Thursday 23 December 2010

Random nice 'Kolkata' things

As you can guess, I am indulging shamelessly in the
little pleasures of home, here are some snapshots
from what life is like right now :) :

This was the first photo I took after coming home,
fresh roses from our garden in a vintage vase.
The glorious morning sun kisses the walls in my room every morning,
a welcome change from Geneva's snow and harsh winter.
Leisurely evenings spent with friends and family,
with delicious Bengali food and adda....
...with only one rule to follow - one must completely lose track of time.
Speaking of food , below is one of the gems of Bengali cuisine, the Luchi.
Mom's luchis are the world's best, I had 15 of these in one go, shhhhh.

As a thank you for your feedback on the last post,
here are the photos of the good stuff
that I picked up from the Saras Mela.

Ethnic character dolls from the Katwa region,
Bardhamaan (my home) District (West Bengal)
quite the family tree there (with the family pet - the wise owl).
A cute little Maa Durga patachitra by Tapan Chitrakar
from Naya, Midnapur district. I think
I'll take Her back to him to have the Goddess's weapons added (!).
Here is my favourite, a Durga painting (the second one from left)
that I collected from Madhu Chitrakar. Love his work.
Handmade and painted tiny wooden temple of
Shree Jagannath, form of Lord Krishna, from Orissa.
This is another rendition of Lord Jagannath, hand-painted on a coconut shell.
A leather puppet from Andhra Pradesh, I like how feisty she looks
and holds her hair - almost as if she is getting ready to fight.
Here is nice post on Tholu Bommalata,
(Tholu – leather, Bommalata – puppet dance).
Handmade papier-mâché masks from Orissa:
faces of Gods and Goddesses painted in a traditional folk style.
These I collected from an Christmas special exhibition
called Burra Din organized by the
Meeting all these artists and now being surrounded by their art
is hugely inspirational. So I made a quick trip to
my favourite art supply store in town.
This is the first drawing. Ganeshji with four hands,
seated in a lotus with the backdrop of
water, trees and snow-capped mountains.
Details:
Shot in different lights,
the first snap is truest to the original page colour.

Hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season.
Live it up and stay safe.

10 comments:

Shanthi said...

The house is so inviting and reflects the ethnicity- Loved the bed, the wall hanging , the green lamp and the clock and actually everything around. Make hay while the sun shines :-).

Shruthi Srinidhi said...

Ma'am you have an eye for art... Everything looks so vibrant!


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GB said...

Dithi, your posts are such a treat for the eyes.......loved the glimpse into your parent's home as well..........and I {heart} each one of the treasures you've collected from the fair!

Oh, & the clock!--masterpiece!

Vineeta said...

I love love love the pictures in this post. My fav pic is with the sun shining on your mirrorworked frame i your bedroom. GORGEOUSNESS. at the risk of sounding like a broken record- I'm SOOO glad you picked up that camera :)

Strawberry Amma said...

I loved the sketch. Wonder why you haven't made a Bankura Art yet. How 'bout the Bankurar Ghora?

Try making that one, and put it up please! :)

Also, it'd have been great to attend your exhibition here in Delhi. Why don't you plan on putting up one?

Sound Horn Please said...

Dithi- this post is an absolute treat! I absolutely love your new loot from India. I have the coconut shells with Lord Jagannath and the Orissa papier mache masks too, brought over from my last trip to India. Now I need to get myself those lovely wooden doll!

Prutha Raithatha said...

lovely ganesha sketch..

but im totally in love with that wall clock !!! where did u get it?

Dithi said...

Shanti: thank you, glad you liked the post.

Shruti: thank you ma'am, I'll take a look at the details, if the polls are still on.

GB: Thank you, this is a relatively new place that my parents moved into, but we got some of our old furniture which adds the old world charm to this space. The clock was my father's little art project.

Vineeta: Thanks, yes,the camera has changed my life.

Anik: Yes, I have thought about it and I will make a piece on them. I just saw some darling tiny Bankura ghoras at the Poush Mela, could not pick them up for they are quite heavy.

Prutha: Thank you, the clock was an old piece that had stopped working and needed major reconstruction, so my dad re-did it and we love the results.

Pallavi Arunika said...

Thanks for sharing the pictures of your home..you most certainly have the eye for details.
I love the clock especially !!

Neha said...

I love the clockwith Bengali numbers/ alphabets.. its so aesthetic.. now I want one too.

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