New year's eve with Prerna

Plantation wanderings

Coorg

Tanvee, Ragini and Saurabh came to town

This is from June, but needs to be here. 

The day they had to leave, 

we went up the hill at 7am

 and explored a new part of it 

(where I'd never been)

The trees were wonderfully 

crackly and the ground dry. 

Thankfully, we were able 

to dodge the sun. 

This was part of Tanvee's 

Nature Girl Outings,

(v.1.0) A success. 

Devrai, Panchgani: Wall painting residency

WEEK IN PANCHGANI:

Nighttime forest drives, delicious homemade food, painting all day, passing out under the mango tree in the heat of the afternoon in a hammock, watching movies before lunch, chopping strawberries for wine, beer in hand and wind blowing, mid-day naps- sometimes between waking up and breakfast, black tea and biscuit-fruit breakfasts, spiced honey brandy and barbecued chicken and jacket potatoes, Angus and Julia Stone, mahua in the night under the mango tree, secret batcave exploring in the moonlight, watching the bronze and iron craftsmen work under the banyan tree, waking up in the projector room and the loveliest sleep everywhere.

We had SUCH a good time! Missed you both.

 Here's our first 2 days of work, mid-morning. The painting got built as we went along, and we responded to what it was asking for, and worked accordingly. 

Here's Madhoo, doing her South-Indian hero routine.

Here's my shawl-turban according to the time of day and position of sun. We would paint a little, step back and look a little, take pictures on the established tripod (that you can see on the right side of the frame) and listen to many, many playlists.

 The appearance of the rust-orange was a huge surprise every time I looked at it, though it was I who mixed that particular colour. I'm telling you, I could mix paint for a living.

We did the paint-and-see rather than the see-and-paint. I JUST saw a conservative, gathered-tentacled octopus in here.
We enjoyed and talked again and again about how the grey was the colour of the stone, and painting over white with it felt like we were making the white invisible.

Very close to completion, Madhoo does some finishing with (rust/white/grey/blue).
When I took the same picture on my phone camera without Madhoo and the ladder, it struck me how much the colour palette was like Guernica; cheerier, but definitely from the same families of colours.

people I worked with

 

Naazneen, Jagga Kaka, Arijeet, Roshan, Anupam and Satyajeet and the rest of the people from the office in Daang. The board reads - Kanuni Sahay Kendra (Center for Social Justice)
The Kanuni Sahay Kendra, provides legal support to the Adivasi community in Dang.

ULTIMATE!

I've been playing ultimate frisbee recently. Let me just say that they don't call it ultimate for nothing.

Rainbows for friends/ How are you two? Haven't heard from either of you in ages, feels odd. I am really enjoying myself. I think summer is beginning to be my fav month. Its almost like i dont want it to end.
My work in Ahmedabad is almost done for now. Taking it easy for a few days, but still at office. I am going to South Gujarat for a week starting sunday. Have to do research study and critique on 'access to justice' for tribals. I have made a new friend in office, she might come along. And then i have this other friend who is a journalist, he too is interested so we are all going together.
I am here till the 23rd and then head to Bangalore for further adventures.
What are your plans for the rest of the summer?
Trust you are doing well/Send news
Avani

Tea Rituals

Nandasan, Mehsana District
Gujarat

New behaviours

I haven't seen anyone I know in a while. It's been four days since I did, and it feels like months.
I arrived in Hoshangabad, a village 2 hours away from Bhopal on a hot, sweaty day in the beginning of May.
I slept on the bus, and only awoke to find that the driver was asking me a question. Seated a foot away from him, I could hear him quite clearly before my eyes opened.
Oh no, I thought. I've done it again.

"Where do you want to go?" he seemed to be saying.
"Hoshgangabad", I replied slowly.
"arey madam. This is toh Itarsi! I thought you were awake when we crossed Hoshangabad! Yeh toh mere (and here he used a beautiful Urdu word, which means 'attention') zehen mein hi nahin raha"
"Oh, theeke bhaiyya, thank you", I heard myself say as I stumbled off the sticky bus.
As I walked a little into the Itarsi bus stop, I noticed that the driver had gotten off with me, and now, without touching me, seemed to be steering me towards a bus that would take me back.

As a spotted one and climbed onto it, he screamed to the conductor inside-
"Arey bhai, this madam was in my bus, she slept on her way to Hoshangabad, and has now reached here, Itarsi. Please take her there, aur haan, unse ticket mat katvana !" (don't take a ticket from her!)

This bus was stickier than the last, the people more irritated, the time of day hotter, but would you believe me if I told you that they didn't take a ticket from me?

It was the coolest ride ever.

Me and Mehr and Abhinav go the airports sometimes at 3 am, mostly for the ride there and back and sometimes for the subway.

Abhinav points to an advert for a building
Must click on image and check eeet out!

creepy/cool?

I'm thinking about a Second Life.