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A tryst with materials and uncertainty

An inhibitive approach, a confused entrant in a lab filled with materials...

Wood, Plastic, Rubber, Paper...clips, pins, fevicol, scissors...

left over yarns, threads and spiral wires....A few months ago, I would have had goosebumps at the very thought of it...

I used to avoid making anything tangible...not that I could sketch it, but making it solid was beyond consideration...prototyping was equivalent to life imprisonment...bad skills at softwares was no propelling factor to even make an attempt at hand skills...

The catalyst to my daredevilry were a few extra curricular reasons where I finally decided to take the plunge... Being blessed with an interesting paraphernalia of materials in our lab at the institute, I ventured into models/forms/objects whatever term may be most appropriate...

And this is when I made my little discovery (for my own good that is) : the biggest success came my way when I had absolutely no clue as to what the outcome would be...I just experimented and explored, at times giving shape to a sensitivity that was earlier purely two dimensional. I learnt a lot during the process, the wonders of a pin here or a clip there, combining different media and techniques, color combinations, paints, ink, a fold here a cut there...It would be vain to say that the output was exceptional but would also be thoroughly unfair to undermine those attempts...

I have been able to overcome my fear and reluctance...

A few weeks post those experiments, we were to work with thermocol...I had always detested it and had never used it...but thanks to the earlier adventures I was open to it...We were to attempt at a preconceived form...but after that was the real learning...I sat peacefully in the night and filed some waste thermocol to reach a form that I had not even vaguely imagined when I started. The pressures of hand, the variations in sand paper, and above all the thoughts in mind while the hands move on a material...helped me reach a form that though mediocre if judged by a panel, for me did great justice to my newly acquired inquisitiveness.

The Rhetoric of disgust

If you couldn't help me, why should I help you?
If you are not famous, why should I know you?

Selfish and cunning are basically smart
Poor with rich is juxtaposition, its a montage, an art

Being sensitive and emotional is wasting your time
Go GO earn money!! (now how do i make this one rhyme?)

Its fine if I meet my parents once in  a year
As long as I send then stale flowers through internet , and tell them I CARE

I will mock at those who cant use the machines of our making
I will sit in AC, while the bird dies in my balcony, no water for drinking...

I dont care about the bomb blast, I wasn't killed!
I will watch the news about the minister's girlfriend, and eat my sandwich grilled

I am disgusting and I love myself
Dont hate me, I am but your ownself...

Beat The STRESS

Like balloons that can burst at any moment , our faces are grotesque masses that inflate and deflate in alternating moments of stress and relief. We are but cartoons of our own making.

My only learning and advice (if any takers) is BEAT THE STRESS.
DONT take out  frustration on other innocent beings and fellow victims ...Do EVEN BETTER..
 take it out on the culprit itself---- MR/MS. STRESS!

A few examples----
Stand in front of thr mirror and GROWL, imagining that the Stress is your prey- you will feel majestic

Try to slap the invisible STRESS in air, the best part is it can never slap you back

When eating food, imagine you are eating up stress (for pure vegetarians, imagine stress to be a vegetable)


These were just a few, I am sure you can come up with even better mechanisms

Good Luck

random 2

Canaletto must be enjoing the sights from above,
social osmosis as he casts his eye upon, must appear like a vast capriccio...

random

Read whatever comes your way, think, analyse, question, reason, find, accept, respect, tolerate, abandon, but read....if not ..then listen.....but grow....for growth is greater than stunted gains...growth surpasses all........

Are you ready to be transmitted?

" Experience the real India", "Straight from Punjab".....very soon we will have kitchens that will boast of being bathrooms and classrooms that will boast of being playgrounds...the sky is the limit they say...who knows earth may start depicting itself as the sky...

A is trying to give the experience of B ...making relentless efforts at transmitting  a person from state A to state B...but perhaps this is what each and every design does.....we try to transmit the user from one state of experience to another...be it through an educational tool where one is exported to state of greater knowledge ..or be it a game for healing..where one is exported from someone suffering to someone who can understand teh suffering, confront it and overcome it....

