is a part of post -colonial Indian English literature. The plot is set in a dull and gloomy backdrop of a small town. The spokesperson of the novel is Deven who is designated as a Hindi professor in a college and is living a monotonous life. He finds a ray of hope in this dismal and boring life when he gets assigned for a task of interviewing a renowned Urdu poet Nur in Delhi who has become poor, aged and fragile now. Being an ardent lover of Urdu poetry himself Deven reveres Nur and is excited to record his voice on tape recorder. This ideal image on his mind is shattered by innumerable disillusions and difficulties; he tends to face during the process of interview. Deven has to cope with his selfish friend; the poet’s frantic notions of lavish food; continuous presence of poet’s flatterers; insatiable greed for money of two wives of the poet; inefficient assistant of Deven for tape recording the interview; the anguish of Deven’s colleagues in his department and annoyance of his frustrated wife. This is why, the whole project turns out to be a bizarre leaving a catastrophe at the end for the protagonist.

The narration runs into the familiar style of Anita Desai - stream of consciousness, in which the thoughts and feelings of character are exposed through his soliloquy. The book is embellished with imagery; metaphors and symbols, for instance- demolition of an old building in the end. Apart from the main theme many contemporary issues are raised simultaneously such as: vanishing Urdu language after the commencement of British rule which once had been language of courts; ill-fated language education in the technology era; the man-woman relationships; the harsh reality and chaos behind the glory of fame etc.
No wonder, if Hindi would also undergo the same fate in upcoming years, as we can observe it is losing its significance gradually and is being threatened and being superseded by global language English.

The book has also been converted into a movie “In Custody”. Om Puri, Shabana Azmi and Shashi Kapoor have played the leading characters.

Royal Beauty

@This painting is copyright of Shivali.

A royal piece of marble is looking out of marbles

through gleaming dark eyes sheltered by lashes.

Is she awaiting or lost into some abyss,

brooding or merely feasting eyes on passage?

I tried to imagine it while creating this paintin'

through hues of gold 'nd crimson on canvas.
                                                                      -Shivali

Book Review- 'A Suitable Boy"

"A Suitable Boy" by Vikram Seth

It is one of the longest novels I have ever read, which contains more than 1300 pages. But author never leaves any loose string in between to let you unhold the grip on it. It’s worth reading if anybody wants to have an insight into the post independent India.

The story is set in a fictional place Brahmpur and also travels through other cities like Delhi, Calcatta etc. The Tale begins from a marriage with the search of a suitable match for Mrs Rupa Mehra’s daughter Lata and ends on her marriage. The Mehra family is closely interwoven in story with three other families to name them- Kapoors, Chatterjees and Khans. Each family showcases particular class, mannerism and characteristics.  Most of the characters represent elite society. Along with this main theme other themes also run side by side throwing glimpse of all social and historical aspects of country during the period of 1951-52 such as- the trails of British influence left behind, contemporary political conflicts, law system, abolition of zamindari,  education system, class and caste system, partition etc.

Though the novel deals with serious themes having somber tone, it is not without a tinge of humour which makes the lengthy reading enjoyable. It is a sort of social and political satire. The language differs according to the background of characters which is really polished and refined showing the deep knowledge of writer about every walk of life. Vikram Seth is not mere prose writer but also has composed many poems. He has authored his famous novel ‘Golden Gate’ in verse. This novel also has chunks of his poetics in the form of rhyming couplets. I would like to share an extract from someone's review to give a panorama of the book in quite terse clauses:

"the book includes everything from straight-up action to long brooding descriptions, from fast-paced dialogue to moody soliloquies, from lovely portrayals of India and its landmarks to involving emotional moments." 

I read this novel two years back and still remember its peculiarities. Though I can’t recall the names of all the characters now, but one thing I can assure that while reading you become so familiar with the characters that you start feeling intimacy with them and are propelled to complete this big book. I have also heard that this novel has been split into volumes to render it easy to handle. Anyways, Vikram Seth is now paving the way to its sequel 'A Suitable Girl',which is expected to be published till 2013. I hope this novel won't be that longer but will arouse the similar interest in readers with its content.

The Beach

A trip to Bin Tan Island, Indonesia inspired me to pen down few lines on it.



Dwelling on sandy beach under marvel sunshine

Seemed to me as if paradise be mine

On silent music of soft blowing breeze

Thousands of waves dancing but shy
Blue of sea water competing with sky

Sheet of tranquility wrapped all nearby.

