India art journal Sept 4 2012 by Meera Rao
I did not see this scaly anteater in person, but it made the news for a couple of days! It emerged from the forests in a nearby village and scared the inhabitants since no one had seen a specimen until then. The police captured the animal and handed it over to the forest department officials who identified it as the Scaly Anteater, tagged it and released it back into the wild. I am not sure who was more scared - the rare scaly anteater Pangolin or the villagers! But the excitement till it was identified was well documented :) I read that despite their looks the closest relatives are the carnivorous mammals cats and dogs and not reptiles! The scales are sharp enough to wound lions and tigers and are made of compressed hair.
India Art Journal Sept. 5 2012 By Meera Rao
Right in the centre of busy section of the neighbourhood is a Buddha Vihar - a Buddhist Temple with a beautiful golden Buddha statue. The temple is an unexpected quiet place for reflection and meditation right in the middle of noisy hubbub with its serene blue walls accented with orange trims and marigold flowers artfully arranged on the black shiny alter. I enjoyed visiting the place whenever I felt lonely or lost.
Two more sketches below from earlier pages of the journal as well as the whole page look at the journal sheet with sketches from Aug 3-sept 3 2012.
India Art Journal July 8 2012 by Meera Rao
India Art Journal July 9 2012 by Meera Rao
India Art Journal Aug 31-Sept 3 by Meera Rao
4 comments:
Yes, I followed that news of a rare visitor to Pandavapura..the animal got lucky in not being killed I guess, knowing the first reaction of the villagers.
Buddha , wherever He is, guarantees peace!
Thank you Padmaja. It is interesting that the pangolin had managed to avoid human contact until now! No one could remember ever seeing such a creature! For me daily yoga has been a blessing - an hour of home practice guaranteed some peace each day too :)
Great chronicle- like a sea-man's book. Most have been drawn in great hurry, I believe. Pumpkin, Pineapple, tiffins and scooters I like.
Rajeev, thanks! Yes, most of them were drawn in a hurry since I had very little free time while taking care of my mother in law, cook, clean, shop and entertain guests :) I was 'it' in the household and had to really scramble for time to sketch each day ! And that's why I am especially proud and pleased that I have 124 sketches to show- hope to develop some of them into full scale paintings soon.
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