Sketches make a place look better!

Over the years I've noticed that while sketching on location the eye and the hand conspire in their own way, omitting certain details and more often than not... dirt.  Garbage which is often strewn allover the foreground of many of my subjects don't get into my sketches. Like this one for instance is a group of fishing boats - trawlers - at Kasimedu harbour. The water is slick with oil.

And this one...

Done two weeks ago. Looks like the sleepy Gaulish village of Asterix and Obelix (well, except for the minaret). In truth, this sketch was done on the banks of the Cooum. The stench was not too bad that morning but the river was a dark stagnant grey. Basically sludge. The huts are hovels, patched together with whatever people have. The foreground and the edge where the water meets the land is not really earth but built up rubbish debris!  Its quite crazy how my hand refuses to draw the refuse!

Exposed on the roof

This is the terrace at the top of my office building. It's funny how we architects try our level best to conceal the vital innards of our buildings. The water supply pipes, the rain water drains, the electrical, telephone and TV cables but finally up on the terrace all these things burst forth and cry "Here we are!!"

Sometimes you try to go that extra mile to be extra neat even up on the roof but then your neighbour's cable TV line will somehow snake past your terrace to the next building.

This sketch is also my first try with water soluble graphite pencils. Earlier this week I went into my favourite art supply store to by a gift for someone else and ended up as usual like a kid in a candy store! Can't wait to try these out some more this weekend.

Kerala Trip - Part 5

A short drive from where we stayed was a place called Chingenachera Kshetram. It was otherwise known as the big Banyan tree temple. You had to drive half an hour away from the main highway and into narrower and narrower lanes passing small hamlets and finally you come to a large pond. On the bank of the pond to one side, rising like a mountain is a gigantic banyan tree. As you approach closer you can make out that it has three trunks or groupings of roots. Its hard to tell whether it is three trees or one large tree taking support three times. But all of them have shrines at their base and upon closer examination you find many many hundred small model houses and huts strung up on the roots like a strange ornamental festoon around the three shrines. I couldn't make out the idol inside the shrine. It was swathed in a white dhoti and garlanded many times over, plus it was inside a deep recess in the tree trunk. But the model houses outside were of all shapes, sizes and colours. Some were roughly made but others even had neat terracotta tiles painted on the sloping roofs.
Apparently, locals from all surrounding areas come to this tree when they plan to build their own home and pray to the tree for good luck and a good house with no hitches. They make a symbolic model of the house they plan to build and during the prayer string up the house. While the prayers are happening the women of that family cook a meal for the gathering and after offering some food to the idol everyone eats together.
The three trees are said to be meat eating, fish eating and vegetarian and so a community worships at the shrine of their dietary preference.

On our ramblings around the country-side we made a brief visit to the forest office at Nemmara to discuss possible camping options and permissions. Nemmara is a much larger town than Kollengode, but still the government office was in a large wooded compound.

The compound is so large that visitors can park inside and this guy was next to our car. See what I mean, when I said the autos here are so roomy? So much bigger and broader too than the autos in Madras.
Close to Nemmara is the Pothundy dam. It is a much larger dam than the Chuliyar and is supposed to be a local tourist attraction. So off we went to see it.

This place was frequented by tourists and had a look-out point (read ugly circular pavilion probably designed by the PWD) . There was a large fallen tree trunk that made for more interesting seating and along came an ice-cream cart. It was the middle of the day and he had something called Mango Duble. A mis-spelt double, it was bright orange mango ice on a stick with a vanilla ice-cream centre. Needless to say, the Mango Duble (doo-blay) became another foodie hit on our trip.

Kerala Trip - Part 4

More sketches of food! Yes. Isn't it obvious. Any good holiday is made of good company, good locations and good food. Murali Hotel was in a little town called Kambrathchala. It was five kilometres from us and we managed to walk there and back one evening. Dinner was light fare like dosa with masala... or dosa without masala depending on whether you got there before 7 pm or not. But lunch was an elaborate affair. After a "meals" at Murali Hotel there was nothing else to do but have a good siesta.

The town of Kambrathchala is actually just a small triangle of 3 streets. Most buildings are houses, a few are shops - hardware, provisions,  vegetables, welding and repairs, bakery, mechanic and there are two or three eating places. In such a peaceful and remote setting we amused ourselves as best as we could. It takes a day or two to slow down from our city life conditioning.

But if you have good company, slowing down and staying away from the city is such a lovely thing. The people are more cheerful and helpful. The air is cleaner, water too. So many birds! You take pleasure in the simple things because you have the time to enjoy them. Like the soda discovery.

