Connecting Ourselves to Nature

                                                            

               

               The Samkhya philosophy deals in detail with Prakrti and Purusas and presents an analytical enumeration of the principles of the cosmos. The detail study of Panchabhutas, the five elements, becomes central to this philosophy. Nature has innumerable surprises in store for us provided we give time to focus on. Observing and interacting with nature is very essential for the progress and promotion of human beings to another level. The samkhya philosophy attempts to give an explanation about the complexity of elements.

            We grow watching flies and birds, trees and rivers, the moon and stars in the sky. Can we imagine living alone? Is It Possible to lead life minus all these things? Nature brings joy and comfort to us, as we are part of it. Wake up signals from the early morning birds, filtering rays of the sun through the windows, the returning of animals from fields at dusk; the starry moonlit sky – all bring immense joy to us.

                   I too grew up looking at Tamarind, Neem, Mango, and other trees of various size and shape. I have seen majestically standing tamarind trees, which are age-old and cover a big area of land. When I was young, travelling was very difficult because everywhere there was thick vegetation. Then, roads were muddy, rough and narrow, and not as smooth as the cement roads that ferry us to our destinations today. While driving through those narrow roads, the branches of the trees used to brush both sides of the red government buses; sometimes the passengers sitting next to windows used to be scratched by the intervening branches. By the end of the bus journey, travelers’ clothes used to get dusty and brownish, and with a devilish look, they got down. The constant jerks of the bus made the sitting quite hell for the travelers. The sight of the overcrowded buses with the pan chewing men and women smeared with sweaty smell, and the spat pan juice flowing down from the windows, was very common then. Now, wherever one travels, one finds beautiful multiple roads stretching unendingly decked with flowerbeds in between. While constructing these concrete roads, huge, age-old Tamarind and Neem trees, which had graced and rendered shadow service to the travelers and the roads, were brought down to the ground. The uprooted and mutilated trunks of the trees were lying forlorn on both sides of the road as if a witness to the rape of nature by human beings. A lot of progress is going on, huge buildings, complexes; four to six lanes of concrete roads are making way everywhere in the name of culture, but at the cost nature.                On a Sunday, we went to a place called Savanur to see some unusual trees. We halted at Savanur Math to see those beautiful amazing trees. For us, it was like a bolt from the blue. We had never seen such trees ever before. At first sight, those two African trees engaged us not because of their beauty but by their size. The Nizam of Savanur planted those historical trees. Even a great lover of nature cannot afford to grow such a single tree in one’s premise today, even if is presented freely. Real estate business is thriving so much that, slowly one by one, green fields are being converted into plots. People, being blind to immortality, are hugely investing in land risking their and the coming generation’s life by creating problems like global warming. 

           This tree serves as food to human beings and animals and very useful in making juices for energy drinks, ice creams and fruit powder. Seed, bark, and leaves of these trees are used profusely in the cosmetic industry. Saucer sized white flowers die very shortly after they bloom. The seeds are parked in a hairy pod. The tree bears fruits only once in a year.

 Each tree has a unique beauty and grace of its own and differs from others in shape, size, color and texture. However, this is an extraordinary elephant sized tree with a majestic look. The bottle shaped tree has a huge trunk and the short branches spread out only at the top quarter portion. No doubt, it has its unique beauty.
       Artists across the world always respond, reflect and represent their surroundings in their works. We see this beautiful tree represented in Mogul Miniatures.

Art Diary In Your Travel Kit - 2

   In the present context of globalization and consumerism, it  becomes the duty of every citizen to conserve and preserve history and culture for the future generations. Here is an example of an extraordinary man with a beautiful vision. He was a banker by profession, but at heart he cherished immence love for  art  and architecture. The Hastha Shilpa Heritage Village is the outcome of Dr. Vijaynath shenoy's vision and passion. If you are in India, pl visit Heritage Village which is in Manipal. Manipal is situated in Udupi district, in south Karnataka.

