Fresh and Handmade

2013 India Sketch Journal Page 13 by Meera Rao

The pace of life in Mysore is laid back and a bit leisurely  - especially in the old part of Mysore where our flat is located.  Things just can't be hurried!

2013 India sketch Journal July 1 by Meera Rao

These ladies were waiting patiently for fresh ground flour at a made to order grain grinding place. Food tastes different/better when one uses fresh ground flour, fresh produce from the farms brought in each morning and ofcourse is eaten away right  :) I hope these tiny, tiny Mom and Pop specialty shops won't disappear as more and more stores sell factory prepared and packaged flour and other goods and western style supermarkets take over. 

2013 India sketch Journal July 2 by Meera Rao

The shop selling earthenware pots is very small and the pots were stacked to ceiling. Grandma in charge was sitting very comfortably on padded gunny sacks. She was selling pots of all different sizes.  My childhood memory is that, the water kept in those pots stay really cool and food cooked in them is especially delicious! I am tempted to try using them rather than the stainless steel vessels that my kitchen is stocked with. 

Staying Connected

2013 India sketch Journal June 29 By Meera Rao

 I found it very interesting to watch this worker patch a neighbour's garden wall. He was there for a couple of hours taking care of different holes and damages and spent the entire time on his cellphone - one hand to the ear and working with the other one on the wall, getting sand, mixing cement  etc. :) I suppose thats how he keeps connected and gets his news as opposed to the folks in the following sketch  of a roadside newspaper stand.

2013 India Sketch Journal June 30 By Meera Rao

This sidewalk stand had a temporary look to its permanent makeshift arrangement ! The newspaper stand had nonfunctioning wheels, was propped upright with a few wooden poles and there was a line going from the rickety rain/sun cover to the near by tree on which hung some magazines. Some newspapers were stacked on a couple of wooden crates. There were a few bananas in a basket and a small bunch hanging off a string from the same rickety rain cover. I noticed there are always a few elderly men milling around but hardly any buying and selling happening.....

A look at page 12 from my sketchbook : 

2013 India sketch Journal Page 12

Creative Solutions

2013India sketch Journal Page 11 by Meera Rao

One of the most interesting things to observe while on the road is how and what things get transported ! People use all modes -carrying by hand,  loads on head, on motorcycle, bicycles, bullock carts, 'lorries', trucks, auto rickshaws and anything else with wheels ! They get very creative as to how something/anything is transported from one point to another.  Here is one from last year's sketch book. And another

2013 India sketch journal June 27 by Meera Rao

I never cease to be amazed as to what I see transported in auto rickshaws and the clever ways it gets loaded and carried.  I caught this one carrying a ladder slipped and resting on the handle of the side view mirror on one end and being held by the passenger on the other end. 

2013 India sketch journal June 28 by Meera Rao

Motorcycles and scooters are affordable for most people and those vehicles get a good workout. Most common are where  whole families- father, mother, two kids can be seen traveling happily :) - one kid in front of father the driver and the other on mother's lap both riding sideways -not mounted on the seat ! I chuckle when I see someone carrying a huge desk top computer or old version TV. This guy was carrying two enormous gunny sacks full of cauliflower balanced precariously.   

I am way behind in posting  and don't see myself catching up anytime soon. I somehow manage to sketch something everyday. They are never perfect and am learning to accept whatever I sketch.  But I relish the fact that I am sketching and practicing each day despite the hectic schedule here in India.  

Little Quirks and Special Treats

2013 India sketch journal June 23 2013 By Meera Rao 

Automobiles are special to people almost everywhere in the world. When it is a huge investment in your life savings it is treated very differently.  I find plush seat protectors, fancy steering wheel covers, special things hanging from rear view mirrors, idols on dashboard to ward off evil and keep the vehicle safe, and of course the hanging air fresheners. This particular van in the roadside auto repair shop around the corner even had lace curtains and I had to sketch it!

