May be …

He took the canvas in his hand. It was filled with vibrant colors. But he did not know what it meant. Impulsively he picked up his brush and painted the canvas white. As he did, he thought “May be if he had spent more time the random colors would have made some sense??”. He was back to square one. He started splashing colors again blending them into random shades and patterns. He thought “What will i do if i do find some meaning?”. He spent hours working and reworking the aimless canvas. “Lavenderblush” “Moccasin” “Teal” “Tan” “Navy Blue” hmmm.. “Cyan” ” ochre yellow” “Lemon yellow” ” Maroon” Sh*t. He thought “May be the colors were not supposed to mean anything at all” . In desperation he splashed a wild Red across. In a flash he saw it. He thought “Why Red?” “But also, why not?” He resumed with renewed vigor. Soon every stroke , every touch and every drop of color fell in place. He placed the brush down but he knew he wasn’t done. “Er … oh yeah of course”. He reached out and spread out a touch of white into a neat wave. He thought “Why White? Because this time, I know its got to be white”. He took the masterpiece in his hand like a new born baby. He placed it gently on his night stand. He slid into his bed and watched the painting dissolve in to a dreamless sleep. Peace.

Perception of Emotions

Visual Perception is a vital requisite of any artist. Visualization of the abstract is unique of a maestro. The sense of loneliness is a subtle and abstract emotion that is acclaimed and appreciated by all visual artists alike. It is my belief that there exists a minute quality that defines the visual essence of any emotion. I have spent a lot of my time alone in an attempt to capture or identify the essence of this delicate emotion. The mental picture that floats first in my mind every single time is the image of a small child standing in a beach. The imagery is predominantly black and white. But I have realized that it is possible to enhance the emotion with a black and blue or a blue and white combination. This is interesting as blue is a cold color and augments the chillness that can so easily be associated with a beach (not just the coldness of water and the moon but also the one that which the vastness and the uncertainty create, experienced as mild apprehension). To comprehend the consequence of this observation, it is necessary that we answer some questions.

Why is it that a child portrays a better imagery?

Why is it that a distant object speaks better of solitude?

Why is it that a panoramic illustration especially of a beach helps relate better with this emotion?

What is in common with all these attributes that helps strike the right note?

The answer to all these questions is contrast. A child in a panoramic portrayal of a beach shows the contrast in the size. The depth, the vastness and dimensional expanse of the sea contrasts the shallow emotions and small size of a child. It is indeed the same reason why the diminishing of the distant objects speak so well of solitude. The same is the reason why a person walking away into the open vast exposes the spirit of this emotion. The reason is contrast.

White and black are two interestingly unique colors that can blend so well with themselves and with other colors to depict contrast. This brings us back to our observation as to why black and blue or blue and white helps enhance the imagery. The answer again is contrast. Also the warmth of the human element develops a contrast with the cold, still and distant (again) nature of the sea and to an extent, the blue color itself. But whether it is the color that helps express the emotion or the emotion makes the color cold is a more difficult question to answer. May be the melancholic element of loneliness requires a cold color to express the sadness. But the presence of a strong contrast is easily perceivable.

But it is not necessary for all these elements to be present to describe loneliness. A picture without the human element may still manage to reflect the emotion. A picture of a boat that sails far and deep into vast deep and silent waters, for example, may achieve the emotion. The stillness and the distance and the contrasting colors will not fail to create coldness, but only in this case, it is the emotions of a viewer who can relate truly to the imagery that provides the necessary warmth to create the contrast.

Hence, contrast clearly is the quintessence of loneliness.

The Red Curtain

Long Red drapes with fine creases. It was so striking and sublime.

Some times subtle things offer you so much joy. Some ice cold water trickling down your dry throat, a cool breeze during your early morning walk, or delicate silence that let you sink in your dream pool. Things so small, you might just carry on without appreciating or even realizing it had come to pass. May be because the joy is brief, or because you are in a state of lazy bliss, enjoying the moment, that you don’t truly care as to who or what is the reason behind it. Especially if the things are so mundane, you just take them for granted and you don’t in fact care if they are not. These are just unexplained stretches of time with joy, that’s beyond reason or purpose.