The day we arrived, Rajiv declared that we absolutely must try the Narangi Soda. It was a glass with freshly squeezed lime juice and some sugar syrup topped with plain soda. Very refreshing in the heat. After stopping on our way home each day for narangi soda I did this sketch on the third or fourth day. There was a little sign and since I didn't know how to read Malayalam I copied it carefully. Somehow it struck me that neither of those two words could possibly be narangi so I asked the shopkeeper what it was....and that was how we discovered Sambaram soda!

The letters there in the sketch actually say "Milma Sambaram" - milma being the name of the brand and sambaram is the local term for buttermilk. From that day on we forgot all about narangi soda because the sambaram with freshly chopped chillies, ginger and topped with chilled soda became an all time greatest hit!

Kerala Trip - Part 3

Thankfully the entire week did not involve camp-fire cooking and instant noodles. Since we weren't too far from a small village we started walking the short distance mainly for meals. The closest place for tea and breakfast was Pushpa Chechi's hut. We were there before the idlis were ready and mostly amused ourselves each day watching a mother hen and her brood clucking about busily. Some of those chicks were really feather-brained! If they had disappeared a family of goats entertained us with two frisky young ones and a bunch of beligerent billies.

Sleeping in the outdoors we were waking up pretty early and we were starving by seven. Idlis got ready around 8 and we were all there, ready and waiting each day to gobble them up. Workers from the fields and quarries near-by would steadily come in ones and twos and it was a busy place. Idlis were served with a delicious idli-podi and a watery coconut chutney.

A short walk from the tea shop - probably a kilometer from the farm in total - was the chuliyar dam. This became our favourite sunset hang-out spot once we discovered it on the second day. You could see only the edge of the waterbody if you sat on the doorstep of Pushpa Chechi's hut but if you walked to the dam and went down to the water it was quite a large serene expanse of fresh-water with a lot of birds. Some villagers would fish in coracles in the evening and some people would come to bathe and wash their clothes. This sketch done now is the low water line. All this and the rock I sat on would be under water in the monsoon.

Kerala Trip - Part 2

We reached Palakkad Junction before 5 am and it was still dark outside. The auto rikshaws in the town are large and roomy which was a good thing as Tarun was already waiting for us. The 3 of us with all our luggage, squeezed into one. We were off for the municipal bus stand to catch the first bus to Kollengode which left at 6.am, and it hadn't arrived yet when we got there. Ever so gradually the sky filled with light. I managed to dash off this sketch as the bus pulled in. I'm sure the place would have been far more bustling and crowded in another hour but by 6.15 we were off.
Palakkad to Kollengode is only 30 km, but it took an hour. Mainly because the bus stops for every man, woman, child, goat and chicken standing on the side of the road. At Kollengode we bundled ourselves back into an auto and set off towards the Chuliyar dam armed with a long and complicated set of sms directions. Our destination was Suman's farm.

The road to Suman's farm was deserted at 7.30 in the morning. Already it was getting hot and in peak dry season the landscape was golden brown. On the left was the farm - our base for the week and on the right some dense undergrowth full of peacocks that were heard a LOT but rarely seen, and beyond that, a stone quarry. If you continued further down this road you eventually leave the hamlet of Mechira behind and reach the hills. We hoped to camp there but permissions needed to be sorted out and eventually we sadly resigned to staying on the farm instead of camping in the wilderness.
The farm was quite a wilderness too. In our enthusiasm to do everything camping style we prepared our lunch outdoors. Parvez built a nifty little brick stove and everyone set about pealing and chopping vegetables.
There were now nine of us and in the mid-day heat preparing a meal for nine out in the open is a very hot and sweaty affair.

The others who had come by car had carted many large vessels and buckets along. They had bought vegetables and provisions already. In the blazing heat we ate instant maggi noodles with veggies thrown in. Back in Madras I never buy maggi. I scoff at it . It's for people who don't know how to cook. I cook real food... etc. But after the long journey, hungry and tired,  sitting out there with friends on a shared adventure, and thanks to a generous daub of lime pickle it was a delicious meal. 

Kerala Trip - Part 1

Saturday evening. We are packed and all set for a much awaited camping trip. John and I will be joining a bunch of close friends in heartland Kerala - away from the big crowded cities and all the creature comforts that we get unnecessarily used to. The idea is to try and rough it out as much as we can - possibly camp away from human habitation, electricity and a host of other things we take for granted. We charged our phones and cameras, disabled data and packed with great care crossing off everything on our lists.

3 sets of clothing in total - hand washing the ones on your back each time you bathe. Basic medical and toilet kit. All kinds of protection from the sun and bug bites. Some handy survival tools and camping gear. We bought a 3 person tent specially for the trip and  when all the packing was done, we were quite proud to find that everything for 2 people fit into one big rucksack and 2 knapsacks. Everything except the groundsheets, that is.

