Media at War zone - Mumbai

NSG in action

NSG use "Slither and top down" manoeuvre at Nariman house

top down manoeuvre - approx 20 commandos drop off chopper onto the building.
meanwhile police and RST secure the ground zone

NSG's objective is to scan "comb" the building, secure hostages, fish out terrorists and finally sanitize the building.

still in action, NSG causality reported during operation.

Mumbai War

lets not call this India's 9/11
This is an attack on India, on Mumbai and its not comparable
10 separate attacks -
1. Leopold cafe 9.15pm - shoot out by gunmen

2. Nariman Home 9.20pm - attack and capture of hostages

3. CS Terminus 9.24pm - shoot out and grenade attack by gunmen

4. Taj 9.30pm - shoot & capture of hostages

5. Trident Hotel 9.35pm -shoot & capture of hostages

6. Vile Parle 9.55pm - bomb explosion in taxi

7. Cama & Albless Hospital 10.15pm - shoot out at civilian and media, killing of 2 police officials
ATS chief Hemant Karkare and Encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar shot at point blank
terrorists hijack the police bolero jeep and shoot at media.

8. Metro Cinema10.30pm - shoot out

9. Wadi Bunder 10.45pm - terrorist intercepted here and killed by police

10. Girgaum Chowpatty 10.50pm- shoot out and killing of Additional CP Ashok Kamate

Other facts:

_800 army personnel in combat zone - Mumbai
_PM Mammohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi & L K Advani visit sites
_ well so does Narender Modi & says big words

more bookaroo & anandgram

@ the amphitheatre
children entertaining ---- badshaah

the Aiynaar Bulls

girls imitating the Aiynaar bulls



coloring their picture posr Pchak Pchak! (in the textile museum)

This is what i loved about the whole festival - all the children and youngsters are in the major cultural hotspot, happily oblivious of the fantastic surrounding doing their own thing.
And yet absorbing every bit of information- once they were done coloring the girls had a field time discovering peacocks, parrots, cows, tigers, deers, etc. within the textile collection
or at the terracotta museums so amused and completely taken in by the "! winged fairy horse" and the "dancing peacocks" and the well ugly air filled tiger uncle (photos in the previous post)


Initially I was quite amazed that Anandgram offered to host soooooooo many children and curious parents - well worth it
Its amazing how the children fill up the space with fun and laughter.

This is cultural sensitisation - a fun way to connect.

thorny semal tree - "why does it have thorns masi?"

Bookaroo - Children literature festival @ Anandgram

Anandgram hosted the first children's literature festival - Bookaroo

under the Banyan tree

girls exploring the museums



the tiger was a big hit !


learning and expressions under the banyan

Nature Bazaar / Dilli Haat 2008

Nature do hazaar aath
dilli haat

it rhymes
it connected, without argue(ment) the best time at Dilli Haat is Nature
An annual calendar event
A close second was the Army Wives welfare festival in 2006

Day 2 - picking up

Demons at Dilli Haat - Leather puppets from Andhra
Interestingly this art skill is used in performances uniformly all over the south east Asia, hindu cultures actually

How is it that no one objects to so many regulars like shawl wallahs, bead jewelry, etc. who are permanent residents at Dilli Haat?
A Festival like Nature is a living culture, I remember visiting it the first time in 1996, that image is still clear in my mind.
Where else in Dilli do you get to see a cross section of crafts, performances, music and dance, social messages (street plays), all in a celebratory mood.
"Celebratory" is an important word in days of now.... recesion, markets crashing

A small mention about the settings that build upto to this atmosphere - the flowing colors drape the space with energies. The fact that Nature can pack so many more stalls than any other time is called being creative, this use space is aesthetic and optimal.

Oh! and even more important is "Access",
Dilli has examples of public performances the Dilli govt and Seher performing art shows not so public Khusrao festival at Nizamuddin, etc.
Nature cuts across ages - kids and their mothers wallowing in clay at Giriraj's wheel handling clay with a purpose, teens at Kailash Patwa's stall hair braiding, etc.
its a nostalgic trip for the olders seeing the old stuff all over again - lacquer toys, putul craft(dolls of Bengal)


The idea of including "non-crafts" is the best and most inclusive approach in with respect to commerce, integration into the markets, expanding clientele, etc.
This is packaging, under the umbrella of craft a cross- section of skills and livelihoods are covered and given a trade platform.

and till now we havnt even gotten the part called organisational management.....

