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The gift to create form, from the mist of imagination, is pure magic!


Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Abduction Of Innocence


8x12 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper with watercolour wash (Click on image to enlarge)

This painting has been inspired by a story in Greek mythology about how Zeus, driven by his passionate lust, took the form of a mighty eagle to seduce and abduct a mortal youth named Ganymede who later became his personal cup bearer. Zeus was God of all Gods and thus the story elaborates his escapade! But what intrigues me is the story from Ganymede’s perspective. A young, handsome (understatement on my part because he must have been ‘drop dead gorgeous’ for Zeus to have gone crazy over him!), innocent youth losing his virginity and more to a God! Zeus had to disguise himself in order to get Ganymede’s intimate embrace. So, was Ganymede entirely innocent to begin with? Imagine being carried away by an eagle! How would that feel? Would it have been any different if Zeus had approached him without the aid of disguise? What must have gone through his body and mind during the entire episode. We can only speculate! But one thing is obvious; he liked what was happening because he became an eternal companion of the same God who ravished him. He did not turn himself into a tree or plunge to his death! Would it have been any different if Zeus was just another mere mortal old man? God knows… but everything seems to boil down to 'control'; who/what controls whom/what and who/what spins out of control! The moment one grasps the workings of 'control', precious innocence goes kaput!! I kind of like happy endings!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Loathing


9.5x28.5 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper with watercolour wash (Click on image to enlarge)
SOLD. In private collection

For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.
- William Shakespeare

Monday, December 14, 2009

Lust


9.5x28.5 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper with watercolour wash (Click on image to enlarge)
SOLD. In private collection

Lust's passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes.
- Marquis De Sade

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Love


9.5x28.5 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper with watercolour wash (Click on image to enlarge)
SOLD. In private collection

O cunning Love! with tears thou keep'st me blind,
lest eyes well-seeing thy foul faults should find!
- William Shakespeare

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Love,Lust and Loathing


(Click on image to enlarge)
SOLD. In private collection

At times I have lusted after someone, making myself believe it to be love and pursued the object of my desire to ultimately attain an orgasm! And the next morning, waking up beside that desirable body, loathed every inch of that flesh, its odour and touch! So many times I have loved someone and afraid of a commitment, made them believe it was only lust on my end and manipulated them to loathe me for being such a bitch! How many times we all have sacrificed our love for one night of pleasure and gratification with another and regretted for being reckless and uncaring? Love, lust and loathing are eternally entwined in our lives and they cause the deepest imprints on our psyche. To feel all these emotions, even the undesired ones are what make us human. There is a song I used to rewind and play quite often when I was younger, now gathering dust somewhere, whose words still linger around me like an avenging spirit-

I always said that I would make mistakes
I’m only human and that’s my saving grace
I fall as hard as I try
So don’t be blinded
See me as I really am
I have flaws and sometimes I even sin
So pull me from that pedestal
I don’t belong there

One thing is clear
I wear a halo
I wear a halo when you look at me
but standing from here
you wouldn’t say so
you wouldn’t say so if you were me

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Original Sin


13.5x20.5 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper with watercolour wash (Click on image to enlarge)

Mankind’s suffering started with women! I don’t say it! Says certain myths and religious beliefs! Well, to begin with, mankind gained knowledge of fire and what did Zeus do to punish them? He gave them women! Why else will poor Eve be the one to fall for the snake’s temptation and bring down the wrath of God almighty, on our heads? Islamic beliefs are nothing different on this subject! Sounds very misogynistic, and that’s the way it is! But, it was not always like that! There were times when Women were worshipped for their fertile wombs, for their power to bear children, to create and breathe life into them. They were viewed as Mother Nature incarnate. They were needed, valued and respected, for nature had imbued them with the magic of procreation! I wonder what went so drastically wrong in people’s (of both sexes!) perception of women, to bring about such a huge shift in their status, from being goddesses to being witches! ‘Original Sin’ is my obeisance to that fateful journey of the feminine, from the pedestal of a deity down to being the conniving temptress and ending up as the mere object of pleasure for the male ego.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Buddha's Demise


20.5x28.5 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper with watercolour wash (Click on image to enlarge)

Terrorism, violence, hate, intolerance, mindless chaos and the ebbing value of human lives define our existence in a so called ‘Progressive Society’. Peace is a fool’s paradise. Secularism is a joke. Freedom is just an empty promise, caged in fear. Being brave seems like an act of stupidity! Culture has become a dictate of those in power who rarely have any clear knowledge on the subject. Political leaders have become new age prophets, the media their preaching ground and the majority of the mass their mind controlled followers! In such times, it is not difficult to imagine how a group of young messiahs of doom managed to storm into Mumbai from the sea, to gun down their fellow human beings at random, or why the Twin Towers of New York have become history! In our fight against others we are forgetting ourselves. This painting is an ode to those lost values. It is my probing question for you, ‘Has the human milk of kindness run dry?’

