Pulau Tioman, The great journey!

Day 1: The Journey begins….

I waved goodbye to my parents as the bus sped away.

It was still 6:30 in the morning in Singapore and two Grade 6 classes were going to Pulau Tioman. I felt excited and happy and I was looking forward to the trip. I was soon in conversation with my friends, and before I realised, we were at the border between Malaysia and Singapore. I got off the bus; collected my passport, got it stamped, and made my way back to the bus.

In Malaysia, I mostly looked out the window and saw the beautiful trees, aligned line in line. We got off the bus, took a bio break and entered a ferry. The seats were inside the boat, but most of the students preferred to stand on the open balcony outside to enjoy the cool, refreshing, soft sea breeze.

As I got out, I just expected to have a little bit of wind blowing, but as soon as I was out, a gust of howling wind struck me. I felt delighted and enjoyed the ride all through. Tioman Island was in sight in around 3 hours. As I glanced at the island, the first thing that caught my attention was the size of Tioman. It was massive!

We handed out our luggage to another boatman who was with us and got ready for the mountain climb that lay in front of us. The climb was 8 kilometres through a jungle that was on a steep mountain. My friends company did not let me realise the severe hitting that my feet were taking during the long climb.

We reached the resort in around 3 to 4 hours. We were told our rooms and roommates and were sent to settle in. The room was extremely messy but I realised that I should come out of my comfort zone. We were instructed to take out all our snacks and put them in a large, deep orange coloured box that was placed near the place where we had our meals. This was so that the snacks didn’t attract any more bugs to our cabin.

Day 2: It’s time to play the games!

I woke up to the enchanting colours in magnificent sky. It was still the beginning of dawn and the spectacular sunrise hadn’t even started! I changed into my swimming shorts and UV top (we had to wear our swimming gear from the time we woke up till the time we were given to have showers, which was right before dinner.), I then headed out for breakfast.

Before mealtime, we were meant to take a pleasant walk to the nearby jetty and back just to energise us up a little. After having a scrumptious meal, we played a game called ‘bird on the perch’. The rules were that we first got a partner. One of us had to be a bird, and the other was the perch. Then both of us had to walk around a lengthy line in opposite directions. Whenever the person conducting the game shouted out “Bird on the perch!” the bird had to get on top the perch in such a way that no part of their body was touching the ground. The last team to do this was disqualified. My partner and me made it to the top 3.

After this electrifying game, we were split into two different groups and sent to our first activity, which was sailing for me. The other group would do something else and after lunch, we would switch activities. We were sent off to our activities, but for sailing we needed to know different safety rules. The method of sailing was explained and we were also taught how to get back into the boat if we capsized. We soon set off into the deep, dark, blue sea. I found this activity exceedingly enjoyable although I did tip over a few times J.

After a heavy lunch, we were given 2 hours of free time after which we swapped over with the other group, and did ‘beach arts’. We had to choose a person that we admire. Then you have to make an art piece, using only natural items that we found near the river. We weren’t allowed to uproot any plants or pluck any leaves.

I made a design around a growing plant using bougainvilleas, palm tree bark and mud brown leaves that had dried up in the heat. Everyone liked it and complimented me a great deal.

Then, after dinner, we played a game or two more and at 10:00, it was lights out.

Day 3: A new learning!

The routine began as the first two days, but today our first activity was going to the turtle hatchery for which we took a speedboat to the hatchery. Once we were there, we saw a few baby turtles and Jo, the blind turtle. The hatchery was a protected area with turtle eggs buried in the sand (like they usually are).

When the turtles are born, they are released into the ocean. If the turtle does not go into the water that means it has some disability.

Jo did not go into the water and that is how they found out that she was blind. We helped clean their living areas, and then we learnt about how we can help them (not using too many plastic bags, etc.) and how we could raise awareness in the community. We walked back to our resort, which was quite a long distance away. On the way across the stretched seashore, we had to pick up as much litter as we could so that the beach looked neat and so that items made out of plastic couldn’t affect the turtles. After lunch, we went to do our one star kayak training in the river. We were told different methods of kayaking and then we had to carry our kayaks into the river and we kayaked around one kilometre.

It was extraordinarily thrilling and I think that was my favourite activity in the whole trip. We also played a game. The rules were:

• We got into teams
• We had to be touching different ends of the river (the width, not the length which is countless miles)
• The referee throws a buoyant yellow ball and both teams have to try and get it
• If the ball hits you, your kayak or your paddle by someone in the opposite team, you are disqualified
• If it misses you and falls into the water, you can fetch it and throw it at your opponents

It was a great load of fun although my muscles were pounding in pain because of the kayaking. We were given some time to swim in the sea before changing and going for dinner. After dinner we started to note down some things so that we could remember what we did in the trip later onwards. Then it was time to sleep.

Day 4: Thoughts in solace!

I opened my eyes as the teacher woke us up by knocking on the door. We were directed to wear clothes appropriate for trekking and headed out into the striking morning. After our walk, and during breakfast, we were told that we were going to trek towards a waterfall that was on a mountain nearby.

The snacks from the ‘Orange Box’ were divided and an equal amount was given to each student to carry. Later at the waterfall, we were going to have a feast where we were going to distribute the snacks.

