When truant clouds wreak havoc

The sun is beating down hard on a city that is sweltering and seeming more listless with each passing day.  Beads of sweat organise themselves into a millions of rivulets that run down my spine unabashed, they leave a city feeling stifled as each droplet on a million faces catch the last rays of sunshine as night falls. All I can do is helplessly gaze at a sunset sea, as the last rays fall unceremoniously into a seemingly calm sea, only to send it into a shudder of glittering shivers. I begin to curse myself for ever complaining about the monsoons, the floods, the clattering of windowpanes as the rain pelts down and shamelessly robs me of a good nights sleep.

I've always had a love-hate relationship with the monsoons, I dread the dampness, the longer hours I need to work on my artwork to make sure they dry in time. The filth that finds it way up from open drains when the city goes under, which I must add, is a promise Mumbai always manages to keep. But I also find myself each year, towards the fag end of summer, earning for the rains in an attempt to bring some respite from the harsh summer sun and relentless humidity.

A couple of weeks ago the sultry silence of summer was broken by blots of lightning and thundering clouds, as  I lay in bed listening to natures delightful lullaby I felt a dash of excitement and anticipation, the monsoons were near at last. I suddenly loved the monsoons and couldn't wait for the city to smell, feel and evolve into something less dusty and sweaty!

Every monsoon I love how the leaves on the trees turn from wilted shades of brown to brilliant greens. I love the ever changing sky filled with sometimes heavy, dark clouds about to burst and shower us with abundance and sometimes scattered with little grey clouds playing hide and seek, almost waiting in the wings to pounce on unsuspecting people below. I love making a hundred cups of tea and sipping on them as I read a book and slowly allow myself to transcend into another worlds.

I think most of all, I love the changing of seasons, it's something I look forward to, as I sit by my window trying to catch the small signs nature throws our way.

A dragonfly in my mind's eye

Some nights feel like they are made of magic, where you feel an almost primal need to express something. This artwork started like most, a faint glimmer in my mind's eyes and with each brush stroke morphed into something beautiful and heartfelt. If you've followed my artwork and blogposts you'd know I do have more than just a soft corner for dragonflies, so much so that I've had one inked on my body. 

At the fag end of every Monsoon season, I find myself standing on my terrace engulfed in a sea of dragonflies, it's a surreal experience where you smack dab in the middle of a bustling city and yet in your mind you feel like you're in a lush field filled with dragonflies, so real is the feeling that I can almost smell the fresh grass and feel the soft mud between my toes.

This artwork which is still a work in progress, is a humble expression of all of those feelings I've felt over the years. My little haven and escape from the realities of living a fast paced city like Mumbai.

When I'm feeling blue, all I have to do, is take a look at you.

With a city bathed in a myriad shades of blue, as raindrops pelt down from the skies above, my Blue Peacocks hand-painted teapot captures  the mood natures set. Blue in all its brilliance as peacock dance on the teapot to the rhythm of the rain!

'When I'm feeling blue, all I have to do
Is take a look at you, then I'm not so blue'
-Phil Collins

 

Paint your own rainbow!!

When it rains in Mumbai it pours!!

The last couple of days have been quite an adventure,wading through flooded streets,stocking up on essentials,power cuts and candle lit dinners as a result of which.All in all i think the monsoons at times bring havoc and chaos to our lives.I choose to make the most of this state of chaos,sketches and painting are in store,maybe under the calming flame of a candle if need be!!
With my faithful brush as a companion I'm all set to brave the rains this year.