A journey called 'Life'

A journey called 'Life'

A visit to my village brought alive the memories of the wonderful summer holidays spent there as a child. Grandfather’s house was now old and worn out due to the winds of time. Yet my delightful eye saw its magnificence and the mind searched for the tale-tell signs of the chirpy childhood. “We played here and there used to be rows of flower beds, there’ ‘See these three trees, these were planted by my grandfather with instructions that the mangoes of these would not be sold’ ‘To this day we get to eat mangoes from our orchards’ ‘Grandma had sown chilies here’ Santosh a recent acquaintance , who had accompanied us and  a stranger to the past was listening to my chatter. However he just could not see what I ‘saw’ in that place.

I was amazed. The house was deserted years ago and yet Nature continued to untiringly weave and create patterns .There were the teak wood trees, the mango orchard, the chickoo tree, the ratambas all of them standing tall .Natural rain was the only source for their water. So all other young plants and bushes had dried up and yet Nature had not given up. I was seeing the tree but was it the same bark, I wondered. My young sister Tanvi pointed out to the window, which used to be the village post office. We could actually envision Sadhle Master giving away post cards and stamping the envelopes. A grazing cow passed by as we were walking back on the village street towards the school. Is the cow as old as us or is it the next generation, I said to myself. Images of the cows being milked and we kids getting to drink the warm hued milk, scurried past memory lane. All was so fresh as if it happened a moment ago.  

In the cycle of germination, growth, decay and death, Nature never halts. Be it famine or fire, Nature starts afresh untiringly continuing to create. Branches are cut only to find that they have again grown back in full steam by the next season.  Nature does not sit and lament the cutting of the branch. ‘Why did it happen to me, I so painstakingly created the branch and the woodcutter just axed it without my fault’ such waste thoughts have no place in the nature of Mother Nature. What applies to the vegetable and animal kingdom also applies to us human beings. Yet in our times of sorrow we forget to grow and stunt ourselves in the past. ‘Let go’ is what the seers tell us. ‘Forgive and forget’ and yet it all becomes so very difficult due to dogmas and fears.

Nature teaches us here as well. As a part of aging process, we may lose our teeth, our eyesight, hair turn grey and even there are marked changes in our hormones or procreation capacities a la menopause. Yet how is it that the intellect does not grow old? In fact with the passing time, years of experience hones our skill sets, makes us wiser and sharpens the brains. Then a time comes in each one’s life where one finds that had he known what he knows today, say twenty years back, he could have steered his destiny to  higher echelons.

Why does nature not numb our brains when it does so with our other faculties? The answer lies in the fact that we are the inheritors of our deeds or karma , which we take to our next birth. That explains child prodigies like Mozart or Picasso. Nature, in fact gives us a chance to do all those activities which one could not, due to domestic pre occupations. Whether it is creative arts like acting, dancing, painting, sculpting, music or writing each one of us has the potential and aptitude coupled with a secret desire.

It is said that even a blade of grass is progressing towards self realization through evolution across many births. Having evolved to the human kingdom is said to be getting closer to this journey and the phase of quiet is in fact to be utilized for self actualization  - Doing all those things which you would consider as a base or foundation to what one wants to become in the next birth. People who say that they have plenty of time with nothing to do, should in fact look within and find for themselves to satiate their yearnings -a sure step to hope, enthusiasm and progress to make life a meaningful journey rather than frittering time on wasteful thoughts and actions like watching T V for hours together, chitchatting and gossiping- what say?

In the words of Robert Frost -

The woods are lovely, dark and deep

But I have promises to keep

and miles to go before I sleep

Anagha Hunnurkar

April 27, 2012

Creativity, unplugged …….

Creativity, unplugged …….

‘It’s so wonderful! It’s so realistic! I can’t believe this is the sculpture’- words uttered by none other than the ex- president A P J Abdul Kalam. The place was Chitrakoot and the subject matter – sculptures of animals – lions, tigers, giraffes, elephants, chimps,rhinos, alligators, deer -  life size and life like. The creator of this magnificent animal kingdom in clay is none other than Shri Pramod Kamble – the founder of Kalashree Creations.

Pramod , a graduate from the JJ School of Arts in Mumbai and based at Ahmednagar started his stint as a sculptor and painter by first making a life size tiger in clay  - a replica of the Great Bengal Tiger. He kept it on the roadside just across his studio to check the response. While the passersby got bewildered as was anticipated, what was unexpected was that even dogs, known for their sharp senses were timidly barking at this life like tiger.

