ladakh02

the real sun is within you it's called Wisdom ,
compassion it's rays and intelligence it's light,
look inside and you would find me.
buddha

ladakh01

Ladakh

Long long time ago, there were grey giants with blue faces and moustaches which changed color by seasons, they were cursed to walk eternally, and to never stop. They had been walking for eons, devoid of any sensation or feeling they just walked and walked, until one day one of them stopped. He looked down as the first flower bloomed out of natures womb, he stood mesmerized by this blissful experience, he felt that the joys of life entered his soul once again, he felt alive, he kept looking at the yellow flower, which looked like the rising sun flecked by dew drops.
Others looked at him and paused, they all looked at the flower in bewilderment, the blooming flower never thought he would get such a reception, after all he was the first out of the womb, they all stood still rejoicing the idea that the flower was looking back at them smiling, they have never moved since that time, they became the mountains.

(Chronicles of the eternal yak: 02)

My trip to Ladakh was more like visiting an ancestor who's on his way to leave this mortal journey, all I intended, to the best of my patience,was to listen to the vibe of his life, the stories of wisdom he possesses.

Rustic and physically enduring the place had a temperament of a story teller, each rock and grain had a story embedded in it, the faces of the old world still smiling through those clouds which seem to be shimmering and scattered like pearls around the cobalt blue sky.

As much as you embrace the landscape you can't ignore the change taking place there, the trucks coughing thick black smoke and murky spots growing around the place where it'll be hard to distinguish plants from polythene wrappers, swamps of our own greed have engulfed nature enough and one day it'll eat us too.

Change is a positive entity, if one embraces it like that, if Earth is an organism and if we all are connected by an eternal force, why isn't this the premise of our plans, by not acknowledging this fact we are just making our future more bleak. If change is inevitable, one has to examine the possibilities of a optimistic future by looking back and noticing these wonderful ways of co existense, man wasn't born without a role , he was the voice of nature, the one who will sing it's song, lost and forgotten this voice is caged in the void of pretense and one day it'll diminish.

If nature has a consciousness, it's us, and that's what one should attempt through his endeavors,to intend to connect with a tree as much as you connect with a friend , to draw what it really says will a sketch worth while, and sometimes when you are listening closely, the wind will whisper the muted tales of love and change.

All the sketches presented here are incidental to my trip, I just wanted to go there and not be tempted by the idea of drawing what I see but rather absorb the ambience and inculcate patience,observe!, a place devoid of sky scrappers , most of the time I dwelled in the vastness of the place finding hidden clues to stories

As I made any of these silly sketches they made me look deeper, they were my gateways to a world unknown to a digi cam, monasteries, monks, mystic deities were all sources of deep philosophies and stories, though I shot many photographs to understand the representational quality of the place , the clicked form of experience assured me of how the real geography looked like.

Drawing in lines and washes of color gave an emotional motive to my trip; I did not get any time to do more detailed stuff. As we walked and trekked mountains, I did not get more then a few minutes to draw, and sometime later at night I would give them a color wash while my memory is fresh of the location.


There are people who find their voice through a view finder and some who sing to express , some who walk from place to place telling tales , some who just read a book about Buddhist psychology sitting in a cafe, some who volunteer for work with the locals, the one's who have become hermits in their two years of continuous travel, some out of their college exploring the world. I met them all, and I had great conversations, I am inspired to travel more and find more stories.


One night...post dinner we guys were sitting on the terrace of a lovely home stay in one of the villages, watching the sky sprayed with innumerable stars, shinning bright, staring along my friend asked, “Have you ever seen so many stars before?”
And I said, only in my dreams.

Swan-the soul

life is a perennial search for truth,
The restless swan the human soul is
flying with his will as wings outstretched,
back to the source it came from .

(Rig veda,from the verse- restless swan)

wanted to do something special for the blog , so made this to get away from the usual work .
the book is near completion and will soon put up some work from the developmental stages.

