Oil-not-on-canvas.

Hello all!

This post is about two of my recent paintings..oil paintings..Here's a sneak-peek into the work.

This one's oil on three separate pieces of ply, a remake but painted with a lot of enthusiasm. :)

Tree of Life

This one's a creation using oil and ceramic on butter paper.

To me the "Tree of life" symbolises growth, renewal and the balance and harmony, the interconnectedness of all things living, in the nature. 

P.S.: The base materials have been reused in making these paintings. Let's all reuse creatively, renewing creativity! :)

Funny Feelings!

Sometimes you have no other option but to finish having the whole of it..and BURP! :) That's the way it is!

Restlessness Rested.

Buddha: Serene. Peaceful.

Whenever I look at Him, in this form that I created or any other for that matter, I feel my senses starting to rest at peace. It's magical..Always. :)

another Brick in the Wall..

Another brick in the wall, the popular track from Pink Floyd's album The Wall Part 2 talks about the system of education..Here’s my take on it. I believe that being educated means having the ability to look beyond the set boundaries, or as it's popularly put, think out of the box. It’s about being able to critically analyze situations and not just being a part of the herd, mindlessly. 

In the visual, the spectacles and book are the conventional aids of education, while the mist depicts the boundaries or boxes which obstruct your vision or imagination.

Matriarchy : Delusion

Here is one of the many instances of vices in our society..a male-dominant, patriarchal society!

The system of Arranged Marriage. 

You go, see a girl you like by her bio-data and in “proposal photographs” and think she would be suitable for your son. Her family, all prepared but nervous, gives you a warm, hospitable welcome. Being the “ladkiwalas”, it’s their duty to make the “ladkewalas” feel at home; treat them like royalties. Though, each and every person in the room is waiting in anticipation. Still, ladkiwalas are always on their feet, trying to be as warm a host as they can be. Then comes the girl to be seen by the ladkawalas. Oh, she is pretty! Her height is good enough! She is fair and her features are good too! And yeah, she is slim!

You all sit together in the room. Silence prevails. Nobody knows what to say or what to ask. Suddenly, elders decide to leave, leaving the ladka, ladki and a few others of their generation in the room, so that there can be some level of comfort between the two “newly met and could be wedded” people. Hence begins the trails of persuasion to talk, little conversations, questions, expectations…a step for rapport building. Yes, rapport building…so that within that meeting of 3-4 hours, it could be tested whether they can spend the rest of their lives together or not; whether the ladkiwalas get to hear a “yes” from the ladkawalas, for which they have been eagerly waiting or the ladkawalas would ask them to wait ‘cause they still need time to think and consult with the rest of their family, EVEN after the meeting of “those many hours”!

Ladki is shot with all sorts of questions about her hobbies, likes, dislikes, qualifications, clothing habits, eating habits..everything possible. Worse than an interview for job application! She is probably too shy and/ or nervous to ask the questions she has in her mind/ heart. Probably her family instructed her not to question the one she might get married to, ‘cause that might be offensive for his/ his family’s ego! It would be equivalent to questioning THEIR authenticity! They are “the” ladkawalas after all!

Compatibility? That can evolve gradually, during their “courtship” period or something, if it has to. What if it doesn’t? So what! The ladki is adjusting enough. She has been brought up in a joint family. She can and will adjust!

THIS is the 21^st century we are living in and there exists no discrimination. Also, the generation gap is decreasing..

"Society"
COLOURS that TALK.

Bindi, which is majorly adorned by the women of Hindu society, represents power and feminism. Our society, which is male dominant, is developing and growing, but, unfortunately just superficially. Many of the traditions to which the society still adheres, pull the women down denying the respect they deserve. 

This graphic represents how the society is “anti-women” and her freedom. The slash depicts how women’s royalty/power(purple), passion(red), confidence(orange), joy(yellow) and prosperity & growth(green) have been suppressed and left incomplete due to the restrictions which has been responsible for the darkness (black) in their lives.

On pondering further, Bindi, itself is a sign of one of the endless things women are expected to do, by the society. Paradox. Scientifically, it empowers you by increasing your concentration; but now, most of us just put it as we are expected to do so, without even questioning or reasoning it, like most of our other actions.

…..It’s food for thought..

Sur-REAL-istic!

Lately, I have been participating in various design contests. Recently, I made an artwork using poster colours and pen for Surreal, a clothing brand, on the theme Surrealism + Chess.

Life is what you make of it!

My idea behind it was to show that with correct vision, focused efforts and some planning, you can change the game. You might be born as a nobody, just like a pawn, but if you have the will and confidence, you can be the Queen, the one with maximum power. 