Mr. & Mrs. Govtwallah Please stand up!

a dance troupe gearing up


the very popular dhokra jewelry

Nature Bazaar 2008 / Dilli Haat / Dastkar

Dastkar's annual festival - Nature Bazaar is on at Dilli Haat
Today till 01st December 2008

the inspiration - flowers and butterflies
Nature Bazaar 2008

generation next - Aarti and Shubal Patra's grand-daughter

Evening 4.30pm
Stalls being set-up



Kala Raksha



a long day's work - @ the Dastkar stall

First day first show images
First reponse - a slow start, fewer stalls but great stuff

New people -
Kala Raksha Vidhalaya's Alumini Association - the new designers have come up with new designs yardage, georgette dupatta, intricate saris, garments, etc.
Living Blue from Bangladesh with the MOST beautiful shibori and kantha drapes in silk and wool. The idea of combining the two has worked really well.
Banana Fibre twisted and woven varieties, not from Anegondi!
the product application has been extended to molded trays and many more ideas are in the pipeline.

Regulars -
URMAL, Sandur Kala Kendra, Sadhana, Banaskantha, Girirajji, weavers from Kutch, AshaRamji from Bijnore, Manipuri black pottery and bead jewerly (omg!), etc.

A sad news is the sudden demise of Shubal Patra, Raha Handicrafts (sabai grass) Balasore, Orissa
God bless his soul and help his family through this difficult time.

Inspiration

The inspiration is a sheet from Tarini, - they have cool hand block printed stuff - great colors and aesthetics
the idea was to create layers but in ONE color, thats where the relief work comes in.
The background is line work, over laid by relief.

layers in terracotta

Project: Create layers in terracotta

Using this image on the left and the one below the idea is to create layers on the terracotta surface.
The background should be a distinctly different surface than the foreground

Layer 1
thus comes texture , the background is a line carving called "khinch" ka kaam, done using a basic chisel - the "kinch" is a metal strip folded in a "v" form to draw out material from the surface.

Layer 2
the flower and leaf motifs are done in relief to create a visual layer number two

the line carving was done first, over this the clay relief was super imposed.
now Ajay is filing in the gaps

the question of proportions

Planters in terracotta, for Nature 2008

A better proportion - these lamps on the right,
the idea with the above pieces was also to achieve a similar porportion,
they seems more bulky ?or something

Preparing for Nature 2008

Phull + Patti + insects is the inspiration this year

a bowl being cut-out in the form of petals

Ajay working on the butterfly motif for a lid

work in progress - Giriraj and Ajay working on the pieces

Painted Wood

Designed by Nikhil Paul

Design Development for Painted Wood
Jodhpur ( January - May 2006)

A project funded by the RAJSICO (Rajasthan Small Industries
Corporation Limited), with an objective of brand development for
their flagship outlet Rajasthali, MI Road Jaipur.
The design brief was created to incorporate “utility requirements in
an urban environment”.
This was achieved primarily through
_Strategic placement of motifs on the product, to afford an
economy for urban pockets
_introducing Specialized surfaces that perform the role
of a canvas to be painted on.

This project is the inspiration for the tealites below

Inspired from a Nathdwara painting,
the mirror is a peek into paradise, what you see is the real thing

more tealites

Wave 4X10"

Vine 3X10

diya

Pilkuwa - Textile town

inspiration on the way

Pilkuwa is 47kms from south Dilli - Moolchand crossing
thats it!

This textile story is a part of the Meerut hinterland, once renowned for its block printed linen, bed covers, etc. Now canvas and low end screen printed stuff rule.

The gullies of the town are lined with block makers and the rhythmic sounds of the hammer beating the chisel

Details of a 8' tall work, by Sardar Hussain

Tealites in wood

Inspired from a traditional oriental block print
Pilakuwa October 2008