I love my sleep dearly, and no matter how much I'm prepared to rough it out, I need a good night's rest to be functional the next day. While browsing online for the tent, we found that the sites kept suggesting "ground sheets" to us. Firm foam sheets that you lay on the floor below your sleeping bag to cushion you from the rough terrain. These were quite expensive, but their specs were not so high end. And I decided I had to have it. So the evening we were to leave we went hunting in Royapettah, in the narrow lanes full of car upholstery shops.

We found exactly what we needed at a tenth of the price and ended up buying 2 extra sheets for friends that we had to cart with us.

Rolled up, the ground sheets were quite light but very voluminous. Thankfully we had upper-berths on the train and we bridged them between our berths. Hats and shoes went on top of that and with all the luggage stowed away I began sketching on the journey. I had a brand new sketchbook for this week-long adventure and was determined to sketch right from the start and keep it loose and quick. We would be reaching Palakkad Junction at 4.45 am the next morning so after a quick sketch I called it a night. 

Coming up in the next post - The next day and all its sketches!

Lots of CWA action!

2014 has started out with lots of sketching action and oppurtunity for me. Most of it is thanks to the CWA. A wonderful group that I am a part of that makes sure that no matter what happens there's a reason to sketch outdoors each sunday. Soon after I was back from Goa, our group displayed our sketches during the Mylapore fest and next to our stall was a busy street full of banana vendors. Below you see the general crowd and mayhem of Art Street where we camped with our artwork, making live portraits and sketches.

More recently, we took a day trip to Senji which was hot, tiring but totally worth it. The old fort and the ruins have tons of sketchworthy subjects to offer. My first painting is of Rajagiri or King's Fort. I tried to do a watercolour directly without doing outlines in pen. Something I'm very afraid of and in the end I succumbed and added a bit of ink work for definition . But at least its a start. At least I did the brushwork first.

And this one below is an attempt at a panoramic capture of Senji. I climbed up Rajagiri (my first painting) but only a fifth of the way and already the view was so... Epic... as a friend put it, that I gave up on the climb and decided to record instead.

Those monkeys crept into the frame. Look adorable. Most annoying and when they single you out (one female did) it can be quite terrifying.

Panjim

Somewhere between Christmas and the new year I took an early morning walk through the streets of Panjim - the old part of the city - just east of the creek. The previous day we had visited our friend Bhavana who now works at CCF and is currently putting final touches on a map of Panjim. Not any old map, but a beautifully documented detailed map that should soon be available to tourists. With heritage walking routes and lots of info. Bhavana walked us through some of the narrow winding streets herself and I noticed this Chapel on Rue De Natal near her office.
So the next morning I was there early sketching. I had my back to a smallish square which had a large well and a house looking out onto the square. At about 9 in the morning the front window of the house was thrown open and a middle-aged man stood at the window with a violin in his hand. He started playing the violin and never stopped. Not songs, not particularly melodious either... just a bunch of frenzied riffs. At length I finished my sketch, packed up and left. He was still playing away.

We walked a little more exploring the old parts of the city and found a street that was a series of steps. As we climbed higher and higher we could look back and see all the roof-tops of Panjim spread below us.

I tried doing a quick sketch but the street-dog territorial warfare and the sun started to get to me.

Retracing our steps we soon found ourselves back in the little square with the well. The violin music continued. It was almost noon. Old ladies passed by with baskets on their heads laden with fresh vegetables - greens, brinjals, radishes. They knocked on front doors that opened directly onto the narrow streets.

I couldn't help but sigh at the romanticism of old-city-Panjim life. Imagine daily door delivery of vegetables in a quiet heritage neighbourhood, with violin music in the background! Sigh. 

Goa.... finally!

Yes. I finally made it to Goa. Yes. This was my first visit to Goa. Really!
And it was amazing. It was everything I had built it up in my head to be. 8 lovely lazy days in the sun and sand and sea but also in the shade, and on a scooter scooting around, taking in the sights.
Lots of lovely people to meet, a mini-reunion of college friends. A very happy new year!
I managed to sketch quite a bit. Bliss! I inaugurated my first japanese fold Moleskine at Majorda beach. Majorda has a backwater formation and you can swim in the sea or wade in the back-water. The seafood and pancakes from "Blue-Waves", the beach shack we adopted were quite delicious.