Since, Salvodar Dali was one of the most renowned artist of this particular cultural movement, the artwork has his presence along with his unique style of mustache evolving into a cigar pipe which is giving out smoke which then takes the form of a chess board..

So, GREEN it shall be!

Hi there!
In this section, I'd be talking about the few, little projects I took up to contribute my bit towards having a greener world, through my field - DESIGN. :)
Green World? We ALL want it. Sustainability? We are working for it. Re-Use? We "will" do it. Recycle? We "already" do it. But, all of this with some kind of obvious helpless attitude..

Let's stop that first. I'll share my experience of how I drew the inspiration of doing it.. happily!! It was by studying and working with a few such organisations and on a few related ideas.

JUGAAD

The people behind the brand Jugaad being one of them. Karm Marg is the non-government organisation behind it. Following is the information I gathered by primary and secondary study of the NGO. 

KARM MARG:

Karm Marg is an Indian non-governmental organization committed to the cause of supporting disadvantaged children and young adults. It is located in the outskirts of New Delhi; Karm Marg runs a home, Karm Gaon.

Ideology-

Karm Marg, literally meaning the Path of Work & Action, started in February 1997. As the name suggests, the driving force behind Karm Marg’s functioning has been the desire to be self-sustaining i.e. being self capable, without having an external support. The ideology extends not just to the internal functioning, but also towards the people we support as an organization.

Target group-

They aim to work for disadvantaged children, young adults and economically backward rural women from villages near the campus. Both these groups receive vocational training before joining the production process. Eventually the products made by these people are sold under the brand Jugaad. It’s worth noting that most of the Jugaad products utilize as much recycled and reused raw material as possible.

Visit to Karm Marg Head Office:Office Manager- Mr. Pawan Singh
Karm Marg was started in order to help homeless children, women and young adults belonging to backward classes. They have a home cum production unit in Faridabad, where those children stay, study and learn new things, so that they can be self- reliant. Currently, there are about 60 women working in the production unit; about 60 children staying in the house, who are looked after by 4 caretakers.
Production unit (house)- Khedi Village, Fardiabad (UP)
They get the materials required for the production of Jugaad products either by buying them (left- out pieces) from fabric houses, tailors etc. or they have a few organisations which provide them with the materials like Either Or etc.
There are four units-

• Carpentry unit
• Paper unit
• Candle making unit
• Stitching unit

Jugaad or Karm Marg doesn’t have signature store of their own. They sell their products with the help of other outlets like People Tree, Katha etc. They sell their products to these stores and they further sell the products to customers. 

Jugaad product range:
The USP of the brand is its paper bags, which gained popularity during the Dastakar Nature Bazaar, organized generally in the month of October at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts' Grounds, New Delhi. However, the brand provides a range of products including:

• Accessories

Wallets, key chains, pencil pouch, toilet pouch (big & small), coin pouch, stoles etc.

•      Bags

Yoga mat bag, working bag ,titli bag, tarshi bag (big & small), sonam bag, sawan bag, small shoulder bag, shopping bag, jug bag jhola etc.

• Cool Maal

Tikona mirror, visiting card holder, wooden glass tray, paper pipe tray (big/ medium/ small), saadi gaddi, wall lamp etc.)

• Feature

 Ruled diary, double silk necklace etc.

• Jewelery

Octopus mala, paper bangles, paper earings, silk cube necklace, boria bangles, three boria necklace, boria mala (big/ small) etc.

• Paper bags

Recylced color paper bags, newspaper bags with cloth handles, newspaper bags with rope handles etc.

• Stationery

Ruled diary, small diary, khaata diary, file holder, cloth folder, meri Dilli telephone index etc.

Jugaad's Market:

Jugaad doesn’t have a signature store of its own, but sells its products in other stores, working towards
similar missions. Initially, when Karm Marg started with its product line, the products were sold by the
name of Karm Marg only; it was with time that the brand name Jugaad was established.

Presently, Jugaad sells its products by the help of stores like:

In Delhi

1. People Tree, Connaught Place
2. Katha, Sarvodaya Enclave

3. The Design Studio, Nehru Place

In Ahmedabad

         People Tree, Opposite AMA

In Pune

        Either Or, Sohrab Hall, Sasson Road

Jugaad also sells its products in exhibitions and fairs which are put up regularly in various cities.
Dastakaar Nature Bazaar, which is generally, exhibited from August to November in Bangalore and
Delhi, books individual stalls for Jugaad products.

Also, the products are directly sold from the Head Office, which is located in Jeevan Nagar, New Delhi and numerous exhibitions which are put up in various cities in India, like Kala Madhyam (Bangalore), Concern India (Bombay), Daaram (Hyderabad(, Samat Kada (Lucknow), Dastakari Art Samiti, Blind School, Festivals organised by colleges, Embassies etc. The products are also exported to various other countries like U.S., U.K., Australia, Germany etc.