The hike started, leading us into the jungle. We were soon deep in the forest with rocks in our way and trees all around. Suddenly, we came to a halt. Rob (from the outdoor education department at my school) explained that we were going to do an activity called SOLO. As the name suggests, we were going to spend some time (we are not sure how long as we were meant to be unconscious about time- they even asked us to give them our watches) alone in our own space. The closest person will be more than fifty meters away.

After explaining what to do in the case of emergency, we were spread across the area of 1.35 kilometres (27 people x 50 meters) and we thought our own thoughts. We were also not allowed to talk.

The jungle itself was deadly quiet, as if a tough, enchanted charm had been spread across the rough woodland. But it was also alive with noise because it was so quiet, I could hear twigs snapping, monkeys chattering, leaves flying in the strong wind that was howling in my ears. I saw trees, as I couldn’t see much; my path was totally blocked by grand, tremendous, towering trees. The most interesting thing I saw must have been the tree that was shaped like a dog. It had a hole in the branches for eyes, leaves for ears, and through another hole, I could see the emerald green leaves from the other trees behind it and the hole looked just like the mouth. I felt tired and energetic, both at the same time. Suddenly, my group appeared and I realised that my SOLO time was over.

We resumed the stride and marched over to the waterfall. We sat on some rocks and took out the snacks. After having an admirable feast, we went swimming in the flowing water. The water was freezing but it was still fun. The fall was only around 6 meters high from the ground. There was a place in the waterfall where we could climb up to and glide down, as there was a structure like a water slide. After about 30 minutes of fun in the water, we started strolling back to the other hotel where the other grade 6 class was staying (both of the classes stayed at 2 different hotels. Their hotel was near the turtle sanctuary) and had our lunch there. We returned back to our hotel, dropped our bags, changed into our swimmers and we went jetty jumping. We could jump off right from the top or from a lower area. I wanted to jump from the top one but my legs didn’t act upon my thoughts and so I got 2 jumps at the lower spot. It was still great fun. We then had dinner and then came the moment we were all waiting for…

THE BONFIRE!

The bonfire was only 20 minutes but everyone still enjoyed it, telling jokes and horror stories. We also learned a campfire song that a tribe of Africa sung every night during their campfire. They lived in the desert and they sung it so that if there were someone lost in the desert, they would know that help was near. Every one slept without any effort, as we were extremely tired.

Day 5: Taking the route back home!

That morning, we woke up earlier than usual to go snorkelling. It was exciting and adventurous. We saw schools of minuscule fish, firm coral reefs, vibrant multicoloured fish, and countless other things, which I can’t, record here because there are too many to list. We had a quick breakfast, made ourselves sandwiches for our lunch and packed them in a waxed plastic bag. We headed off to the jetty to take the ferry back to Malaysia’s mainland. The ferry and the following bus ride back to Singapore took over 9 hours. I was incredibly happy to be back home because after all it’s always, Home Sweet Home.

Thank you for reading and do let me know your comments and views on the same.

Aditya K

School Ecole Mondiale

MY TRIP TO TAMEN NEGARA

IMPRESSIONS OF A TRAIN JOURNEY

Toot! Toot! The train was about to leave as we scrambled to our bunks. There were 2 bunks on top of each other on both sides of the train with a pillow and a curtain. There was also a small light. At first we had to stay on our own bunks before we went into Malaysia but later we could go on to each other’s bunks for a game of cards. My friend Cole forgot to bring food so we all had to contribute to his dinner. After eating dinner, we went on to each other’s beds for some time to play. At 8:00pm, the teachers asked us to go to sleep. It is not easy to go to sleep on a bumpy train that keeps rocking all the time. I managed to sleep for about 3 to 3 and half hours. After we woke up at 3:00am, we took a short 10-minute walk to an inn. We had 6 people in our bunk with one single bed and one queen sized bed. That evening was tough!

ON THE RIVER SEEN FROM THE BOAT

“On you go, Rama’s group!” said Mrs.Ziemer, as we climbed onto the boat and got partners. My partner was Ahan. As we sat on the boat we put on our “Neil Pryde” life jackets, which Rama said was our responsibility till we reach Singapore. The boat ride was exactly 2 hours and 34 minutes (I timed it with my own watch!). On our way to Tamen Negara, we saw monkeys on islands, water buffalos and cows eating and bathing in the water and many more exiting things. After a long time of staring out, we finally reached Tamen Negara, the world’s oldest rainforest. The boat ride was really exiting and I think you should go too☺.

THE TREK TO TERESEK HILL

Puff! Pant! “ Not much longer!” shouted our local guide, Max. We tried to start the trek with out bottles full of water, but unfortunately, the water didn’t last us to the top of Teresek hill. We had to hike 1.7 km up the mountain and 1.7 km down the mountain. Long way! On our way up, our guide thought us how to get medicine out of a plant to cure leach bites, what wood to use to start a campfire, a juice called risen that comes out of a special tree that gives a wonderful scent when burnt, which vines to use to drink water (vines contain water; you need to cut it open to get it), many interesting facts about animals and many more fascinating and useful things. We stopped halfway up the hill, at the first view and the second view (the views were exquisite mountains), which was the top of the mountain. The trek was difficult but we made it!