And our entire stay was made all the more special thanks to our wonderful hosts - Garima and Roy who live in an old house in Moira. Obviously, having never done the tourist-hotel side of Goa, I'm not qualified to compare but something tells me I'm really lucky to have stayed here. Its a large house with a wide verandah. The two chair like seats that flank the entrance are typical of a lot of old houses in the area. The verandah is locally called a "Balcao" and has longer bench seats at the end too. We pretty much lived out here - breakfast, lazy afternoons and sundowners. The rest of the trip will come in blog installments as there is a LOT happening in my sketching life now :-)

And if anyone knows a better way of showcasing sketches done in the accordian fold format [any tool available on the web where I can scan it so you can flip through it online] please do let me know.

Happy new year everybody!

Sketching at a Kutcheri

The December music season is firmly under way and some of us have been approached to cover the concerts live through our sketches on location. I chose to start off by attending a Ranjani Gayatri concert last saturday at the Bharatiya Vidya bhavan. The place was packed to the gills and overflowing and here's the view from my seat. The sisters were kitted out in perfectly matched two-colour alternating sarees as is their usual style.

I also realised that the concert before it was a Veena recital by Geetha Krishnamoorthy. That was a bonus as two back to back vocal concerts would have been a little repetitive to sketch. The Veena is such a beautiful instrument.

I got in before the Veena recital and got a central spot and started off. It was really enjoyable as sketching and listening to Carnatic music are both pastimes that I enjoy so much! Inquisitive mamis to my right and left kept leaning over exclaiming over my sketches. It was fun! And as the evening wore on my hand freed up and I dashed off a study of H. Sivaramakrishnan, the Ghatam accompanist as well.

The sketch right at the top was actually my last and was thrilled to find it featured in the kutcheribuzz season blog . I hope I can squeeze in a few more such evenings.

The Golden Temple in Coorg

As you drive from Mysore to Madikeri, you pass by a small town called Kushalnagar next to which there is a large Tibetan settlement - Bylakuppe. Tibetans resettled here in 1961 on land given to them by the central government. An archway appearing on the left of the state highway and a small signboard are all you will see and its easiliy missed. But don't miss it if you are planning a trip to Coorg.

Go through the archway and there is an immediate and distinct transformation - the grass is literally greener on the other side. Gently rolling hills and vales, rolling paddy fields dotted with other cash crops, colourful prayer flags festooned over the entire vista and you really feel like like you've been transported through a magical portal into Tibet.

Bylakuppe houses the second largest Tibetan population in India after Dharamsala and if you like their cuisine and their crafts, this is a great place to go. The most popular destination for tourists is the Namdroling Monastery which has their Golden Temple.

The monastery is situated on a large campus and has many temples and shrines. The interiors are covered with huge wall paintings and large golden figures of buddhist saints. In one corner this small cottage-like structure caught my eye and I asked a shy young monk about it. I was told it houses some sacred relics and is kept locked but is one of the holiest spots in the campus.

Gowri Nivas - A home in Madikeri

I'm just back from a delightful and relaxing holiday in Coorg. As I wade through the piled up work I thought I'd better put down some nice memories before the stress of city living swallows me up completely.

After much pondering and googling we chose to stay at a house called Gowri Nivas which has 3 rooms on offer as a homestay. Looking back, I think we chose really well. The family that runs this cosy place are warm and welcoming hosts. Our rooms were in a cottage beside the main house and sitting on the verandah of our cottage the view towards the main house is the sketch you see above.

Gowri Nivas is a far more personal experience than anything you can get at a fancy hotel. For meals we walked up to the main house and chatted with our hosts. We felt a part of the family really, and yet, the rooms are beautifully done and every comfort attended to.

Another reason for choosing this place was because it was in Madikeri and would allow for leisurely walks exploring the town. Five minutes away is the Raja's Seat - a historical site where the king of Coorg used to watch the sunset. The spot really has fantastic views across the valley and I managed a quick colour sketch on a clear afternoon.

Another five minutes and you reach the city centre where, tucked behind the town hall is a cosy restaurant come coffee house called The Raintree. Decent food and a fantastic variety of coffee kept us going back there several times. The view out of the Raintree window encapsulates the general view you get all over the town - green slopes dotted with tiled roofs. Lot of concrete structures creeping up but at the moment the tiles still dominate - not sure for how long though.

Madikeri has a small fort at the centre of the town which is in a similar state of repair to the one here, or maybe slightly worse... if thats possible. As soon as you enter there's a church which houses the government museum! Display cases and panels are everywhere including the altar. The floor which might even have old memorial stones, is covered in a hideously patterned linoleum tile. After a quick walk around I couldn't stand it and was about to leave when the view going out the church door looked really interesting!

I went back after finishing the sketch to ask the lady inside what the name of the Church was... and she didn't know.