2013 India sketch journal June 24 2013 By Meera Rao

During my college days drinking sugar cane juice with friends at the end of the day from a vending stand like the one I sketched here was an almost daily ritual.  But  having lived outside India for many years now I don't want to check if my system can still tolerate the roadside offering :(   I really miss buying it and crave to drink the sweet juice  but reluctant to take a  risk (not yet anyway!)  BTW,  an interesting fact is that these road side vendors are such permanent fixtures that people use them as landmarks when giving directions :) 

  I realize looking at page 9 below that even though I have sketched the van and the sugarcane vending stand  in isolation both are very much part of the landscape and life around here! Curtains in vehicles ( though I read they are now banned) and brisk business for the vendors is nothing out of the ordinary. 

2013 India sketch journal Page 9 by Meera Rao

Flights of Fancy

2013 India Sketch Journal June 21 By Meera Rao

Everyday the parrots in the neighbourhood dart around following one another, frolicking, squawking and chirping away.  I have a movie of it but unfortunately can't share it as it is not loading right into the blogger :( Last year the parrots used two coconut trees on a neighbour's yard as their base.  This year they have chosen a tree with a few dead branches in another yard as their perch as the coconut trees are dead and felled. I love watching their green bodies, red beaks and long tail feathers as they streak by and wonder what they are really doing! Is this a game, an elaborate social ritual, hunting for a meal or something else altogether?  I zoom in on the ones that land on a branch for a few minutes with my camera lens so I can see what they look like up close and still for a moment and of course, admire them a bit !

2013 India Sketch Journal June 22 By Meera Rao

I pass by this 'compound' most days on my daily walks or errands. The locked up classic 'old Mysore house' now with its overgrown garden/yard lush from the monsoon rains, fence wall and gate in ruins conjures up all kinds of drama in my head ;)  Painting the beautiful birds and then this yard made me acutely aware of the cycle of life. Many of these classic old houses are slowly being renovated and I am hoping some day this one will get a new lease on its life! 

Below is page 8 as it is in my sketchbook: 

2013 India Sketch Journal Page 8 By Meera Rao

And Thank you- each and every one for stopping by,  for leaving comments and coming along with me on my trip :)   

Have a Sip But avoid a bite!

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2013 India sketch journal June13  by Meera Rao

I love going to the little coffee shops that only sell freshly ground coffee powder made to order! These shops are really small, with bright red 'coffee grinder', sacks, tins and bags of coffee beans. I learnt very quickly that I need to know if I preferred 80:20, 70:30, or pure coffee and coarse or fine ground.  The numbers refer to the ratio of coffee to chicory in the mix. The chicory fine-tunes the bitterness in the coffee.  Check out the Indian filter coffee details here and also on my sketchbook page from "A day in the life" 

2013 India Sketch Journal June 14 by Meera Rao

It is Monsoon season in India now and mosquito repellents are a must to have around. This year I see a lot of plug ins with liquid repellents in little containers being used by all. For the past several  years the gold standard was the 'odomus' tube  -which last year I sketched one right after smearing some on me before bedtime :)  

2013 India sketch Journal June 13-14  Page 3 

These two were sketched horizontally but photographed vertically and no amount of rotating is good enough for the blogger to load the photograph with the right alignment! I don't know if its the old pc, chrome, or something else that is stubborn about turning it horizontally! Any suggestions to fix it? I guess I will just post it and hope to remember to correct it when I get back to my own computer in september!

The Road Trip

2013 India Sketch Journal June 11 by Meera Rao

While traveling from Bangalore to Mysore these massive rock formations can be seen looming over acres of lush greens of coconut grooves and forests. The huge mountains never go out of sight for miles! It is a favorite location  for rock climbers and hikers. It was also where a super hit Hindi movie "Sholay' was shot. Do check out  the gorgeous  scenery of the place collected on Google images here.  Only the huge garish bill boards take away from the sheer beauty and serenity of the place.

  

2013 India Sketch Journal June 12 by Meera Rao

I try to go for a walk every day to get away from the monotony of house work, to do the daily marketing and to photograph local scenes, fauna, and flora :)  On this particular evening, I had a close encounter with a fierce looking bullock that came a little too close for my comfort! I actually did not take my camera out to take a snapshot but hurried off to the side and away, all the while keeping an eye on those long curvey sharp horns! Fortunately, they had been capped off with an ornamental golden covering - probably a well deserved precaution! Check out some really beautiful ornamental fittings for the sharp cattle horns  here,  here and here

And, here is page 3 of my 2013 India sketch Journal with both the sketches on one page.  

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2013 India Sketch Journal Page 3