SHOOTING THE RAPIDS

In the activity shooting the rapids, we got on to our boat to go to an island to play some games there. Soon after the boat started the driver at the back who was controlling the motor suddenly went really fast. But I realized that we weren’t the only ones. The other boats were speeding too! Suddenly, when our boat was next to another boat, the guide put an oar into the water and the whole boat next to us got drenched. Soon all the boats started doing this and we were all soaking wet. It was more fun when we reached the current because the water splashed a lot further. After we reached the Island, we played two fun games. The way back was not as interesting because nobody splashed anyone. That was super fun!!

THE CANOPY WALK

For the canopy walk, we hiked for about 30 min, until we reached the canopy walkway. The canopy walk was on a narrow bridge in which we had to stay 5 or 10 meters away from the person in the front. This was because the bridge could hold only a certain amount of people. The bridges started swinging and it was great fun as we tackled 5 bridges. The total distance was around 500 to 800 meters. The bridge was 45 to 50 meters away from the ground. Phew! That’s high! The activity was very interesting and I enjoyed it a lot.

In conclusion I would say that this trip was a super duper hit and the best I have ever been to so far! I just loved it and I think you should go there too.

Aditya Krishnan

Age: 10 years

__________

Do post in your views and comments below….                                           

‘Be formed my friend, be very formed, as water. Water does not break, nor does it crash. You put it in a jar, it becomes the jar… be free… yet be formed!’ Quoted Bruce Lee.

 It is so true.

 When we feel disturbed not through exertion or excess work but through stagnation or incapacitation, the strongest of the tone and the harshest of words seem to flow as free as water, don’t they?

 Thoughts tremble under the weight of time and voice cracks with every anxious decision. The decisive moments are not the only pensive ones anymore.

 As we dreadfully approach another possible personification of a plan, the feet feel the weight of the head as much as the palms feel the sweat of the brow. But at the end, we still go ahead with it and that’s when the hammer hits the iron ‘hot’.

 So with a strong heart powered by the huge mug of “Black Coffee” we charge ahead and make another, oops, yet another jump to the vexed hands of the listener, we pull it off big time or on the contrary we say, here we go again!

 Dismal behavioral patterns often seem to be a huge face of such extreme rollercoaster lives.

 But the idea is to have that cup of coffee meaning, to get up again desiring that energy, that freshness booster and be formed like water and be ready to accept that one’s “Eureka ideas” might be differently felt by the onlooker.  Like the old saying goes, not every mud thrown gets you in a dump and not all pats in the back land you to the top.

 So this is for a very nice friend of mine, “be formed and always desire the freshness of the coffee. Do it all, but just DON’T GIVE UP!”

 God bless and be well

 Ananth V

 Image Source: http://ananthvclicks.wordpress.com

Team Management Win’s it all!

Being a true Mumbaite, there are only two things that I greedily crave for. One is Vada Pav and the other is the pulse racing game of Cricket.

About 7 weeks ago, I became a great fan of Mr. Lalit Modi who gifted all of us a fantastic product (though said to be ripped off from the Football leagues – Who cares?), the IPL – Indian Premiere League.

A product wherein you get the best from every nation.

It’s like having a Macintosh design (Beautifully packed) on a IBM machine (Brand sells) with windows OS (Love it or hate it… but you can’t ignore it – Everyone owns it)

The IPL brought in adrenaline rushing pulsating anticipation and anxiety to the young and senior players of Cricket as much as it did for the “dumb / struck” audience watching one of the best marketing practices sold right at their face.

And the best part is… the majority bought it and why wouldn’t we? It was a fantastic product with amazingly surprising ingredients, fresh recipe with a dash of rules being cooked in a cauldron of magical glamour.

It had it all and today at the DY Patil stadium at Navi Mumbai where the Underdogs finally did it and Rajasthan Royals bathed in pure glory.

They did it on the grandest stage of them all and with panache and flair. Raw overdue talent like Yusuf Pathan and Tanvir, fabulous findings like Asnodkar and pure all round skill like Shane Watson with the legend like backing and faith of Shane Warne, the match ended gloriously.

As the Chennai Super Kings skipper and his team gave a fabulous fight till the last ball was bowled, the Rajasthan Royals devoured the final ball for the ultimate prize of Glory and of course around 4.8 Crores Rupees.

But everyone loved it and the way the Royals had played it throughout, even the Chennai skipper wouldn’t have ‘minded it’ this time.

It was a great blow to all those who did not believe and kept saying with utmost faith that the underdogs will remain underdogs as they finally watched the most economical team biting the biggest chunk of them all, the biggest prize of them all the worlds most expensive Trophy – The IPL trophy.

More important than the combination of all sorts of skill levels was the beauty to see Muralidharan happy on Jayasurya’s wicket, Sachin rejoicing at Dhoni’s dismissal, Sourav hugging Shoaib and the Aussie Watson as glad with hitting Symond’s ball like never seen before, was that it brought in a lot of team spirit and a never give up attitude amongst all who played and to many who even just watched.

It was a great lesson from Shane Warne’s team that, it is not as important to have the best in the team as it is to give your best to the team.

I would like to end it with just a simple kudos for the legendary performance by the retired Skipper Shane Warne for his team management and to the whole Rajasthan Royals for the consistent performance by adding so much zest and energy to the spirit of the game.

Three cheers to the fact and power behind ‘Team Management’ and a Huge Hurray to Mr.Modi, Mr. Warne and the Rajasthan Royals.

IPL rocked!!!

