Small Things#27 – Did you know mummies wrap toilet papers around them?

Here are some cool thoughts on mummies by a five year old. The little one has read a book on Epic.com called ‘The Mummy’s Curse’ and has been telling some great stories about them.

1. So, if you are buying too many toilet papers, beware of the mummy’s curse! Mummies wrap toilet paper to hide their dead faces and may get mad if they don’t find toilet papers in stores.

2. Did you know mummies can easily take their brains out through their noses?

3. Mummies live in cool triangles called pyramids and do not like to be disturbed at all. So, let them rest in peace.

4. Mummies eat foods like mummy soup, mummy macaroni to keep their bodies strong.

5. Mummies have dead pets and the dogs and cats have toilet papers wrapped around them too.

Mummies are ‘dead’ but they like to ‘live’ like that…

I keep nodding while listening to such stories. There is no logic, no fact but abundance of vivid, vibrant and wondrous imagination.

A five minute chat with a little child is all we need for magical creativity because…

“Every child is born blessed with a vivid imagination…”

The mummy stories have started again… so got to go! You all take care…

(Images courtesy Google)

Expressing Shiv-Shakti!

Acrylic on wood strips lying around the house, enabled me to express Shiv Shakti – the divine couple (also symbolic of consciousness and energy), in my own small way on this auspicious day of Maha Shivratri.

I am discovering acrylic to be an excellent painting medium – bright and vibrant. It dries faster too unlike oils which takes longer. This is perfect for quickly creating something when creativity strikes. I have been thinking of making masks out of it. What do you think? Please suggest!

Small Things #8 – The Legend of Latu Bhai

“Latu Bhai hid Vava’s glasses,” declared my Little One as we were rushing to find my Older One’s glasses this crazy morning. I was lecturing the older one on his carelessness as he was getting late for school. But my three year old came to his rescue. “It is Latu Bhai!,” he said with conviction.

So, it was Latu Bhai again! Latu Bhai and his ‘partner in crime’ Undistynx are responsible for all the mishap in my house. They hide things, make the closet messy, drop water bottles and even tickle kids. We have been hearing about Latu Bhai for quite sometime now.

And surprisingly, Latu Bhai sounds so similar to my ‘Paper Bunny’, a character I had created when I was 6 or perhaps 7 year old. He was a naughty person who would throw paper all over the house. How kids recreate their parents’ second childhood! I had created another character called ‘Ms Jealousy’, who was jealous of everything and would chase everyone.

This legendary Latu Bhai (I don’t know how he comes up with these names) brought back so many beautiful memories of us kids running all over the house, wildly and happily, being chased by ‘my’ imaginary characters.

I am not done with Latu Bhai yet! It does not matter how many mischiefs are done in his name! All that matters is he brings innocence, story, creativity and magic in my house. I want Latu Bhai to stay because the day he leaves, my kids will grow up!

(Art by Adiraj)

Another Beauty!

Today, I sat down for another quick sketch and created her. I hope you will like her. Stay happy! Ciao!

Small Thing# 1 – Boredom is Great

When my kid tells me he has nothing to do. I say, ‘Congrats’! Boredom is truly a privilege and luxury in our age of tablets, tvs and phones. I tell him to enjoy the boredom or find his own way out of it. Mostly, he ends up creating something nice. Who knew boredom was so cool!😎

Image: Google

From Mad Man to Mountain Man

Dashrath Manjhi sat viewing the mighty mountains surrounding him. They were the barriers, the hurdles, who had played with the lives of so many of his loved ones.

The mountains arrogantly stood between his village, Gehlaur and the nearest town blocking medical and other facilities. And not long back, the love of his life had slipped from one of these rocky terrains, leaving him alone.

He wanted revenge now! It was his will against the daunting mountains. Angrily, he took out his hammer and chisel and began to hurt the mountains. 

The villagers called him mad. But he just stopped listening. For twenty two years, he single handedly struggled against the mountains. 

Finally, he succeeded in carving a path 9.1 metres (30 ft) wide and 110 metres (360 ft) long through a hill 7.6 metres (25 ft). The distance between his village and the town got reduced from 55km to 15km.

Today, the world knows him as the noble Mountain Man!