Villains-Taarkaa

feed my children feed,
as we have slaughtered the one who consumes our forests,
to surrect his own brothels and palaces,
he may not even find redemption in his death
feed my children feed
we will march and look like chaos incarnated
as our souls stink of hatred
the blue prince will come to save them , a pawn to his own kinds,
but have no fear
cause what we fight for breaths flames beneath the earth,
and dances among the wolves
he who rules the realm of death
feed my children feed
as today...
....we bathe in our salvation

(taarkaa to his two son's su-bahu and ma-reech who were shape shifters (leopards in this one) )

Ramayan:elements

These are some paintings on lord RAM
,from the epic story Ramayan, i've always been fascinated by his role as a righteous and brave warrior prince
,his quest to free his abducted wife Sita from the great demon king Ravan , is nothing but a metaphor of a war against your own sense tendencies(one of the many explanations)
his quest is of introspection and of self discovery.staged in a mythological space with many other fascinating cha.the poem has great relevance in the religious traditions of india and is also revered in various other countries.
i was fortunate enough to work on this story with Virgin comics , but instead of the classic retelling it takes place in the future ,
it's been over two years since i painted any thing related to Ramyan ,
i think it was the nostalgia which hit me while showing my old sketchbooks to one of my friend ,
and i started to think how would i approach it now , so whatever i'm posting is a result of this urge , few ramblings , few thoughts ,
i would want to block the story in chapters:(like the way it's in Ramayan too "Kaands" but named differently)

WATER: blue , water is born , and his royal start, his journey is from a drop to an ocean itself.

EARTH: his beloved wife Sita(daughter to mother earth), his exile and his journey onwards till Sita is abducted.

WIND: meeting the apes,crossing the ocean , hanuman and lanka , making the bridge ,

FIRE: Ravan , and the final war .

SPACE(ether): will be split and will be inserted between each of this chapter and would deal with Ram's own inner battles. and will explore his divine connection with Sita and with Ravan as well.

i choose the classic retelling of the story, as it already has a beautiful narrative, i would attempt to bring out the humanistic quality of these characters,
some of the vedantic literature associated with it , may be few modern undertones to give it contemporary associations .

this was just an exercise , quick sketches , wanted to share with everyone ,
but i've realized that i can never be bored of exploring this theme ,

cause at times it's not what u draw but what u learn out of your work on such subject matter,

forever a learner , i'm ever grateful .

Krishna-Raas Leela

"Listen to the melodious music of the divine poet,
he plays upon the flute of love , the notes soar to high heaven
and reach the stars and dance on the raging waves of the sea"

The earth, the sky, the stars are all woven together by the soft straints of the divine music"

It's vibrations echo through the corridors of time in the endless canopy of sky"

(sama veda.446)
hyms of creation


YES, finally an update , the story is long and full of obvious excuses ,

there's much which has happened in the last couple of months ,like six months of no post , quiet insane ,
lots of work and the kinds which for a while i can't share with anyone , but now i'm back with a promise to myself that whatever may come i will still fill my virtual art space with some thing or the other,

A big thanks to everyone who kept floating me mails and leaving comments on my blog inquiring lack of updates , well blame the alien abduction ,and the numbness post scanning.
from now on i shall be more promt and will atleast update each week ,

on the work front some really exciting things are going on , my graphic novel is close to a "real" finish , and we are putting it together ,n soon i shall post some stuff on that but beyond that in last couple of months i've tried to improve more on my visualization and story writting , understanding and exploring ways to conceive a story, trying to obzerve details from your surroundings and mixing it up with your own ideas is an excercise of sheer excitement .there's no set approach or a formula ,just a lot of fun, some part is born with you and some part of it somewhere else .

these are some of my very recent experiments , paintings on lord Krishna and a humble attempt to depict his "RAAS" leela , the cosmic dance of love with maidens (gopies).i'll elaborate more on this as the graphic novel i'm working on is based on his mystical journey and contemplations
i've tried a very loose approach with colors giving them enough breathing space to mix and blend , it's too difficult to control a water medium or even a pallette with many colors , values , color harmony and interaction are still subjects i'm trying hard to learn but it's fun and exciting .looking at work of masters helps a ton , n how in those painting they suggest time and space so beautifully, remarkable.

cause of this long gap i have much to share , n i will , thanks again,everyone for being so nice and patient .