Be well

Ananth V

Image Source: http://wikimedia.org

Offical Website: http://www.iplt20.com/index.html

As I pondered at the starry sky for the moments that were spent I could plainly see the spills on the carpet and the stains on the mattress. I kept thinking I needed to improvise, a change would be good said my sanely perplexed brain.

Again, the dove flew off like the starry night before. Today, it reminded me of a work of art from one of the famous Italian painters and my mind wandered into one such artists words. He had said that an object that has been assimilated or formed and now needs no addition, no editing and no change is pure beauty…

Thank god for those famous quotes by artists.

That’s what I felt today, at the end of the day… it was beautiful… it was stunning… it was pure and perfect ….. simply because it was “SIMPLE”

My brain came to the present and looked at the wonderful things that were gifted to me till date.

It did not make me overlook the demands and the twinge, but gave me enough nerve to keep fighting, never go down on hope and have a conviction, a stronger faith in myself.

I had a horrible yesterday but had an awesome day today.

Had an amazing and astounding 10 hour sleep (keeping in mind my usual sleep of not more than 4-5 hours), woke up fresh, had a glass of my favorite mixed fruit Tropicana, did some workout and had a stupendous brunch fit for a king with a great friend of mine who also is an important part of my routine, someone from whom I take a lot of advice.

The day ended perfectly with a call from my side to a very kind and sweet relative wishing him on his birthday today which is a huge deal because of the fact that I barely remember even my own birth day.  

At the end of the day, I had good food, great friend, amazing family and an awesome book to read not to mention my grand day with loads of real keeping fit routine and some virtual game plays on my computer.

So, I had grown up a bit today but with zest and loads of energy.

I was responsible for something that was not part of my job, I was with and around those who cared and vice-versa, I put enough energy into my physical and mental training today and after a long time could write a simple post for a blog, not too long and just like my day, could keep it simple.

So I guess, it’s not just the remarkable mind blowing things that make impact on us. It’s also these simple aspects from our everyday that make us cheerful, gives us hope and courage to face life with belief, dedication and optimism.

So….

When things go wrong

And life gets crude

Hang on to the soulful hope

That never keeps you aloof

Kiss her hand and breathe in her heart

Sing a song to the blues

and play your part!

— Ananth V

god bless and be well

Image source: http://ananthvclicks.wordpress.com

Ananth V

March 11^th, 2008

 Destination: Bapugoan, Dahanu Village, Maharashtra, India

Purpose: Being part of the Documentation shoot about the Warli art and one of its immense talent: Mr.Ramesh Hengadi.

About the Artist: Mr.Ramesh, will soon be reaching out to the world showcasing his skills and bringing India closer in the art front on the international map. He is from Dahanu, India and is a master craftsmen and artist.

His benign behavior and simplicity will take you off your feet when you see his artworks. He has done his MA and has been into Warli art since a very early age.

The Journey:

I left from home at 5:30 am heading towards Churchgate station where I was to meet Mr. Barney Hare Duke and Mr. Jeremy Theophilus and leave for Dahanu.

I touched the meeting place exactly at 6:50 am and the vehicle arrived with the curious and skilled duo Mr.Barney and Mr. Jeremy.  They both are partners of “A FINE LINE” and are project managers at HAT.

This program was being also funded majorly by the Art council UK.

As I learnt more about their work and about their travel around the world, I found something very interesting. They both actually loved art to the core….And instantaneously I knew that the journey would not be long and would be very informative and a great learning experience.

As Mr. Jeremy explained to me about their study on varied cultures, different art forms, distinctly varied media, about the totally unique cultures that each country offered them and the new discoveries about customs, traditions, people that they acquired, made the journey very much interesting for me. Mr. Barney told me about their research plans, documentary shoot about the artists and the art form at Dahanu village.

I then also came to know that I was going to meet the artist Mr.Ramesh in about half an hour, as he had travelled more than half the way so as to direct us to his home.  

As my cellular phone rang and Mr.Ramesh enquired about where we had reached, we finalized on one point of meet and then…. I met the talented to the core artist.

As he got into the vehicle and the questions about his village and art work kept barging, his soft spoken ways and smile eased the pace of questions from our side. We were closer to reaching the destination and as we looked around, we saw my country, India with its beautiful crude beauty. The sceneries around were breathtaking and very picturesque.

In a total of 2 ½ hours, we touched his home and were greeted by his mother with ‘Aarti & red Tilak’.

The whole place looked very neat, clean and was stunningly beautiful. The people there were living a very simple life with limited resources and means, but were living happily.

Why wouldn’t they be, one of their artist was being recognized for his work and was being interviewed and documented on, before he left for UK to showcase his talent.

We went inside his home, met his big and hospitable family and within half an hour or so we were out, for exploring his village, their culture, traditions, their way of life etc. We saw his school, as his brothers, friends and other villagers took us around the whole village. We saw how they grinded wheat, rice etc, and the way the kids were taught to greet the elders and anyone who was new to their homeland.

They explained to us of their faith in the god, “Vagobha” meaning ‘The Tiger’ whom they worshiped in idol and symbolic form. They took us to that temple that was built and has been maintained since generations.

We obviously found dust and mud all around us, but yet, the air was amazingly fresh and there was absolutely no pollution. So, in other words, I was having difficulty breathing the fresh air…. Hmmm…. Only pure oxygen to breathe. Being from the polluted side of the world, I had no idea how to take that in… but I managed and survived.