Stressed? there are designs of spaces and products to make you reach  a state where you laugh or relax or burn it out....And then food joints...where you can just gulp it down....

At any moment of my life I am being exported from one state to another, and being assisted in this by the objects surrounding me and creating my world...

A big thankyou to my toys and games for having helped me in understanding this

A purpose lost

A: TO DO
B: To GET

A: To get
B: To Get MORE

A: To GET MORE
B: TO GET MOST

A: Why To get this way, lets get from some other  easy way
B: Brilliant


C: Hey A what about your "TO DO"...
A: I have forgotten, Why I was to "TO DO"....

past, present

In the Depths of time

Lies the secret of our existence

In the dark abyss of mind

Is born the cause of our Destruction

In the Enlightened present

Is nurtured our sustenance

Friends and Freedom

I sat at the back and let the breeze blow out all sound, while one of my friends drove the car, and the others contemplated on the evening.....11:25pm ...a little emptiness on streets...the streets where we grew up....became friends, bicycled, had endless walks and gossipped, went to school, went shopping, went to tuitions, went for birthdays and so on....But that one night, as the breeze embraced my face and tickled it....I sensed freedom....

Is the fact that we choose to be with our friends and are not born with them........is it synonymous with freedom....Why is a ride on a friend's scooty easier to ask for than asking your cousin to drop you somewhere?

Is friendship a branch of freedom? Could be, Its always easy to break rules when friends are around, even if that means misusing freedom :)

Food and Relationships

If ever I were to win someone's heart, I would do it with food...

Ranging from the most exotic to the most fingerlicious butterlicious Or even Gheelicious

Food I announce, is the elixir of relationships

I cannot possibly erase food from any of the memorable moments spent with family or friends, somehow food just finds its way in..or maybe food has always been there and the rest just fits in

Lunchbreaks in school : Hands snatching at the last bit left of that Aloo Parantha or cold maggie, mouths stuffed, stomachs growling, stained neckties and happy hearts.....friends united


Tuitions: The poor packet of Chips (or more so hot air) being transferred from hand to hand, followed by strictly one sip each of Mountain Dew, Somehow the hands kept increasing, the packet never returned to its starting point...


College: Maggie Anda was the new Daal Chawal with the Chutney of gossip...'Ya, ..munch munch....so as I said, she actually said this you know!...ek bite dena zara.."

Chai before momos..followed by juice and perhaps momos again , was anything but normal when important things on mind ..such as : "Oh I forgot to tell you, you are supposed to wash your utensils"...."But I have already washed mine!!"....."No, No, you havn't..all the rice is stuck on to your plates!"...."But I dont eat rice!!!!"..."Arrey you eat your momos na! we'll see later....have you paid the bill?'.."Bill? Which bill?"



After Date: " Oh we had the most awesome time together! We went to this all night cafe and had thsi most amazing mousse and chocolate blah and hazelnut blah and then drank the most exotic blah at the most romantic swimming pool side...and there their special chef prepared this blah...and decorated it with a heart....and his sister sent these swiss chocolates for me and blah......."..

you almost feel that it is a food monster babbling in front of you....




Returning home after training of four months:  "Oh It feels so good to be back home..sigh...I had my favorite badam milk in bed, then i had this awesome gobhi parantha with butter, mom made halwa for me, then i even had kheer because tayiji sent it for me, oh you must try the pickle my buaji makes, and then I had butter chicken at dhabha with my childhood buddy and had this amazing paan with papa....I really missed home....."

Who is to blame?

It is but so convenient to put the blame on the other. Whom would you like to blame?



Debate Topic in school:     Is the education system to blame for increasing pressure on  children?


Television Talk Show:       Is Reality Television responsible for increasing suicides?


Radio Discussion:             Why do girls wear salwars underneath T-Shirts?


Facebook Chat:               Why is everyone joining this Aircel Campaign, what do they do (joining it 

                                       nevertheless)?



