Coin story

Its been long since I have written something on my blog, the reason, the stories just stopped coming to me from my chilhood. Probably, because I stopped visitimg my stories or caught up with grown up issues. Anyway, I remember when I used to go to my tution class after school, I would find coins on the way. This would happen once a month and sometimes thrice a month. And I would collect as much as a rupee in coins to 50 paise. I was so thrilled and I used to be very observant and would look in detail on the road while going and coming back from tutions. This was my personal secret and I enjoyed that money during my recess at school. I never told anyone, for the fear of not finding them, a superstition(not that i was sure if the word existed in my vocabulary). And, later when I grew up I found out that there is a community, when they take their dead people to cremation ground they throw small coins from the house till cremation place. It was their custom and could never find a reson of them doing so. Please if you readers have any insight on this practise, it will solve my mystery. Was I wrong in using that money, although I was not aware of its true emergence. But, I did have that little secret in my childhood. That was so personal and the pleasure it gave me mentally and in kind since that was my money with which I could buy goodies during recess and after school. It also taught me to observe and see things in detail. This habit has helped me alot in my creative work. Just, yesterday when I was coming back from my shoot I was obersving things around me. When I clicked a picture on the road, my driver said I quote "maine aap ko dekha hai aap kuch na kuch dekhte rehtey hai". This brought memories of my childhood.  

Dhadam Se Girna ... Ooouuuchhh

As a child I was prone to accidents and would just have strange freak accidents. I was also very Naughty as a child and would love to play all sorts of games and would be immersed in them. I was playing cricket at a near by grounds. There were lice tall trees around the periphery of the ground. I think it was a a Saturday and we had fixed a match with local team. We batted second and by afternoon the first team ended their batting by noon , we all took a break and our team begun batting, one of the trees was a favourite place to sit on and watch and cheer our team. I do not know at what time of the play I just got excited and while clapping lost my balance and almost from a second floor height of the tree I was down on the ground, fortunately I did not hurt myself too seriously but did get cut on the knee, oooouuuchhh it was very painful, but also was afraid if Mum would find out and than the scolding, but to my luck everything was laughed off as a freak accident. What a fall...

Once I was riding a bicycle in our neighbouring street and there was this cute looking girl who I liked, on that specific day of my ride I saw her in the balcony of her house and to Impress her I started doing stunts on my Bike and while i was trying to do a willy with my bike I lost my balance and DHADAM I was on the road with the bike over me. My immediate reaction to look at her and hope that she did not notice just this fall, but she did and she did see my fall and was laughing, but like it is said Hassy toh Fassy and we became friends. Rest is fun....

Some real serious incidents were when I came home school changed and went to the kitchen to check what was there to eat and without realising i touched the TAWA and it was very hot part of my fingers skin was left behind on the hot tawa .... oooooohhhhhh what howling and immediately was rush to the local family physician and medical attention. I was playing chor-police with friends and while hiding didnot realise there were nails around. One piece of wood had a nail and I stepped on it and the nail went straight into my sole through my shoes ooooouuuuchhh. One day I was walking on the street and suddenly the rare door of the taxi flung open and hit me on my bum and there I was on the floor, escaped unhurt.... wah

Standing on the road and there a bus took a wild turn on the corner and it hit me and I was flung to another spot got a a hit on the Head, I still have a big bump on my head.

My Dhadam days went on for a very long time ... Ouch 

Dazzling Stage ... moved my florist

The days of my work in railways, basketball and theatre I discovered myself designing things. I was exposed to artificial flowers and pot designs. I started designing these huge pots with various shapes and sizes and colours and artificial landscapes with white brown pebbles, artificial plants & flowers. I held my first exhibition of my designs at cymroza art gallery for 3 days and received overwhelming response. And I discovered that anything creative excited me and makes me feel very happy. So after 11 years of railway service and theatre, I decided to step out from railway service and take up creative work on full time basis. This gave me immense pleasure and thus my creative journey began with full throttle. I started designing lot of plays and events, thus my travelling to different parts of the country began. 

I remember and incident when I was doing Ila Arun musical show in Bangalore. I was executing my set and light design, I met a lady who was providing us flowers to incorporate on the stage. She was a florist handling hotels for flower displays in the lobbies and tables. She was with me and questioned me about my work and she heard that our work was very unstable and how does it excite me doing what I do. 

I tried explaining it to her about my work and the excitement of creating something new every time. But she refused to except that we can risk our lives with no definite Job and just be a freelancer. While these discussions were going on the work kept progressing. On the day of the show I asked her to sit with me at the light console during the show. As the show began and my lights, lighted the stage it changed its look and with every song something new happened and a different magic unfold. She was so surprised at watching the whole transformation take place on stage the flowers she provided looked so different with lights. She was mesmerised and watched in awe. After the show ended she came and held my hand and said I now understand why you do what you do and what excites you and how can you miss this excitement for anything in the world.

I was so happy to see this transformation in a person who believed in a secured life she lived. Till today after 35 years of designing I am as excited and nervous as my first show.