The village was amazingly clean which reminded me of the media coverage and other hoardings begging our city dwellers to keep the city clean. There were dustbins in the village and the garbage was properly disposed.

It reminded me of the ‘ruffles lays’ packet that was thrown out in the middle of the road by one of the Honda city owners kid while we were leaving in the vehicle for Dahanu today morning. So much for a civilized city, Huh!

As I came out of the horrible flashback, back to the clean and fresh village of Dahanu, Ramesh’s brothers and friends showed us few other houses and the art works and the style in which the house had been designed and coloured, amazed all of us. It was clean, neat, colourfull and had motifs and other different wall paintings on the in and outside of the house walls. They had kept God idols etc hanging from the ceiling, painted the invite to the wedding in the houses where marriages had taken place, the lamps and wedding turbans that were hanging on the nails on the wooden pillars of their houses. Even with so much humidity and heat, the inside of the houses were cool because of the cow dung plastered on their walls.

The massive support that the whole village showered on its talented son, Mr.Ramesh H was something that one could feel so much positively in the air with such strong and happy vibes that were hovering across the whole village.

We then feasted our eyes to the amazing Tarpa dance while the Head Tarpa player (who was easily in his seventies) played the amazing looking musical instrument and the other dancers, performers and singers showed us their skills and brought us closer to the village, people and their art forms. They danced, hopped, twisted and turned greeting us and sang songs of THE GAURI (the God and Goddess) and the harvesting of crops which were very important aspects of the village life.

Later on as we looked at the Warli art, it was very clear that the Tarpa dance, the Tarpa, the harvesting process of crops and the gods, idols, temples, their faith, religion and worship played a massively important role in their upbringing and were vividly seen in their Warli art.

We travelled across to majority of the places and areas learning about Warli art and were gifted to watch the young artists and the master of Warli art at work. As the master craftsmen Mr.Ramesh and the 10 year old Ashish with his friends and elder brothers Rajesh, Ramesh took small pieces of cloth dipped in their soil / mud and cow dung, which had dried up now to look like a great canvas place for their art to be etched or created, they slowly began the magic.

As we watched their undivided attention and focus on their art being converted to shapes, forms, figures we could see that they were actually creating the different dances and performances that we had just seen their today, few hours ago. It looked amazingly alive and breathtakingly beautiful. The flow and the rhythm of the art work were exquisite.

Throughout as Mr.Barney and Mr.Jeremy were shooting the whole thing and taking notes, I had a real blast as I could not only learn about the art of warli, but also meet such sweet, skilled and amazingly talented people and learn so much about my own culture of the village life in India.

By the end of the day after taking rounds of the places where the master artist usually works, where he gets his inspiration from, later on we also caught a glimpse at the various artworks created by his wife on cloth, t-shirts, Ramesh’s unique combination of using the gourd vegetable to be used as pots, moulds and create amazingly exquisite showpieces of Warli art on it, we headed back to the vehicle. Mr. Jeremy treated us to a nice lunch and we then headed back home.

The journey back home was very much different than the way it began.

There was so much curiosity and so many queries when we had started at the crack of dawn, but as we headed back home, I was filled with so much awe of the humbleness, simplicity of their lives and pure art that I could feel rushing inside my head. I rested in the comfortable and BIG Chevrolet and went back home with a day, that was fun, had a huge learning experience, meeting brilliant artists, great people, the partners of A FINE LINE who had shown so much respect and love for the art and Indian culture…..

(For pictures of this whole journey, click on the link below: http://ananthvclicks.wordpress.com)

The day had ended with the setting sun and I was grateful to a very good friend of mine, Mrs. Neela Shinde for introducing me to the brilliant researchers from UK, was Thankful to both, Jeremy and Barney for such a wonderful journey and humbled by the loving and talented villagers at Dahanu.

God bless art and artists for spreading so much life, culture, love, passion hope and dreams all around us.

Be well

Ananthanarayanan V

http://ananthvclicks.com

http://techdivine.cgsociety.org

http://www.art.in/artists/ananthanarayanan-v.htm

http://stores.lulu.com/techdivine  

March 11^th, 2008

 Destination: Bapugoan, Dahanu Village, Maharashtra, India

Purpose: Being part of the Documentation shoot about the Warli art and one of its immense talent: Mr.Ramesh Hengadi.

About the Artist: Mr.Ramesh, will soon be reaching out to the world showcasing his skills and bringing India closer in the art front on the international map. He is from Dahanu, India and is a master craftsmen and artist.

His benign behavior and simplicity will take you off your feet when you see his artworks. He has done his MA and has been into Warli art since a very early age.

The Journey:

I left from home at 5:30 am heading towards Churchgate station where I was to meet Mr. Barney Hare Duke and Mr. Jeremy Theophilus and leave for Dahanu.

I touched the meeting place exactly at 6:50 am and the vehicle arrived with the curious and skilled duo Mr.Barney and Mr. Jeremy.  They both are partners of “A FINE LINE” and are project managers at HAT.

This program was being also funded majorly by the Art council UK.

As I learnt more about their work and about their travel around the world, I found something very interesting. They both actually loved art to the core….And instantaneously I knew that the journey would not be long and would be very informative and a great learning experience.