(The picture reminded me of the poor labourer Dashrath Manjhi from India, who spent his entire life doing a noble task. His life has inspired many documentaries and films as well as stories.  In August 2015, a Hindi movie Manjhi – The Mountain Man, based on his life got released and was well received.)

(This is my entry to the flash fiction challenge, Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers hosted by the lovely Priceless Joy. We are given a photo prompt and approximately 75-175 words with which to create our stories. This challenge is open to all who would like to participate. Please CLICK HERE for more. Thank you Grant for the image!)

A lady from 60s!

I have created this Indian lady keeping the stylish 60s in mind, when flamboyance, colours and exuberance dominated the silver screen. 

Hindi film actresses like Hema Malini, Saira Banu, Sadhana, Asha Parekh, Mumtaz, Sharmila Tagore went bolder and experimental with dress and make up during the era. Ladies extensively used winged eyeliners while beehives and fringe cut went on to be a rage. Old teen age pictures of our mothers say it all.

I have once again used pastel pencils and chalks here. As I worked on it continuously for about two hours, I felt I needed a lot of practice to understand the tricks and techniques for blending colours. Do you have any idea how to blend pastels?

Here is a black and white version of the same sketch after putting the charcoal effect through an app. Which one do you like better?

Innocence!

A quick sketch to start the week! Have a lovely, relaxing and fun filled week ahead. 

I tried to digitally colour the sketch using an app but couldn’t figure it out properly. I will keep trying my hand on it.

Meanwhile, I  hope you like Miss Innocence in her raw form!

In search of a story idea!

Not far from where we live, there is a patch in the sky that holds ‘Thought’ clouds. You can call it the Thoughtland!

Whatever thoughts you’ve had today or in the past, travels to this place and sticks there. To be frank, it is quite a confusing world comprising of jet black, white, grey, orange and blue clouds.

Dark clouds comprise of sad or wicked thoughts while white clouds are inspirational. Grey clouds are filled with tragi-comic thoughts pertaining to ups and downs in our mundane lives. Orange clouds hold thoughts by people from the past while blue clouds, which happen to be my favourite, hold brightest ideas.

That day, like most thinkers, I unwittingly entered the ‘Thoughtland’ while looking for a story idea. I got carried away, flew and flew, and reached the cloud patch. It was totally chaotic there…as thought clouds flew past me whispering of bitter sweet things.

I found myself amongst the grey clouds first and read a few thoughts of a teenager – “Why do my parents keep finding faults with me? I will grow up and take up a job and live far away from them!” Then, there was a housewife’s thoughts – “Thankless job I have been doing! Since morning till night, I am working. Cooking meals, washing, taking care of kids. But no respect, no joy! I will have to do something about it!”

I steered myself towards white clouds and read a few happy ones. A girl was going on a date with the guy of her dreams and she was thinking – “May the fairytale I am living today never ends.” And then there were thoughts of a little boy who was going to Disneyland and he was dreaming – “Tomorrow is going to be the best day of my life”.

I read a few black thoughts too and felt revolted. Stopping myself from reading further, I attempted to catch one of the blue clouds because I intuitively knew they held the story idea I was looking for.

But the blue clouds were the naughtiest ones! The moment I tried to get near them, they vanished, and my own dark and grey clouds, blocked way. Some of the dark clouds screamed, “It is useless to look for ideas and inspiration. Get used to your mundane existence. It is stupid, tiring and hard to try. You are born unlucky. Just give up!”

It was difficult to breathe when the dark clouds started bombarding me with negative thoughts. The naughty blue cloud had floated away. I felt like being trapped in an ocean of depressive thoughts.

Somehow, a lone Orange cloud appeared out of nowhere and whispered – “All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark. Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin; to say that you are weak, or others are weak.”

I remembered reading this quote somewhere. I guess it was by the great spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda! His lofty thought had stayed in the universe to inspire people like me. I chanted the thought like a drowning person holds on to a branch.

After a short while , I felt something wriggling in my hand. The tiny blue thought cloud was resting calmly on my palm. It had come to me on its own! I understood! The idea got pulled to me when I was chanting a positive thought. A bright frame of mind attracts great ideas!

I came out of the ‘Thoughtland’ holding the precious tiny blue cloud. An interesting story idea was already taking shape in my mind. I resolved to work upon it as soon as possible…because guess you know, great ideas often vanish quickly without a trace.

Failure, struggle and a tiny thought!

