It’s been 7 months since I last posted here. 7 months! So what have I been up to, these 7 months?
You see, TS and I have decided to add a new blog member to our team. The new member will join us sometime in October. We started the orientation process sometime in January, and by October the member will be ready to live with us, albeit our insane lifestyle. You know, just because we felt our life was not crazy enough with just the two of us.
A 3 member-ed team is sure to increase fodder for the blog, what do you say?
A day into the New Year, and my brain has dedicated a song to me. It goes:
Bang Bang, You Shot me down!
Bang Bang, I hit the ground!
Bang, Bang, That awful sound!
Bang, Bang, My baby shot me down!!
Anyone else nursing a terrible hangover/headache/sleep deprivation/any other symptoms of excessive celebrations? May the first 2 days of the New year NOT be a judge of how the whole year is about to unfold for us!
Amen? Amen!
Ah, finally the year comes to an end! I am indeed very happy to see 2011 become a part of history. Now, like the rest of my history lessons, the sooner I forget about it, the better!
You see, 2011 was not a good year for us. But we survived it. Well, not just survived it, but found ways and means to be happy despite all the sadness. Yep, we even laughed when TS’s passport took over 9 months to get delivered. Cracked corny jokes about the Government gestating his passport and such! Most recently, the brand new house that we rented has started falling apart on us. We are still dwelling upon our household woes jokes!
So I look forward to 2012 with a lot of anticipation. Heck, IF the world is going to end in 2012, I say it should at least be a good year before we all melt into nonexistence! Right? Right.
Doomsday predictions and household woes, let me see, have I missed out any other dreary topics to write about?
Ah yes, there is, this rather alarming matter of resolutions. Have you set your goals-to-be-broken-within-a-month-of-the-new-year yet? I have. Rather, my doctor has for me: No alcohol, less junk, lesser sugar. More exercise. Gah!
Anyways, that was 2011 for me. I plan to welcome 2012 with a lot of hope and a bottle of vodka fresh juice. What about you?
Happy 2012! *
* The image is from a quilling project I completed earlier today. Inspiration from here.
I had an appointment at the U.S.Consulate today. Like the case usually is, I forgot to go through the checklist that was handed over to me at the workplace , in triplicate, no less! Life would have been much better had I completely forgotten about the checklist, but like the case usually is, I remembered it minutes before I was due to leave for the appointment . The husband had very cleverly taken an early morning flight out of town. I now think it is a strategy of his. He gets a whiff of trouble brewing around me and conveniently removes himself from the vicinity. Convenient for him, not for me! Blaming a husband for not reminding you to review a checklist is no good when said husband is in the air, some 1200 kilometers away! I wonder how soon technology will allow us to talk mid-flight. Or do you want technology to never do that?
Anyways, so minutes before I had to leave for the appointment, a couple of realizations decided to dawn on me.
One, I had received a checklist, in triplicate, that I had not yet consulted.
Second, I had booked a cab to ferry me to and fro, which had not shown any signs of appearance yet.
This was the cue for a full blown panic attack to come forth. Now I am known to perform contradicting actions when such an attack is in motion, actions ranging from extremely sensible to acutely insensible!
The sensible action that I took was to call the cab agency and very convincingly threaten that his worst nightmares would come true if a cab did not emerge at my doorstep within the next 10 minutes. (No, not convincing at all. The cab arrived 30 minutes late. I reached the Consulate 15 minutes late for the appointment.)
I also glanced through the checklist at that time. I realized that the checklist was warning me (in triplicate) that I was not allowed to carry any electronic gadgets. That was when I did the insensible thing. Stomped my feet, threw stuff around in disgust, cursed whoever came to mind. Why? because I wasn’t allowed to carry my Kindle. I performed a solo drama on how I would not survive the drive and the wait without the Kindle! I would surely die if I did not read today!
I was almost at the Consulate when I realized that I could have carried a paperback!
My 3 year old niece, like most children, loves to talk on the phone. So whenever I am on the phone with her, I ask her how she is, what she is doing, what she had for lunch and so on.