As Mr. Jeremy explained to me about their study on varied cultures, different art forms, distinctly varied media, about the totally unique cultures that each country offered them and the new discoveries about customs, traditions, people that they acquired, made the journey very much interesting for me. Mr. Barney told me about their research plans, documentary shoot about the artists and the art form at Dahanu village.

I then also came to know that I was going to meet the artist Mr.Ramesh in about half an hour, as he had travelled more than half the way so as to direct us to his home.  

As my cellular phone rang and Mr.Ramesh enquired about where we had reached, we finalized on one point of meet and then…. I met the talented to the core artist.

As he got into the vehicle and the questions about his village and art work kept barging, his soft spoken ways and smile eased the pace of questions from our side. We were closer to reaching the destination and as we looked around, we saw my country, India with its beautiful crude beauty. The sceneries around were breathtaking and very picturesque.

In a total of 2 ½ hours, we touched his home and were greeted by his mother with ‘Aarti & red Tilak’.

The whole place looked very neat, clean and was stunningly beautiful. The people there were living a very simple life with limited resources and means, but were living happily.

Why wouldn’t they be, one of their artist was being recognized for his work and was being interviewed and documented on, before he left for UK to showcase his talent.

We went inside his home, met his big and hospitable family and within half an hour or so we were out, for exploring his village, their culture, traditions, their way of life etc. We saw his school, as his brothers, friends and other villagers took us around the whole village. We saw how they grinded wheat, rice etc, and the way the kids were taught to greet the elders and anyone who was new to their homeland.

They explained to us of their faith in the god, “Vagobha” meaning ‘The Tiger’ whom they worshiped in idol and symbolic form. They took us to that temple that was built and has been maintained since generations.

We obviously found dust and mud all around us, but yet, the air was amazingly fresh and there was absolutely no pollution. So, in other words, I was having difficulty breathing the fresh air…. Hmmm…. Only pure oxygen to breathe. Being from the polluted side of the world, I had no idea how to take that in… but I managed and survived.

The village was amazingly clean which reminded me of the media coverage and other hoardings begging our city dwellers to keep the city clean. There were dustbins in the village and the garbage was properly disposed.

It reminded me of the ‘ruffles lays’ packet that was thrown out in the middle of the road by one of the Honda city owners kid while we were leaving in the vehicle for Dahanu today morning. So much for a civilized city, Huh!

As I came out of the horrible flashback, back to the clean and fresh village of Dahanu, Ramesh’s brothers and friends showed us few other houses and the art works and the style in which the house had been designed and coloured, amazed all of us. It was clean, neat, colourfull and had motifs and other different wall paintings on the in and outside of the house walls. They had kept God idols etc hanging from the ceiling, painted the invite to the wedding in the houses where marriages had taken place, the lamps and wedding turbans that were hanging on the nails on the wooden pillars of their houses. Even with so much humidity and heat, the inside of the houses were cool because of the cow dung plastered on their walls.

The massive support that the whole village showered on its talented son, Mr.Ramesh H was something that one could feel so much positively in the air with such strong and happy vibes that were hovering across the whole village.

We then feasted our eyes to the amazing Tarpa dance while the Head Tarpa player (who was easily in his seventies) played the amazing looking musical instrument and the other dancers, performers and singers showed us their skills and brought us closer to the village, people and their art forms. They danced, hopped, twisted and turned greeting us and sang songs of THE GAURI (the God and Goddess) and the harvesting of crops which were very important aspects of the village life.

Later on as we looked at the Warli art, it was very clear that the Tarpa dance, the Tarpa, the harvesting process of crops and the gods, idols, temples, their faith, religion and worship played a massively important role in their upbringing and were vividly seen in their Warli art.

We travelled across to majority of the places and areas learning about Warli art and were gifted to watch the young artists and the master of Warli art at work. As the master craftsmen Mr.Ramesh and the 10 year old Ashish with his friends and elder brothers Rajesh, Ramesh took small pieces of cloth dipped in their soil / mud and cow dung, which had dried up now to look like a great canvas place for their art to be etched or created, they slowly began the magic.

As we watched their undivided attention and focus on their art being converted to shapes, forms, figures we could see that they were actually creating the different dances and performances that we had just seen their today, few hours ago. It looked amazingly alive and breathtakingly beautiful. The flow and the rhythm of the art work were exquisite.

Throughout as Mr.Barney and Mr.Jeremy were shooting the whole thing and taking notes, I had a real blast as I could not only learn about the art of warli, but also meet such sweet, skilled and amazingly talented people and learn so much about my own culture of the village life in India.

By the end of the day after taking rounds of the places where the master artist usually works, where he gets his inspiration from, later on we also caught a glimpse at the various artworks created by his wife on cloth, t-shirts, Ramesh’s unique combination of using the gourd vegetable to be used as pots, moulds and create amazingly exquisite showpieces of Warli art on it, we headed back to the vehicle. Mr. Jeremy treated us to a nice lunch and we then headed back home.

The journey back home was very much different than the way it began.

There was so much curiosity and so many queries when we had started at the crack of dawn, but as we headed back home, I was filled with so much awe of the humbleness, simplicity of their lives and pure art that I could feel rushing inside my head. I rested in the comfortable and BIG Chevrolet and went back home with a day, that was fun, had a huge learning experience, meeting brilliant artists, great people, the partners of A FINE LINE who had shown so much respect and love for the art and Indian culture…..