To sum it up

Karm Marg works in order to make street children self- reliant enough. It also works for the betterment of rural women, young adults etc. Their funds to maintain the organization come from the brand Jugaad, which promotes eco- friendly products. This shows that their motto of making children
self- sustainable is taken care of by further incorporating sustainability for fund raising as well.

Hence, Karm Marg, as an organization, fulfills the three conditions of Social Responsibility, Economic
Growth and Environmental Care, justifying its sustainable nature. In the production of their products, it
covers up the aspects of-

1. Reuse as it reuses left over sources from various export houses etc.

2. Recycle as it uses the old, torn waste to create new range of sell-able products.

3. Recover as it helps in reducing the waste that goes into the landfill.

4. Respect as it gives the women and children over there the confidence to work and be independent.  


Optimum Commute

I, along with three other group members, started working on this project for the module of Sustainable Systems in order to develop strategies to sensitize people towards any activity which could be carried out in a more sustainable way.
We had several thorough discussions and brainstorming sessions after which working on a more
sustainable transport system was shortlisted, with the help of our faculty, who readily agreed to the existing problems of heavy traffic throughout Delhi and other cities too, for that matter.
Our idea of the system was:

OPTIMUM COMMUTE
A sustainable system which promotes the use of activities like carpooling and other means of shared
travel, so that they are accepted and adopted by masses. The need? The traffic jams that we face every time we step out of the house, firstly. Secondly and more importantly, the ill effect of vehicular emissions on our environment! We are here to sensitize each other, discuss and ACT!
In order to execute our plan..to spread the word, we started with sending out questionnaires to people, which was like a pilot study and gave us positive results.
After that, we created a page on the social networking site Facebook, the link to which is-
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Optimum-Commute/171546496268058

This gave us a common platform to ask various questions and get our thoughts and idea across masses. The logo we designed for it looks something this. :)

..It's time to share!

We did a lot of research and data collection regarding the same and used media like poster design to communicate our message. 

PROTSAHAN

Protsahan is an NGO in Delhi, I did my one month long Minor Guided Project with. It is a youth based international non profit organization that uses the creativity of Design, Art, Stories and Cinema to bring grassroot change in the lives of street children facing drugs, sex abuse and disability & thr mothers. It's mission is “Encouraging Skills Development & Creative Education through DESIGN THINKING at the bottomest of pyramid". 

Table Cloth Block Printing 

"Pind" da Craft!

How are you? :)
It was a beautiful day in Alwar today! Raining in here..and Alwar is GORGEOUS during monsoons! :D
Today I am going to share my Punjab experience. It was my first trip ever to the "pinds" and was full of, well, confusions and discoveries, disappointments and adventures..but, all-in-all, quite memorable!
We went there on a ten day expedition to study the craft of "Punja Durrie". Punja Durrie is a handicraft which was traditionally practiced by the women of Punjab. "Punja" is a tool which plays the role of a "reed" in the weaving process of "durrie" i.e. carpet. Hence, the name.
This craft was a part of the legacy passed on from a mother to her daughter. Also, a particular number of these durries (woven with visuals having auspicious symbolism) were gifted by the mother to the daughter's in-laws as blessings for the newly weds.

This module called "Craft Cluster" mainly involved a detailed documentation of the craft and making of an audio-visual narrating a story related to the craft. It gave me the opportunity to try my hands on the craft of video making with the help of Premiere Pro. Our AV is based on the concept of  how the introduction of machine woven and other hand woven durries, which are faster and simpler, have led to the fall in the demand of "punja durries". The AV also shows the process of weaving.
I shall, in fact, upload the video pretty soon! :)

Till then the visuals will narrate the story. Allow them to give you an insight of the craft and how it works, looks and feels.

Punja, the tool used for beating of yarns after which the weaving process has been named.

Charkha used for spinning of cotton.

 Cotton yarns being dried before being wrapped onto the khaddi (loom frame) or dyed.

Khaddi with complete warping.

Artisan inserting the wefts in between the warps, incorporating the design.

 Bed durrie about to be completed.

Popular motifs.

Type of clipping (rarely done because its time taking and market demand is less).

Simple yet beautiful, isn't it? :)
However, due to magnitude of hard work required to weave the durrie and it's very low market demand, the craft is almost dead. The availability of cheaper and more durable options has led to a decline in its demand.
It was just over-whelming to see the artisans working SO hard to weave each one of it, enough to sensitize us towards this craft and many others..It's essential for all of  us to not just understand the value of these handicrafts which make our culture wealthy and meaningful, but also, contribute our bit towards its survival and more..