Then I spoke with her last week. I realized how blatantly predictable I had become, when she took the phone from her grandmother and rattled off at one go:
Hello maasi I am fine I am playing I had dal-chawal for lunch and bhaiya is playing ok bye!
Yes, go laugh while I list some new questions to stump her with. Hmpf!
When Devajyoti Ray first mailed me about his paintings, my first reaction was “Pseudo realism? HUH?” Then I went to his website, and my reaction changed to “OH MY GOSH, This stuff is not Pseudo-good, it is Really really good!”
Late Hours By Devajyoti Ray
Devajyoti graciously sent me some reading material about his style of art, and I followed it up with some research of my own. A few words that caught my attention were “Original”, “Talented”, and “Simplicity”. I agree. His paintings are simple, and yet so fresh. The art is uncomplicated and seems almost real. Ray is a self taught artist, and boy, is he a talented artist! No wonder his some of his work has traveled across the globe, in an amazingly short span.
Rendezvous by Devajyoti Ray
Pseudorealism, also spelled pseudo-realism, is an artistic and a dramatic technique in which an apparently unreal matter is presented in a fashion that makes it appear real.
Pseudorealism, or the idea that something unreal can still give the impression of the real has a parallel in mathematical field of representation theory. There a Pseudo real representation is a group representation that is equivalent to its complex conjugate, but that is not a real representation.
The idea has also often been used to describe certain set of movies,TV programmes, and video gameswhere special effects, computer generated imagery and 3D animation are used to create a fantasy but which has the impact of a reality based image. However in this context the word Pseudoreal has a negative connotation.
In the field of visual art, however, Pseudorealism as propounded by Devajyoti Ray has a more positive connotation and is considered a well defined genre. In Pseudorealist Art, attempts are made at amalgamating various abstract ideas to create an imagery which has the appeal of reality.
Now for some good news. Devajyoti Ray is showcasing his masterpieces at the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai from 14th November to 21st November’2011.
*The title of the exhibition is The Discreet Charm of Pseudorealism
Some more details of his exhibition are:
Total no of paintings : 25
Style : Pseudorealism
Medium : Acrylic on Canvas
Venue: Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
Time : 11Am to 7 PM from 14th to 21st November 2011
Well, you lucky people in Mumbai, do visit the exhibition and take home some of the “Discreet Charm of Pseudo-realism”.
I also have here a foreword to Ray’s Exhibition by A R Raju, Art Appreciator and Former Director, Travancore Art Gallery:
Devajyoti Ray is perhaps the most original of all the young breed of artists in 21st century India. Unlike other artists of the present generation, Ray’s works have an unnerving simplicity and directness about them. One does not need to wreck his head to understand what a particular work is all about. Yet the works are brutally post-modern, layered and often satiricial. This unique combination of academic finesse, subtle satire and an unnerving simplicity is what makes Ray unique.
His style of art : Pseudorealism, has received appreciations in such far off places like Arizona, Havana, Ras Al Khaimah, Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur, His works have been acquired by the Walsh Academy at Arizona, National Fine Arts Museum in Havana, many corporate offices in US, Germany, UK, UAE and South Africa and many government agencies within India.
Only with seven solo shows under his belt, Ray has already been featured in two international books on art. The first one : ‘Asian Art’ (published in 2010)and the second, a French one ‘Images changeantes del’Inde et del’afrique’(published in 2011).
This is after a span of almost two years that Ray is exhibiting at Mumbai. This time however his works show a change of subjects and concerns.
Pseudorealism had always been a critique of the media-dominated world where reality does not fully coincide with the truth. These were always the concerns of Ray but this time, his works show a rare maturity and a more layered presentation. Colourful as always, symbolic as always, this time his works have another dimension to it: humour.
The name of the show is quite apt : The Discreet Charm of Pseudorealism.
I can only wish this great artist all the very best. May God bless him
A. R. Raju
Be There!
To know more about Devajyoti Ray and his art, check out this and this.
What’s with Daylight Saving? Do you think it really works? Yes, yes, this is a new strategy. To open the Blog after months, and to start writing as if I had never left.
