Thirty one.

Turning 31. It's not so bad.

:)

Utopia

____

When in doubt, go abstract

Crayoning in Auroville (again!)

Whenever I go on a holiday, or a weekend trip, or sometimes even somewhere for a day, I carry my bulky sketchbook and big box of oil pastels, which more often than not, don't even get out of my bag. But this time when I went on a weekend trip to Auroville, between all the eating, meditating on a hammock, looking around and doing touristy things, and between doing office work on world's slowest internet dongle, I managed to sneak in a bit of crayon scribble time.

Now it has been ages since I have done any drawing, so obviously the results were crappy, but I did not let that stop me!

Anyway, it is good to be back on the blog, back in all the colourful action, and here's hoping it continues. :)

View from the porch

Colours of the beach.

And of course, there were a few mandatory Instagram shots. I'm new to Instagram, a late and reluctant joiner, but I must say, I quite like it. (Except for the hashtag overload).
Check it out here: http://instagram.com/shivanigakhar

It's good to be back

A life of passivity

Of Facebook and Twitter
Webcomics and memes
Reading other people's blogs
Pinning others' pins

Imagining myself sketching
Wrists going weak as I imagine
Picturing myself making crafts
Mini panic attack in the picture

Waiting for that "right" time
that is right now...

But No.

Light: Red + Green

High point of Fashion Week.

Glitter Shoes

Can you believe I've worn these shoes only twice? It was chipping off and was kept in my shoe rack for 3 years before I decided to take some risks and have fun with it.

Off goes the top layer along with the bow.

Meanwhile...

I took a detour from the stationery shop when I went to buy colour, and bought these too :)

Time for painting, with an overdose of an obnoxious amount of glitter!

Black + pink for the canvas shoes... 

... and bright blue for the peep toes.

All done!

I still have to find an occasion to wear the blue peep toes, but these are already worn out!

Trends

Are we as a generation so scared / unhappy with the present that we want to regress to our childhoods? What's with the current obsession with 80's blast from the past (fashion, music) and fantasy (game of thrones, superheroes, gaming etc)..?
Just a thought.

This is why I studied design.

During the time of the Buddha, a wealthy king gave 500 new robes to the monks. The cost was nothing to him yet he was attached to his wealth, so he questioned Ananda, the private secretary of the Buddha, "I have given 500 new robes to the Sangha, what will you do with them?"

Ananda replied, "I will keep them in storage."

"Why?"

"Only when I find that a monk's robes are worn out I will give him one of these new robes. This is how we use the donations we receive."

"And what will you do with the old, torn robes?" asked the king.

"From the worn robes I cut out some portions and make bed sheets."

"Good. But when these bed covers are worn out, what do you do?"

"Again I cut out pieces, and make towels", replied Ananda.

"Good! But when these towels wear out, what do you do then with the cloth?"

"I cut out small pieces and make small hand towels."

"These will also wear out; then what will you do?"

"I will take small pieces, join them, and make some washing rags for those who arrive with muddy feet."

"Wonderful! When those also wear out what will you do?"

"I beat them, pulp them, and make something useful from the pulp."

"Wonderful!"