Saturday, December 5, 2009

My Friend - 4


7.5x11.5 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper (Click on image to enlarge)
Lost in a fire.

My Friend - 3


7.5x11.5 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper (Click on image to enlarge)
Lost in a fire.

My Friend - 2


7.5x11.5 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper (Click on image to enlarge)
Lost in a fire.

My Friend - 1


7.5x11.5 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper (Click on image to enlarge)
Lost in a fire.

Friday, December 4, 2009

My Friend



(Click on images to enlarge)
Lost in a fire.

I like to spend time with myself, alone, may be with a book, or just listening to music or better still, day dreaming, but I am not a loner. I do not have a reclusive life style and I am scared of loneliness! That is exactly why someone's friendship is such a precious gift to me. I treat my family members as friends and my friends as family! Some think I'm insane, confused and entirely unreliable but then, the concept of sanity itself is debateable. Alas! Such 'sane' characters never become my friends. I believe, my friends to be of mythical character! Who else will have the patience to bear with me, my tantrums, eccentricities, illogical demands and overwhelming need to be loved! This series of pen drawings is a tribute to all those friends of mine, those who are beside me now, those who may be far away but still nurturing me in their thoughts, those who know me more than my own self and those whom I have lost forever!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Kartik


8x12 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper with watercolour wash (Click on image to enlarge)

The 'Chira Kumara' (confirmed bachelor) of the family, Kartik is supposed to be the ultimate personification of Male beauty (No wonder his Vahan is a peacock!) and vigour! He is egoistic and blood thirsty! At the slightest instigation he will wear his armour and go to war! If Saraswati is endowed with all that is supposed to be feminine in nature, Kartik is endowed with everything that is masculine! I wonder if this implies that sexual passion is not a masculine trait. Though, there is a marked difference in the south Indian tradition, where he is seen sporting two consorts!

Shoroshwoti


8x12 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper with watercolour wash (Click on image to enlarge)
Lost in a fire.

Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge. She blesses her devotees with the power to learn and talent to practice art. As a student I used to pray to her before every exam, to bestow some extra grey matter in my head, so that I could obtain good marks. Every time I used to promise her that I will study well for the next exam, and be a good boy, but that never came to be. It was the same story, every year! I guess she was kind to me. And now, I really understand how kind she has been to me and thank her everyday for the creative instincts which she endowed me with! I can not imagine myself being a Chartered Accountant (my Mom's dream career for me!) playing with numbers when there are so many lovely colours to play with!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Gawnesh


8x12 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper with watercolour wash (Click on image to enlarge)
Lost in a fire.

He, the elephant headed God is the son of Parvati aka Durga alone! Shiva's potent sperm had nothing to do with the birth of Ganesha (The lord of the Ganas) known to the bengali tongue as Gawnesh. He was created out of the sandalwood paste used as an ointment on Parvati's body, while she was taking her ritual bath. In a playful mood (leela) she scraped the sandalwood paste off her body and moulded it like clay into the form of a boy and breathed life into him! Now, how did Ganesha lose his human head and acquire the elephant's head is a long story, and yes, Shiva had a lot to do with it! He is invoked to overcome obstacles in the path of any venture. And I find him to be damn cute!

Lokhkhi


8x12 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper with watercolour wash (Click on image to enlarge)
In private collection

Lakshmi, daugter of Durga and Shiva, is the Goddess of prosperity and good fortune. We Bengalis believe that if the first born child in any house hold is a girl, she is the incarnation of Lokhkhi(Bengali pronunciation of Lakshmi), as she is supposed to usher in good fortune for her parents. I wish more people start believing the same, then the statistics of female infanticide in India will surely witness a downward sloping graph! On another note, all new brides are seen as incarnations of lakshmi and welcomed in to the grooms household with much fan fare but as soon as the in-laws find out that the expected dowry is not forthcoming, she becomes the witch to be burned alive! The equivocal aspect of the so called 'norms' of the Indian Society completely baffles me! Well, Coming back to Lakshmi, she has become synonymous with wealth as in gold and money! Needless to say she has the most fan following amongst all Indian Devis!

Durga


8x12 inches; Pen drawing on handmade paper with watercolour wash (Click on image to enlarge)
Lost in a fire.

She is the ultimate incarnation of shakti. She is the Goddess, the Devi who appears in all her myriad divine avatars to put an end to all that is corrupt and malignant. The worship of the Mother Goddess is very much prevalent in Hinduism. The feminine is evoked as the creative as well as the destructive force in nature.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Divine Family



(Click on images to enlarge)

Dedicated to the family of Goddess Durga. The all powerful goddess comes down to her mother's abode, once every year, along with her four children. That is the time we bengalis celebrate our most lavish festival, Durgotsav. This seriese of paintings were done during the Durgotsav of 2008 as a homage to my never ending fascination of the mysterious and aweinspiring form of Devi.