Traffic Jam:                         Why do all these buggers drive a car when they can't..(CRASH) ?\


Evening Walks:                   These newage office goers, they strain their necks on laptops day and night, no

                                          fresh air! I made my daughter join her office gym !



Mobile:                              I don't know why my mobile gets discharged so quickly, no no tell me more, i

                                         have free talktime, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

A few unanswered ones...

Ever wonder how much are we answerable to the many who form our individual universe....
So much so, that we forget answering our own selves....

Such is the lust to prove our own worth, that we seldom grieve over the loss of what is worthy, for we do not have the time...

What value is the money earned that hurts even more when spent?

Dreams

If I could build castles in day dreams, I would create my own happy Chandni Chowk, a Chandni Chowk where Ghalib and I would have karachi halwa together..and his haveli would be free from encroachments........

If I could look different in my dreams I would be Queen Gulnaar of Sarojini Naidu's imagination, for only my daughter would be more beautiful than I....

If I could do something I can't, I would sing in my dreams, and have nightingales as my friends...

If I could build my own house in dreams, I would build one with lovely flowers, seven dogs, next to Ruskin Bond's house, and share my cakes and muffins with him....

If only reality weren't such a nightmare, All dreams would have been true.......

Verses on Kisses

She : "I kissed my boy friend  :D"

They: "HAWWW sharram nai ayi??"
         "Kids today..they just cant wait"
         " OOOOOh..how was it ....haan haan..."
         "He has spoilt your innocence......tsk"
         " Please concentrate on work...all this can happen after marriage"
         " DONT U DARE GO ANYWHERE without our PERMISSION!!"
         " I am literally saving you by keeping you away from him, trust me, now solve these equations!"
         " You really are shameless ain't you!"
         " Hmm How did it feel ? pata naa!"
        
Guardian angel (adult ego): "I know it was lovely :)...congratulations"

        
        

process

We said: W e can't simply make what we want to. We know what we are thinking is right, but we need to prove it. For we cannot be selfish, we want to satisfy a customer, consumer, user, buyer, an audience.

They say: Ok then, lets do a survey

We said: Yaay

They say: W e have done the survey, some audience wants a, some wants b, but none said so for c, and c is what u want to give.

We said: oh they cant even think of c, because c does not exist, c is an option that we have thot of, they will certainly love it.

They say: Prove it

We said: Lets do a workshop

They say: Excellent!!!

We did a workshop with prototype , for making the actual c is costly

We said: The workshop gave us some useful insights, now we are planning to make d.
 d = a+b+c

They say: Prove it!

We do another survey, another workshop and end up with e.

e=d+suggestions

They say: Prove it!!

We come up with f.
f=e-a +Suggestions

They say: Prove it!!

It continues...when we reach z

we realize:

z = c



They laugh.........

The Disconnect

In school- You should always address those you respect as "Sir" and "Ma'am"

In institute- Will you please not act as a sissy, You know I have a name! Stop being so formal yaa!

At Bank- Bas, SIRRJI , MALIK ho aap to,  ab to aap hi kuch karva sakte hain......ji ..ji....haan ......Sir you are the boss, now only you can do something..yes yes...(by the way the concerned locker is yours not Sirji's)

At Office- Sir I was wondering if you liked the presentation (Unnoticed, Sir is too busy gazing, he must be trying to learn human anatomy one would guess!)

On Roads- Sir, listen you keep this (Rs.50) I wont park here again, promise, please Sir, its the first time

Compulsive complaining syndrome

Its caused by a bug, the bug in the mind
Every generation as it starts ageing physically, starts creating this bug in its mind....I am just 21 but even I do it at times!!

It leads to neverending complaints about the younger generation---- they are crazy, they have no discipline, they are more dishonest, they follow no rules, they eat such rubbish, they work all night, they want to follow their own will, they dont follow our culture, they dont read what we used to, they have lost the tradition...........and to top it all "when we were young........", "in our times....".................."Oh this is nothing! during the days of my great great great grandfather..........................."