When one interacts with Pramod one realizes that painting and sculpting is not a matter of vocation or a hobby for the man. It transgresses to the realms of worship or meditation. Pramod says that once he is at it, he is not himself. Some energy works through him. The  relation of the paper and the pencil is transmuted to magic but to reach there- there is only one path. Practice, practice and practice. He compares his art to a singer. Just as the singer has to master his notes through riyaz  , a painter has to master the lines. There were days and days when all he did was draw a straight line across the sheet of the paper, from left to right. And how many lines? Well till the white paper used to turn jade black. This he calls – preparing the paper. Once mastered this grip, the next step was to draw reverse lines from right to left – a straight line with a firm clasp – no trembling or shaky hand.

Student of the respected Guru – Raghunath B Kelkar, Pramod has taken the art from the studio to the open expanses at Ahmednagar. The opportunity came by way of erecting Gandhiji’s statue at the city square. As per the rules, there is a government GR which prescribes that the statue can be a bust or if it is full length, then Gandhiji has to be shown with a walking stick. The artist is Pramod wanted to do something different. So he sat to read about Gandhiji and after deep study of life and times of Gandhiji , started to sketch the proposed monument. He had also read about Rabindranath Tagore’s comment of Gandhiji’s daily weaving on the charkha. Daily, Gandhiji used to draw at least a 200 meter thread and he used that time to also crystallize his thoughts.  A monument of the Mahatma had to capture these elements – Pramod thought to himself. The symbols of Gandhiji’s struggle – the charkha , the three monkeys, the Dandi march , the Quit India movement – he wanted to bring it all. At the same time the limitation spelt out in the GR meant that getting permission to do something different could be difficult. Deep in thought, sketching on sheets of paper, Pramod then came up with a wonderful idea. The Father of the Nation was portrayed as India itself and all the symbols were etched on the profile of the Mahatma .India was shown emerging from the world globe. He made a BD model and showed it to the Collector. The idea was so path breaking that he got immediate go ahead and today the monument stands tall in the city square at Ahmendnagar – a tribute to the Mahatma. The biggest testimony came in the form of the visit of the Vice Chancellor of the Lucknow University. He was so struck by the unique piece that he had then sent 4 students to write a thesis , which is now well documented.

Pramod talks of his art with passion. A simple thing like sharpening of pencil – he does not use a sharpener – but a cutter.  He says that helps him in concentration & focus. How much to sharpen, what to erase and what paper to use. All these thoughts get crystallized in this sharpening process. When he wants to draw a chilly, he does not just look at a real chilly but also bites into it. He says that the pungency of the chilly has to come through the picture. Feel the object to make it flow on your paper. When he had received an order for a Jain muni – Anand Joshiji Maharaj – till he completed this task he used to recite the naukar mantra and had given up eating garlic & onions. Even used to eat only Jain food – for full involvement and getting into the skin of the subject.  In his own words -  ‘For me art is a perpetual search for beauty, a yearning of my soul. I seek it, find it , I worship it !

His studio – Kalashree creations is just a symbol of Pramod’s art - painting and sculpting. Much more lies within. One must visit his workshop to see life size statue of Sachin Tndulkar – he has an order of creating 40 cricketing legends that would ultimately be installed at the DY Patil Stadium at Nerul. Another larger than life sculpture of Sant Dnyaneshwar narrating the Dnyaneshwari and Sachidanand Swami writing it down, is at finishing touches stage.  He also makes very interesting 3D invitation cards – be it for thread ceremony, wedding, and inauguration of shops – and the vocation is brought out interestingly in the card. One has to see it to believe it.

Pramod is also known for live shows – he has painted Bhimsen Joshi live in concert. Recently on 10^th March 2012, on the Birth Anniversary of the Hindu King , Pramod erected a Shivaji statue – 11 feet tall, right at the Sarasbaug Chowk of Nagar in six and half hours. He holds the record of sculpting Saibaba in 23 minutes at Kopargaon. Marble carving of Buddha, wood carving of dog, Sant Tukaram, Natraj, Ajanta Apsaras, lamp, Shivaji coronation relief – the list is endless.

Like a mendicant reciting the japa , Pramod is in continuous search of creativity. A jovial and happy personality , creativity oozes from his fingers. A placard in his workshop says it all – Whatever work we do today , will be History for tomorrow.  

Anagha Hunnurkar

8^th April 2012.