(For pictures of this whole journey, click on the link below: http://ananthvclicks.wordpress.com)

The day had ended with the setting sun and I was grateful to a very good friend of mine, Mrs. Neela Shinde for introducing me to the brilliant researchers from UK, was Thankful to both, Jeremy and Barney for such a wonderful journey and humbled by the loving and talented villagers at Dahanu.

God bless art and artists for spreading so much life, culture, love, passion hope and dreams all around us.

Be well

Ananthanarayanan V

http://ananthvclicks.com

http://techdivine.cgsociety.org

http://www.art.in/artists/ananthanarayanan-v.htm

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I was seven years old. It was barely seven am as I rubbed my eyes and was still lying on the comfortable bed. As my eyelids leisurely followed the cadence of the twinkling stars and I came back to full yet not so vivid vision of the place around, I looked for immediate comfort. I looked for my folks around.

Now this little kid that was me was getting a little anxious to not see his parents around him as he realized all of a sudden that the place he was waking up was also totally new and unknown to him.

I kept calling for my parents and no one answered.

My eyes opened up wholly and I got up in a jiff. As I looked around, my cry for my mom and dad only got louder as the room that I was looking at was at least about 3000 sq. foot big and there was not a soul around. My feet clamped the flooring and I took to faster steps and scurried around the first door that I found open.

I ran three floors downstairs still calling for my parents and now my voice was getting a little more raucous and whiny than before.

Bang!

I startled and shouted for help as I heard a huge clanking clatter to my left side where there was a huge door that was half open. I stood there motionless, scared and worried. I waited till I heard that noise again and then again.

Strangely though, I was a lot calm now and I slowly moved towards that open door and all I could see were massively humongous machines.The smell in that place was filled with fragrance of flowers. I step by step moved in between the clanking sounds and now a lot more confident as I saw a household face near one such machine.

It was my uncle, Mr. K V Ganesan. He owned that whole factory and as he looked at me and my eyes which had tears rolling down my cheeks from before, he immediately lifted me up and said, “Good morning dear. Let’s go and have something to freshen up your morning.”

Soon enough I was sitting on my dad’s lap and my uncle was narrating of probably what could have caused those tears to roll of my eyes. I was now too secure with my folks to admit it was right, so I just smiled and kept quite.

Ganesan uncle was quick to get that thought in my head as he immediately said, “You are a big boy. You were just curious may be and not afraid right?” and I immediately nodded.

That’s when he told me, “My dear boy, in your life never be afraid to accept your fears. As telling a lie and hiding it would only make it stay with you for a much longer time.” That was said to me almost two decades back and it still rings in my head like I heard it yesterday.

Whenever I had the chance to meet uncle Ganesan, I never missed the opportunity as when I grew up, I came to know that the man who was standing with the labourers that early dawn with the soap and machines working was the man who had built a huge business and won acclaims and accolades from all over the globe.

Ganesan uncle had even won awards / certificates from the then President of India for his contribution in the field of his expertise, for his work towards quality Soap products “Chitra Soap Works” and his loads and loads of contribution to the betterment of labour force in their town and city of Chennai which was then Madras.

He was an industrialist. He was a visionary and a true leader. He was the President of the Small scale soap manufacturers association of South India. He was someone who used to genuinely go down the line and help the less privileged section of society and was unbiased in helping anyone and everyone.

He was someone who always believed, preached and practised that the court of conscience is more supreme than the Supreme Court.

Ganesan uncle was someone who used to tell things as they were. He was a simple, straightforward, no-nonsense man. He always valued others time and was as brilliantly knowledgeable about the Holy book of Gita, the Vedas and the Upanishads, as he was about his flourishing company.

He could predict about people’s lives and he did not do it with anyone and everyone. He used to just talk and all of a sudden say something about someone and keep quiet. And he has always been right.

I do not know how he used to do that but I always still wish that I could have met him few more times and learn more about practicality and life and more importantly, the road to do things your way, your business and your hard work and as he lovingly used to put it, your profits.

He started his life from working in a hotel with a very modest beginning and reached to positions where almost everyone he met was influenced by him to the very core. He had an amazing charisma and optimistic vigor that he carried with him. It was probably this vibe which took him to the pinnacle of accomplishment and showered respect and laurels on him from scores of big shots from around the world.

The story of his never quit attitude sounds mesmerizing as he had told that to me once.

He told me that one day, when he had finished his work in the small time hotel where he was working, he saw that some customer had left a book on the seat. It was about midnight till when he had finished his that days errands and he was about to hit the sack, when something pulled him again towards that book. That book was about making something, something that was supposed to get things clean.

Hmmmmm……. Clean. He said to himself. Clean is good. Let me know more about this, he thought. Various optimistic possibilities flashed across his mind instantaneously. He started reading it page by page and before he looked around, it was already morning and his shift was about to start. He was fascinated by what he had read, but work was very much important to fetch him that day’s food. So he let the book in his small cloth bag that he had and got back to work.

The thought kept ringing in his head again and again.

That night after work he jotted down the things that were said to be required and asked those around, of things he did not understand what they meant. He tried to get as many of those as possible with him and replaced few others with what the people around had told.

He followed what was mentioned in the book and instead of using machines he manually grounded and got a thick paste with him in just few hours. It had no proper smell as he recalls, “I must have missed out on the fragrance part to be added as I did not have anything for that aspect back then.” But whatever he had got, he tried to put them in a box and tried them on the dishes and Woolah! They were clean in a jiff and looked a lot shinier.