 I had met Mr. Shenoy, a great personality with a deep voice and keen sharp eyes, some years back as he was  to our house on invitation  for breakfast. Before coming to our place, he had written a lengthy epistle to our association regarding the project that he had undertaken. The epistle with clean beautiful hand writing spoke of his passion for art and architecture and its preservation for future generations. No doubt, he was a man with great  vision endowed with tremendous work discipline. These two things kept him active, energetic and dedicated to his vision.. His dream was to establish Heritage Village, and for this cause he had sacrificed his own house and had moved to a small house. When he was at our place for breakfast, we could make out his dedication, clarity of thought, determination. He was very clear about his vision and the ways of establishment of his vision. This great personality passed away a few days back leaving us a great fortune

 A couple of years back, I met him again in Manipal at the Heritage Village, his long cherished dream project site. An artist camp was arranged in Manipal , and I was one of the Participants in the camp. In the evening, all of us artists had gone to see the much acclaimed heritage Village. Dr. Vijayanath Shenoy was sitting in a wooden chair and interacting with friends. He seemed frail and weak as age has taken its toll. On introducing myself to him, he himself mentioned about the breakfast at our place. Though he was pretty old, he had a wonderful memory. I was really taken aback by his vivid memory power. That was my last meeting with him.

One has to acknowledge his enthusiasm, hard work and tremendous contribution in establishing this famous Heritage Village. He travelled extensively to collect artistic materials from the depleted houses, palaces and shops. Centuries-old pillars, doors, windows, utensils and other artifacts were collected and  palaces, houses, and shops are reconstructed in the traditional manner. On entering these houses, you are taken into the bygone time periods and reminded you of the earlier living patterns. This, six acres of vast location, has housed many such century old architectures structures, which need long hours to go through these structures and enjoy the traditional architecture and artifacts. The heritage village has a  number museums and galleries.  Among all these galleries, I liked the gallery which showcases the litho prints of Indian artist Raja Ravi Varma. Huge litho machines and stones used by the artist are also in the gallery to one's great surprise. Another gallery has a huge collection of traditional paintings, belonging to especially to  Mysore and Tanjore school of painting. The list goes endless. Visit www.indiaheritagevillage.org for more information. This location is very useful for study for artists, architects and historians. let me know your ideas about preservation of culture for future generations.

Women should aspire for space and freedom to make their existence worthwhile on this earth

 For the last one week, the articles have been  circulating in News Papers and Magazines, in all languages, on International women’s day. Lot of articles based on feminism ideology  have been shared, read, discussed at different levels, but the  facts have  remained unchanged in many parts of the countries. Women have been subjected to oppression and harassment all over the world since many decades and it has continued.

The word ‘feminism’ I had  heard when I was studying in art school. Later, the ideology integrated into my life and become a second skin. As a woman, the philosophy insisted, I became more and more conscious of the ideology and  its implementation .  When I subject myself to  self analysis, I realise that I am a born feminist because since my childhood I have clearly stated my likes and dislikes frankly and honestly. I have never tried to please anyone, not even my parents. So I was labelled as eccentric and different. To my father’s chagrin, I always differed, when my  brother always agreed to my dad’s opinions. I wanted to lead my life the way I wanted, and I have lived as I have  wished.

Virginia Woolf's essay A room of  one's own  - speaks about the conditions of women writers in those days. Virginia states that woman with no space of her own cannot  express her views and opinions confidently and frankly. Along with that she insists that  financial independence is also necessary for women to come out with their true expressions and to lead meaningful life. Women are totally subjugated  and moulded so as to respect  and sacrifice for men. Sacrifice  is counted as a virtue of a good woman by men, and good women are forced to sacrifice, whether they are willing or not. Since decades men have been dictating as how women should behave , lead life  according to their whims and fancies. In the whole process, woman has been downtrodden, marginalised and has lost  entity.  American philosopher Ayn Rand speaks of selfishness  as a virtue, and  all women should  inculcate this virtue and change their age old attitude.  A bit of selfishness,  a bit of private space,  a bit of financial independence  will change a woman's outlook.  Every woman should aspire for her room, her personal space, where one can discover one's new identities , new avenues to lead  rich and beautiful life.  A room of one's own symbolises many things- a personal space, privacy to analyse one's dreams and passions, to live in harmony with oneself, independence and so on. In this room, in this space of privacy, one will be able to understand and discover oneself.                                                                                  We speak of feminist ideology , speak of equal rights, of voting power and property rights , in length and breadth, but here is an example which shows how things have remained untouched in some places.