  [Dear Ma’m,

Thank you for your participation in our Writing Competition.

The overwhelming response to our contest resulted in thousands of entries from amateur and professional authors alike. We’ve spent an enormous number of hours reviewing all the entries, and narrowing those thousands to double digits has been no easy task. 

Unfortunately, we’re sorry to inform you that your entry is no longer being considered for a prize.

We sincerely hope you will ‘try again’!]

When you receive a letter like the above, you are gripped with an enormous sense of failure. All that months of brainstorming, effort, struggle and persistence ends up in a huge cipher. And then tormenting questions start spinning your head – Am I not good enough? Where do I lack? Perhaps, my works should be thrown in a garbage can? Should I quit writing? They no longer appreciate works like mine… Thoughts like these go on and on as you go about your daily chores. The letter crashes your expectation and self worth in a moment!

At first, the words ‘try again’ in the rejection letter sounds downright condescending. It seems organisers are patting the back of a dejected child, who is on the verge of tears. You think – “Have I not tried enough? I neglected sleep, appetite and everything that mattered to create something unique. And my work is mundane for them, my creativity has no acceptance.” You feel your struggle came to naught. You believe you are a loser for this is not the first time you have been rejected.

And then, from a tiny corner of your mind, emerges a beloved and luminous thought angel. “It wasn’t about winning, it was all about trying your best.” You remember hearing your child chant that sentence just a couple of days back. It is from his favourite story book. Everytime he comes across this line, he demands an explanation. And you like a doting mother, explain it to him.

This thought chastises and shakes you to sit upright. You no longer look grumpy and slumped. You think – “Why did I forget the meaning of the line when it became relevant in real life? Is it one thing to lecture a child and another thing to incorporate in real life?

You smile pleasantly as you repeat to yourself – “It wasn’t about winning, it was all about trying my best”. 

One happy thought defeats dejection. The thought of quitting no longer plagues your mind. You know, you cannot let down your creativity. Winning or no winning, appreciation or no appreciation, applause or no applause… you will try to create like the everflowing murmuring  ‘Brook’ ( Alfred Lord Tennyson). “Men may come and men may go but I go on forever”. Victory is transient, creativity is not!

You once again gear up to take up another challenge… just for the heck of it. Who thinks about failure as long as you are creating! Indeed, life is not about winning, it is all about trying your best! The rejection letter is forgotten.

Thank You: A Letter to You

Dear,

Cheers! This is to you who is reading the post. Just the fact that you are reading this, makes me feel, so immensely and profoundly grateful to you. There is a feeling of abundance in me and I am very happy for being read and appreciated. Hope you receive my feeling of gratitude in the same proportion that I experience it.

I started blogging at the end of January 2015 and the journey so far has been exhilarating, incredible and uplifting entirely because of you.

This post is to say thank you to all my readers who read me, liked me, commented on my posts, corrected me, advised me, motivated me, encouraged me and even criticised me. The immediate cause of this write up to acknowledge the awards extended to me by fellow blogger friends, who appreciated my efforts in the form of award nominations.

I am indebted to:

Vagabond Velda for Liebster Award ( https://vagabonvelda.wordpress.com)
Nimi Naren for Liebster Award (https://simplemomentsoflife.wordpress.com)
Millie Thom for Liebster Award x 2 (https://milliethom.wordpress.com)
Nimi Naren for The Premio Dardos Award ((https://simplemomentsoflife.wordpress.com)
Ritu for The Creative Blogger Award (https://butismileanyway.wordpress.com)

I am sorry, commitments at hand do not allow me to have the time require to follow the rules but coming from these avid blogger friends, the awards mean so much to me. The wonderful posts of the inimitable Vagabond Velda, the heart warming prose of Nimi Naren, the informative works of Millie Thom and the endearing blogs of Ritu are worth reading and following.

I must also take this opportunity to say a big thank you to my husband, family and friends (especially Vijay, Bhuvana and Deepak), who initiated me into the world of personal blogging. And then there are my talented blogging friends ( Barbara Beacham, Priceless Joy, Johnyeo, Olden Gray, Drailman, Yarnspinerr, Surindranath ji, Davendrak, Miniscrypt and many others) plus my social media friends, who keep me going.

Last but not the least, I am whole heartedly thankful to you – Dear reader. It is because of you that I write!

To Creativity!