He loved the concept and he began his dream and created Chitra Soap works and in the next three decades went global. His products were well known for their quality and cost and as years rolled by, he put scores of people on the job and built his dream neat and clean.But more so, with his intense sense of humor and immense technical knowledge and his pure business instinct, he touched a million lives on the way to the pedestal.

I don’t know why, but I remembered him very much today as I thought about something with respect to accepting my fear about something rather than hide and make it grow. At the end of it when the approach clicked to my advantage and I felt so proud that I had taken a brilliant decision at the end of the day, it just hit me hard as a bar of soap, and I came to my senses touching the fragrance of the whole story.

I was able to recollect something that had happened so long back and I started jotting down all that I recollected him telling me about life, faith, hard work and money.

So that may be, just maybe, someday, I grow up to be at least a third as brilliant, innovative and knowledgeable like him, just May be…. Someday……. As he told me always………. Never give up on your dream, whatever it might be……. Just never give up.

He is someone I always remember in my prayers and someone whom I hope is safe and happy up there in the company of the powerful almighty. 

Be well

—-

Ananthanarayanan V

There was a total blackout. I could hear blaring sounds in my head. Voices, objects and people in scores, thumping and banging around with drums of steel making clanking noises so loud that it seemed my eardrums were to come apart.

Soon enough there was absolute silence as I dwelled into the beautiful home of ‘nidra’ meaning sleep, without a reason and without my own realization of it.

It was only after about another 10 minutes or so, that I regained consciousness. My severe attack of migraine had just passed me with a small objectionable visit that was impactful, but was thankfully not prolonged.

I left my workplace and was heading towards home as one of my workplace employee got me a rickshaw to get back home safely.

The drive was going to be lengthy so I rested in the luxurious and cramped vehicle.

Luxurious because anything and anyplace that let me just slide in now felt so comfortable and cramped as the ‘jhankar beats’ in the rick was in full swing all of a sudden that was clobbering my head.

I asked him to ‘Just shut it’, as he looked back with a not so contented face, he sure did.  I was in no mood to explain why to him but damn, I just should have.

As the alacrity of that awesome machine and the not so positive feelings of the driver got together, the vehicle kept swirling across many bewildering lanes and pathways, I felt as if I was being taken for a ‘ride’ and I double checked to look at the roads.

He was heading in the right direction. I guess it was just my head that was still raging with the earlier impact then.

Soon enough the resentment and frustration of not allowing him to play the wild and horrible songs in his vehicle caught up with him and he was showing no signs of slowing down.

Bang….. Bam….. thrash!!!

Our awesome flying saucer was hit by a ‘lorry’ and the little vehicle rolled sideways.

Strangely and by god’s grace nothing happened to me as I came out of the vehicle with not even a scratch, except for my head that was now screaming with the rising agony called migraine.

The rickshaw-valla was hit roughly and I with few others took him out of the vehicle.

He was still able to stand as he looked at himself and then at me as if I was some alien.

I took him to the nearby traffic policeman who escorted him to the doctor as I left for the close to railway station.

I was in Sion station soon enough.

Now the effect of the collision and my now very active and boisterous headache was taking its toll on me. I was getting extremely exhausted and could not even descend the steps to reach to the platform. But it was me, so I eventually did.

I got in the first class compartment and just lied down inside. It was noon and it was quite empty.

I was woken up in a not so subtle fashion by someone who by looking at my face which was too weary by now probably thought I was drunk. It was the TC.

He asked me for my pass and as I reached my hand towards my pocket, I realized I had unknowingly donated my wallet apparently in the road accident. I explained to the TC but in vain as he asked me to get down and go to the place where the ticketless travelling classes of people are given due and generous attention by more than one TC.

All my explanation was futile but I told him of what had happened from the start of the day, he then looked a little bit more convinced. I was not in a position to talk as I sat down on the seat and it was just then that one of the sessions from my management class just hit me hard.

Brand sells.

I searched for my bag and showed him my student id that I had with me of one of the most elite institutions in India and the name just hit him hard. I guess, it is true, Brand does sell.

He mellowed down and asked me where I work and got few other details. He also asked me if I had any money to buy a ticket. I told him, my wallet was gone and had none.

He asked me to get down with him in the next station and believe it or not, he bought me a ticket for second class for my way back home and got me in the train compartment safe and sound.

That was a very positive experience I had that day.

Sure I have heard of gruesome stories about them, but that day, needless to say, I was impressed to see humanity still to be so much in existence. They too have too many cases of not so genuine reasons many a times I guess. Anyway, I was also glad that I was awake when the lecture was taught in the class saying, Brand sells!

As I continued my routine journey in the train from the next day, I met with the same TC by the end of that week again. It was the same TC in the compartment of the first class and I reminded him of the incident.

I gave him my fine that was due from the other day, took the receipt and for a change happily got out off the train.

It was never about the money I guess. It annoys people normally because of the way they treat you many a times.

But I guess, You give something good and you get something good in return.

I don’t know whether every person could deal things this way always like that TC did, the world would be so much a better place then and if they don’t, as the old saying goes….. Even this shall PASS! No pun intended.

Let me know your views and comments on the same as you always do:

Be well

Ananthanarayanan V

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