So, what IS it with countries and Daylight Saving? Why do people advance their clocks by an hour in March, and come November turn back their clocks by an hour? Okay, okay, I really do not have any good reason for disappearing. Except for perhaps Laziness. That is the best I can come up with. That, and the fact that Rohan’s next mail would have fired a bullet at my head, a la Rajni saar!
Coming back to Daylight Saving, what are the benefits? Does the one hour saved in the morning really compensate for the sleep loss and confusion? Come on, fess up, every season you wind up your clock, you make it late for that meeting at least once, yeah? Yeah. Anyways, I suddenly realized that I did have a lot to talk about. My parents went on a cool trip and I could link my mom’s blog. We moved house, and I could show you the photos. TS was part of a music video, and I could share the video. I came across a really cool artist, I could exhibit the paintings. Yep, lots to share.
I asked questions and I answered some, but the answers have nothing to do with the questions! Fancy that! The mind needs vacuum cleaning!
I know I told everyone and their grandmothers that I was back to blogging, and then came up with nothing but silence! It would have been nice to tell you all that I’ve been extremely productive and making progress on things that matter, but mostly I’ve been pigging out and being lazy.
Oh yes! I did go on a trip. To Sri Lanka. My passport saw its first ever international stamp. And as I have been telling people, I came back browner, fatter and happier!
On our way back, at the Sri Lankan Immigration counter, the officer started asking me questions, in Sinhalese! When I confessed that the only word I knew in Sinhalese was “Ayubowan”, he looked up in surprise and quipped, “Oh but you look just like one of our Sri Lankan ladies!”
Once I got back, my mom took one look at me and blurted, “And you look just like a Sri Lankan!”.
Yes, point taken! Too bad tomato prices have gone up, tan removal intervention required, and soon!
Friends haven’t stopped commenting on how I have put on weight yet. Even the Elder Sibling asked excitedly if the protruding belly was “good news yet”! Yes, point taken again, gym and exercise intervention required, and soon!
Finally,I had a few official calls today where I sounded as confused as George Bush during his tenure! I’m sure I left my client (and my project manager!) wondering if a Holiday Hangover intervention was required, and soon!
Will upload pictures if you haven’t already seen them on Facebook!
Well it is. So TS and I decided to catch a late night movie the other day. Deprived that we were, we decided to indulge in a beer or two before the movie began.
Now the mall we went to boasts of some nice showrooms, but has a rather sad collection of pubs. We dashed from one place to another, only to be discouraged by the pathetic music that blared and the terrifying crowd. Men tying bandages on slit wrists in front of the entrance is terrifying enough to make us run far, far away!
We finally decided to grab a table at an old, but relatively safe (!) chinese restaurant. With only 20 minutes to spare, my restlessness began to heighten, or maybe it was just the acute lack of alcohol that prompted me to shout aloud at the waiter,
“Excuse me, ek Fosters, aur thoda jaldi please!”
Yup, the waiter was as swift as a falcon after that.
The patrons nearby were as embarrased as , well, Michael Jackson’s mom perhaps!
The beer was good. Glaring guests and giggling waiters do nothing to my focus!
So I am back from Shame-dom finally. But it is not my fault.
No siritisnot!
It is completely Uma’s fault. She was the one who assured me that she would get me to post, by hook or crook! But then she went on vacation. Guess so did my attempts at NaBloPoMo!
Sigh!
Ok. That is mean of me. To blame Uma for my laziness. What if she gets upset and refuses to make any of her delicious stuff for me? eh? Eh? EH?
So I fess up. I went on a mini-vacation. Nowhere fancy. Just to my mamma’s place. Which, when mamma’s dear-darling son-in-law isn’t around, is fancy enough!
So between all the pampering and relaxation, I found little time for NaBloPoMo. Not to forget the niece and nephew who would want to know why Maasi was staring at the laptop screen while there was playing to be done!
As a corollary to all that I have mentioned above, I also did not comment much on your blogs. Oh, I have been reading you, no doubt. If you check your stats, the stalker who’s been increasing the number of hits on your page is me. Yep. Go ahead and thank me now. I’l apologise for not commenting some other day!
Happy Hours Begin Here 