A few years back, a house wife was narrating her experience to her family friends at a party. At first, it seemed meaningless as I do not indulge in  gossip. On close hearing, I realised the point of discrimination and how badly she has been treated by her husband. She was narrating that she was seriously sick and hospitalized for some months. Her dutiful husband made it a point to visit her every day at the hospital, stand at the door of her room for five minutes and go back. He never stepped into the room, never spent time with her in the hospital, during her months long stay in the hospital. This incident hardened her feelings, made her lose love and respect for her husband forever. This poor woman does not know anything about gender equality or feminism. I felt very sorry for both.  Men  spend their whole life with their wives, but still refuse to give the due respect they deserve because these women are not educated and financially independent. Comparing to these incidents, now the scenario has changed a bit and for the better. Women have been excelling in all the felids on par with the men. For me, it is really a matter  of pride.  Now women are well educated, doing jobs, and are  independent financially.  With good education and financial independence, women have started progressing and  achieving things and this certainly has given a different sort of confidence to women.  As more and more women realise their identities and  real value of existence, they will try to have careers and lead meaningful life.  Clarity of thinking will provide a fundamental base to all women to realise their dreams and live it to the full.  For this,  a woman needs  space and time to think of herself.  Space and time at women's disposal, women will come out  with wonderful things for herself and for the whole world.

Linguistic  studies reflect how women are kept out of the centre , out of focus,  purposely by men. The arrangement of words like father and mother, brother and sister – indicate the first preference given to male. This has been structured, manipulated and  built up systematically over period, so as  to keep women out of the centre. Throughout history, all achievements have been attributed to men signifying that women’s existence is marginal and her  contributions are negligible.  Through the study of art  and literature  one comes to know  how woman has been marginalized since decades. Even in art history, there is no proper documentation of women artists.  While reading, one come across such details as women were not permitted to study painting but were allowed  to study only craft and culinary art in those days. To break all these shackles and move forward , women need ample courage and incessant efforts.There is a sign of progress  as women have entered into all fields on equal foot with men. It is mainly  education which has empowered women and  enabled them to venture in to new felids which were earlier meant for  men only. With a strong demand for space and time for oneself,  women can progress fast and lead a contented life. 

Retirement Blues :with the discovery of new objectives and passions, think passionately about second innings of life which make life rich & beautiful

                 

Every day millions of people retire from jobs all over the world, and among these, some are very happy and some very unhappy. The word 'retirement' starts hammering continuously as one is approaching the destined date and creates lots of flutter in one's life when it is nearing day by day. This word "retirement' denotes physical aspects, financial aspects, time factor, and a sense of fulfillment or a sense of guilt and loss. The retirement psyche differs from individual to individual. Some look forward to the retirement eagerly as they have some plans and objectives to pursue after their retirement. People with positive attitude want to have their second innings of life with different set of objectives, passions and perspectives. On the contrary, some people feel very empty , sad and frustrated because these people have no forethought, no clear vision as how to spend their remaining part of life. This problem alludes to lack of clarity of thought and self introspection. Most of us, most of our life, we live without giving much thought to self introspection and speculations, and this leads to a bizarre living without credible values. By creating one's values of life and living by it, life gets enriched and it gives a sense of fulfillment. Space and Time are important elements in everyone's life , which bring many changes in one's life, whether one desires it or not. While growing up, studying, doing job, raising up children, time flies away very fast and at that time no one has time to think of oneself with all the attention. But after retirement, hustle and bustle given a full stop, there is lot of time on one's hand to think of oneself and look back at the way how one has led life. This self introspection might help one to spend the remaining years of life in a better, fulfilling and meaningful way.

People who have passions and hobbies will be able to lead their life very comfortably even after retirement. The passions which have remained buried and untouched throughout one's life get an opportunity now to be pursued and this pursuing gives them a sense of fulfillment. Reading, writing, painting, socializing, joining for sports - this kind of activities give inspirations to continue in life with all force and enthusiasm. A scholar who started writing seriously after his retirement, has written continuously for thirty years after his retirement. This passion for writing has kept his spirits high. Age is not a bar to start something anew, but one should have zeal and positive attitude. Positive people once out of their jobs, get themselves engaged seriously either with their passions or will have part time jobs to keep themselves engaged and their sprits ever green. Seniors who are positive and aspiring to lead good life and spend quality time, have an attitude to adapt to new things very quickly and effortlessly. These people quickly merge in to the fast changing world. In the 21st century, we have been seeing innumerable changes taking place. New technology has introduced a new way of living. If elders make effort to incorporate these new things into their life, life becomes pretty easy, comfortable and the notion of obsolete does not tag to one.



One can acquire a good job, get some promotions and have status. But leading a valuable, pleasurable life is equally important and it certainly matters most. After all life is much more important than job or status. After retirement, there is ample time to sit back, think, and enjoy life in our own way. Each second, each minute, each hour is important to make our journey worthwhile on this earth. One can make one's remaining journey of life with simple valuable pleasures.