Callously ignoring the fact that every new generation grows up on the aftermaths of the explorations, creations, expectations and understandings of the older generation....

If your son plays too much on the play station....remember, someone from your generation probably conceptualized it for him.......What is new for you, is perhaps normal and obvious for your child like the many activities and objects of our daily life

Its most pacifying to complain and most natural to be anxious about their future...however its best to let them cope with it the way they can.


p.s. trying to imitate them to understand them better generally leads to identity crisis

Is something missing?

Little Raghav was found masturbating, his mother threatened him with dire consequences on repetition of the activity, the boy grew up considering it to be a dirty act, something to shy away from, to be secretive about.

Raghav was now 12 years of age, he was sent to a boarding school. Sexual explorations, queries about pubertal changes were met by either warden's strict adherence to rules or seniors' unhealthy understanding and games on sexuality.

When 18, Raghav went to college, had his first dating relationship and had absolutely no clue of appropriate sexual behavior. Deep inside he had a fear that he might end up doing something that his girlfriend might find dirty just as his mother did. Contradicting the fear was his unmet desire to explore sexuality as a growing man...........


Little Pallavi saw a packet of sanitary napkins and asked her father what it was. With visible discomfort, he said she would learn as she grows up.

When Pallavi started with her menstruation cycle at school, her mother was embarrassed in explaining to her how babies are born...no more could she tell that swans dropped them..... As years passed, Pallavi wondered why waxed feet were linked with longer skirts and trousers...

As a young working woman, she went on a holiday with the man she loved, Raghav. She was unsure of  sex before marriage.... She feared that asking her mother would mean an early marriage. She was embarrassed in asking her best friend whether contraceptives actually work, and thought that emergency pills were just as good....Unfortunately Raghav was no help either.....

Three months later they got married. Raghav had forgotten (he said so) to carry condoms. Pallavi was too sceptical of contraceptive pills. Pallavi left her job on maternal leave.

An ode to The Dog Community

I am a DOG Lover...I dont just go "awww, he is soo cute" at their sight, .......I understand them....I observe them...I like to catch their every movement...A twitch in the ears...moisture on nose..sudden turning around to bite the itch away....sitting in alarm to cautiously snap at a buzzing fly.......hope in the eyes...pretending to be angry by displaying a few yellowing teeth..angry bark, loving bark, scared bark.....breaking things by underestimating the weight or flexibility of their tails.....I can go on and never stop

Dog therapy is a tested and tried part of healing for various reasons, but what about the dog therapy we can get almost everyday and that too for free?
Why let it go?

I almost greedily grab at any occassion to be with a Dog, I like to feel the love they display through pawing at my feet, or softly biting my hands, or just keeping the head in my lap and pretending to sleep, while i pat them or play with their moustache and coat....

I have almost always had a dog come to me when I have been sad....for I look at them in their eyes genuinely...If I am happy, the dog as if by telepathy, would  be playful, maybe he would jump on me,or try to pull away my jacket (completely ignoring the fact that I am inside);
If sad I have mostly had dogs keeping their heads in my hands or lap, or give a soft lick on the face or fingers while I silently oozed out the pain.......

As a kid,. my best friend was my pet. I would narrate to him the entire incidents of the day, hoping to get some advice, and I am sure he advised me well, for I never returned dissatisfied.....

There is a dog in my neighbourhood who is infamous amongst children.....when he came here for the first time he almost bit my hand away, somehow his eys betrayed his pretence at scaring me...I went upto him every single day, and offered him my hand to bite...he never did....but in a few weeks, he did lick it......he still bullies those children, however he doesn't bark when I am around, and if he sees me from far, he calls for me or runs towards me.....

Once when on a vacation to Chail, there was a huge sheep dog, who showed absolutely no interest in me, I was not only hurt but also felt cheated. I went upto him, and spent almost an hour trying to get his attention,......... in exasperation I even pretended to bark...I think that must have really tickled him, for he gave in and sat next to me on the bench....When I woke up the next day...he was sleeping outside our cabin :)