For me, it was one of the curtains in the small momentarily empty ice-cream shop that I visit often. All the same it might have been the silence that waltzed the empty room, the comfortable posture I was in or the chilling effect of the air-conditioner, I did not indeed know or care. Yet, something about it was so pleasing, I sank in thoughts.

Slowly I started talking to myself the way I always do when I am cheerful. And when I do that, it’s not just about what I whisper in my head, it’s about the visions I see, the voices I hear and to some extent, the sense of touch.

It started with an instinctive chant of random words “soft…fabric…happy…curtain…warmth…red…passion…happy…silence…

chill…happy…”and so on. And with each chant I could see, hear and feel what I spoke. Gradually everything turned misty and I sank in to a deep reverie.

I walked down a busy lane filled with chirp and chatter of little lads as they played merrily. Mist. I was in an empty classroom ringing with laughter that belonged to people long lost in the sands of time. Mist. I strolled past an old house singing melodies I once knew so well. Mist. I stood gazing at the silhouette of a person standing still, seemingly near yet so far. Time trickled quietly but the image did not vanish. I inched gradually forward and the face came to light. Mist.

A resounding noise of smashing metal and there I was sitting again in the familiar ice cream shop looking down at the red curtain that lay on the ground reverberating with the impact of the fall. As I stood up and walked away, the memory of the beautiful curtain, the silence, the comfort, the happiness, all faded away to be replaced by one desperate plea

“Peter pan…if you can hear me…take me to Neverland”

Belonging

I have been here many times before,

Where the familiar roads end.

The paths I tread, the people I know

All stay behind.

The narrow rock that stretches beneath,

Being the very edge of known road.

With the deep blue vast, miles above

And the deep blue sea, miles below.

A queer quietness lingers around.

As I stand in the road's very end,

My eyes closed, only to conceal

The might of the storm inside.

I may choose to turn back,

To the familiar but incomplete roads

To play where I have already played

And stay where I never truly belonged,

Or I may choose to go ahead

To the land of uncertainty,

Where all roads seem to end

But hidden hopes still remain.

In a flash I open my eyes

And as I lean gently and let go,

I leave the road I know behind.

I leave behind the fear.

I leave behind, the memory of it all,

As wake up where i belong.

Patriot


The land is bare, the snow falls hard
Chill is in the air, but they bother him not
Many fall wounded, many lie still
Death draws nearer, but they scare him not
His heart flutters, his eyes burn
His hands work and the gun fires
Out of the blue a bullet speeds
Piercing the air and in to his eyes
Back he falls shooting madly and
As the world darkens his face brightens
With moments left his heart full of emotions
He cries proudly VANDE MATARAM

Beloved's Eye


The cool rays of the early moon
Washed over the frozen lake
The glassy face vividly radient
Rosy beneath the rosy sky
Standing stll in the motionless lake
Was an expertly carved wooden boat
Filled to the slender and black rim
With milk as white as snow
On the surface of the creamy milk
Ripples threaded into fine network
And floating over the milky plane
Was a shiny black shimmering plate
Sailing gently from side to side
Like black moon in silvery sky
Amazed i stood on the slender rim
Silenced by the dazzling beauty
As i gazed down at my reflection
Dazed and unaware i started to slip
I saw myself falling, falling in Love
I knew i was sinking, deeply in Love

Sight Perception and Interpretation

A road so crowded. Swarming with people.

Different people. Different emotions. Different directions.

It is a fascinating game. Great fun to just sit back and watch.

But wait. Where is the time? You are in the middle of a blind mob.

You have no choice. You have to move along lest u lose your identity in the mad chase.

You seem stranded.

Chance for success seems ever so bleak.

Something big is at you, casting you in to the shadows.

You can run, but you can't hide.

The end seems inevitable.

Or does it???

Just look around you. So many familiar faces.

There are many who walk parallely along as you make your way.

There are some who wait for you to catch up when you lag behind.

And there are a few who are ready to carry you along when you fall.

See the people for what they really are.

How can they steal your identity when the identity you bear is their gift?

How can they be here to suppress you?

They are your companions. Your fellow travelers.

They are here to help you just as you are here to help them.

Do not hide. Not because you can’t. But because you won’t.

Run along. Not because you have to. But because you want to.

All of a sudden the mob is gone. The shadow is lifted.

Success towers in front of you.

The game is still a fascinating one and the whole world is yours to play.