The main wedding card started with the idea of two little school kids returning from school, the banana tree being the symbol of the occasion of the wedding. It grew into what you see here, the couple together, on their wedding day, holding an Akshaya Patra, all creatures of land, water and air finding sustenance and creating a balance of harmony.

The second card took a pencil sketch idea for an insert forward. We wanted to retain the look and feel of the other main wedding card. This is how the final colors look.

Several inserts for the various other celebrations…

And finally the insert that talks about the organisation and its work. I love this one the most…

I only included the girl child in this art, because apart from this issue of gender discrimination being my pet peeve, it is a fact that boys in rural India do have it easier than the girls… so this one is for all the little Meeras…

Squawking sea gulls, little stalls with old women with lined, papery, wintery faces knitting away, selling hand knitted mitts and caps and other woolly things. Little reindeer dolls, fridge magnets and faux fur capes, hand carved wooden tea cups, flowers and of course food!

Reindeer meatballs, fried fish, with potatoes and vegetables on the side topped with a generous dollop of garlic sauce.

Reindeer meat is not at all like I imagined it to be. I am usually very picky about non vegetarian food, but I must admit I liked the stuff on my plate. Okay… further admission, I like everything on my plate these days. And I have begun to pick it clean!

Also ducked into a lovely little pizza nook and pigged!

We’ve just discovered that tram and bus travel for one parent with a baby under 4 years in a pram is free here… which is crazy… all this while I was walking everywhere with K or carrying her everywhere, because I could not leave her unattended in a tram/bus while I went to get the ticket (the driver gives you the ticket here, no conductors! and the pram section is bang in the middle of the tram).

And to think that someone gave this a long thought and figured… okay… don’t pay!

The parks have big wooden bins with toys, cycles, sand toys, dolls (all donated) which are free to use for the kids. Every mom carries her own key (which a shoemaker nearby makes for a certain sum). The kids put the toys back in when its time to leave and the last person locks the bins up.

I have to admit… I am a little blown by all this. I like it… but hell no! I wont trade this for my noisy, smelly, hot, crazy and chaotic India!

I am intrigued by the lovely little balconies that every house proudly puts on display. And they do, gorgeous flowers, little sit outs, umbrellas and little things tastefully arranged to give that delicious snug feeling. Much as I would love to stop and take a picture, I think the Finns would really not take to it. So I resist and walk on but I cant help but stare. I have my eye on a big bunch of sunflowers I spied the other day at the market square. Must buy one and arrange it in my kitchen and look at it lovingly all day!

Some of the pictures from my latest work, a book on the history of women’s movement for rural and semi urban readers. The narrative evolves around 7 women who meet and talk about different concepts, life and what it is like to be a woman in today’s India.

The book is scattered with debates, songs and poems.

I found the text quite bold and rather well written. There are references to Mira, Sita… debates about the ‘nobility’ of Ram who stood by as his wife had to undergo a trial by fire.

These 3 illustrations are some of the final options I arrived at for some text on patriarchy. The client and I had a hard time getting this one right. The concept of patriarchy is more easily explained with words, putting it down into a defined visual proved not very easy. Especially because pictures can be interpreted in so many ways… but then that’s what is rather magical about visual language I suppose.

A few of the motifs and borders that will be scattered around in the book.

This is the first of 4 books. And it is exciting to be part of something that you know will lend to some change however small, but significant nevertheless.

Shami wrote the story.

The books talk about several issues; based on a play format, and the audiences range from rural to semi-urban to urban. The books will be published in both Gujarati and HIndi and the attempt is to try and not resort to any stereotypes, keeping the characters generic.

Its been fun evolving these characters. These women meet and talk about their lives, societal norms, patriarchy and some the arguments presented in the book had me sit up!

For instance, in one segment, the women are talking about Ram, Ram is historically presented as the ideal man who was always righteous. The women question how he could have subjected Sita to the trial by fire? They say that if Ram was all that righteous he should have gone away with Sita, when her chastity was questioned, he should have forsaken his kingdom, as she had done when he was sent into exile. That was the right thing to do.

There can be several counters to this… but the idea somehow seems so simple and logical. I like the fact that the writer of the book has presented interesting and even somewhat radical ideas like this… it heartens me further that somewhere, there will be this woman, or women who will read this text and choose to look at their lives differently.

I am so happy to invite you to my first solo exhibition, hosted by the Alliance Francaise de Bangalore from the 23rd to the 25th October. Do come by and take a look at my work.

My toes touch the sky, the wind plays with my hair,

Three little sparrows say I could almost fly.

3 feet by 2.5 feet

Acrylic on Canvas