But serenity of noon turned into a beast

Keen to swallow everythin' within reach

As with sinking sun, tides began so high

Me frightened to death by roaring of night

Awaited for dawn to fall, save us as knight

And to capture its glorious, magnificent sight.

With arrival of dawn I woke up to see

Sun emerging after bathing in the sea  

Alas! a flock of clouds emerged from nowhere

To embrace the sun in its arms up there

Golden red beams were yet leaving its trail

As if an Indian bride peeping through her veil.

Just then I eyed a dry,frail leaf on surface

Moving here, there forcefully with waves

Making me think -isn’t it similar to our fates?

Oblivious to our wills, aspirations or craves

He renders us sink,swim, struggle to catch th' shore

Sailing our life into any direction with His oar.

                                                                                         -Shivali

Bloom in Contrast

@This painting is copyright of Shivali.

     

  Many beautiful words have been opined  

  so far for LIFE,

  Even then why it seems so complex and

  unexplored thing sometimes? 

  The life transforms into venom in a fraction of 

  moment which is now a fragrance,

  While the same life blooms in bright pink   

  against all its grayness.

                                                          -Shivali

     

    

Book Review-"Wuthering Heights"

"Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte

This classic Victorian novel is set against the backdrop of Yorkshire moors in England during early 19^th century. The initial narrator of the story is Lockwood who rents Thrushcross grange owned by Heathcliff who stays in a moorland farmhouse “Wuthering Heights” and the next one is Ellen his housekeeper.

It’s about the strange and passionate love between two children Catherine and Heathcliff which transforms into the hatred, revenge and suffering with their growth. Heathcliff is brought as a fondling in Wuthering heights by Catherine's father, but her brother Hindley looks at him with hatred and treats him badly as a servant. Catherine, in spite of her love for Heathcliff, becomes fascinated by handsome and rich Edger which makes Heathcliff leave Wuthering heights. Catherine marries with Edger. After three years Heathcliff returns as a rich and qualified person but obsessed with insane motives. He seduces and marries edger’s sister Isabella.  Catherine dies after giving birth to a daughter called as Cathy (Catherine). Heathcliff’s love for Catherine turns up into revenge adopting cruel ways to execute it on all characters around him. Isabella and Hindley also die leaving their sons And Heathcliff’s vengeance and cruelty continues over the next generation.

Adding to the novel a mysterious and eerie flavour the author introduces the ghost of Catherine causing the catastrophe of Heathcliff which suggests his reunion with Catherine after his death.

The novel is sad, dark, gloomy filled with pathos but also exposes the intensity of emotions like love, passion, anger and revenge. The theme evolves with Heathcliff, an unforgettable character, who dwells on your mind even after finishing the novel. He produces sympathy in the beginning when he is treated as an inferior,which also throws a light upon the class system prevailed during that period, but as the story moves we start feeling contempt on his insane and cruel ways of ruining the lives of everyone around him. Despite of containing  an awful theme the writer introduces strange twists in story which keeps you stuck to reading.

I picked up this book just with the inclination to go through a classic work by renowned literary writer Emily Bronte once again (I’ve read it in graduation course) but this time I enjoyed reading it more. Between readings you may feel a shudder over your spine but won’t be disappointed. 

April

   Here invades the dry and sandy summer saying farewell to winter commencing with the April Fool's Day sunk in pure merriment.....

  Have A Joyful and Healthy Laughter Day without hurting anyone's feelings, as they are too precious to hurt.

Book review -"The Life is What You Make It"

"The Life is What You Make It" ( Preeti Shenoy)  which I recently finished.........

The backdrop of the book is set in Cochin and Mumbai during eighties. Anita, the protagonist of the book, is a beautiful, intelligent and creative girl studying MBA from one of the topmost colleges. But some unexpected incidents in her love life have a deep and hidden impact on her mind leaving her mind in a state of guilt consciousness. She becomes obsessed with her creative abilities to prove herself perfect in every field pushing her unexpressed turmoil behind which leads her to total void mental condition. How she struggles to realise her self-importance, regains her confidence and chooses a different path to give her life a meaning, is the message what author wants to convey through her writing.

The book is written in simple and lucid style, irresistible to finish in one read. Though some repetition of words and sentences irritates sometimes but overall has a gripping effect. The best part in the book is, where the author explains the mental chaos of the girl so elaborately, which seems as if she herself has experienced all this very closely.

Such mental agony can be the main reason behind suicidal attempts by bright young students who swing between their Indian family values and their love for individuality but can’t discuss that.

Frankly speaking having a creative instinct I can associate myself to a particular part of the writing where is shown that people can find a solace in the lap of the art to get out of their mental depression.