Creating Henna Dyed Jewelry Components

I love henna and I am always looking for opportunities to incorporate the rich, warm orange brown of the henna color into my work. Ifound a wonderful use for it in the carved bone components that I have been accumulating for a while. These carved bone components make for fabulous jewelry designs but one of the disadvantages of using them is that they tend to yellow over a period of time.

The Song of the Siren

I must have been a woodworker in my previous life. Just like the heroes of the 40s noir movies who could not resist the allure of those mysterious sultry sirens, a bare wooden box entices me into the trap of drawing on it, painting, coloring and decorating it.

The interest in decorating boxes really became addictive during the six months between my daughter's engagement and her wedding. I wanted to give personally made gifts to the relatives and friends who were attending the wedding. I made dozens of decorative boxes here in the US and packed and transported them all the way to Chennai, India where the wedding was taking place. Everybody adored them and, when I opened my Etsy store, my sister planted the idea of selling them in the store. Even my husband likes them and elsewhere in this blog, I have written about the collage box I made as a gift for his professor

When I start on a box, the only thing I know for sure is the basic color that the box is going to be painted--from there, everything is a free form creation. The designs and the decorations on the boxes evolve organically, though the motifs and the patterns are drawn from my Indian heritage. That is why each box is unique in its own way. I am not limited to any particular material, technique or design. You can buy the boxes shown below from my Etsy shop here.

I have used my own yoga art as a decoration for the box below

I have decorated with my own hand drawn designs like the one below

On some I have used lively fabrics and sequined ribbons like this one



I have used lovely washi paper and silk ribbons on such as this one



I have incorporated some of my sari art as decorative piece on this box

What can I say? The song of the siren is irresistible. If you are interested in buying any of my boxes, you can go here.

Buttermilk Drink for the Thirsty Traveller

There was a time when walking was one of the most prevalent modes of travel in India. When train services were scarce, when cars were only for the super rich, when only a few could afford a bicycle, folks traveled by foot--whether visiting a relative across the town or a village away. Southern summers can be hot with daytime temperatures often as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Leaving an earthenware pot filled with water or better still, with a freshly made buttermilk drink, on the front verandah of the house or the street corner or at the village entrance is an old tradition in Southern India--a way of saying welcome and take a rest to the hot and tired traveler even if he was a stranger.


A lot has changed in India in the last two decades. Single family homes with front porches are increasingly replaced with multistoried gated condo communities. Long distance travel is now done via planes, trains, buses and cars and, public transportation, auto-rickshaws and two-wheel scooters are the modes of local travel. Yet, one thing still remains the same--the hot summer and the need for cold water to quench the thirst and to cool the body. And, the tradition of providing free buttermilk drink continues while adapting to the new realities of travel and condo living.

At the condo community where my sister and mother live, my sister has set up a spot under a large shady tree where a pot filled with fresh buttermilk awaits all who drop in during the day. These are mostly service personnel like the watchman, janitor, pushcart vendors, maids, the guy who comes on the weekend to iron the clothes and others. To these folks who commute by bus or bike to work and then toil in the hot sun, the cool drink offers a refreshing relief. Every morning around 10 o'clock, the buttermilk drink is prepared in our kitchen and then poured into the pot and set up in the yard. By late afternoon, it is usually all finished.

Preparing the drink is extra work for our housekeeper and my sister spends about 45 rupees ($1) per day on the milk for the yogurt (not a small amount for India). Yet, it is a nice way of saying thank you to the men and women servicing her community.

  The pushcart waiting for presswala or isthri, who using hot coal irons the clothes

   Supplying fish to one of the ladies

    A hungry cat hoping to catch a morsel of fish

Recipe for Buttermilk drink

Ingredients

Fresh homemade yogurt (or store bought yogurt) half a cup
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Freshly ground cumin to taste
Salt to taste
Freshly ground red pepper flakes (optional)
Fresh coriander finely chopped

Using a whisk churn the yogurt and dilute it with water. For half a cup of yogurt, add approximately a quarter cup of water. The yogurt should be diluted to a water-like consistency but without losing the taste of yogurt.

Add all the ground spices and salt. The taste of the spices and the salt should not overwhelm the taste of yogurt.

Chill in the refrigerator.

Sprinkle the coriander on top before serving.

A Scientist Celebrates 92nd Birthday

What do you give to a scientist who has been more interested in pushing the frontier of science than the material gains accruing from it? A pioneer in essential oils research, Prof. S.C. Bhattacharyya, celebrates his 92nd birthday today at his daughter's home in California. When my husband, who did his Ph.D under him, wanted to buy one of my boxes as a token gift for Prof. Bhattacharyya, I kind of laughed and told him that the boxes were too feminine and not very appropriate for a scientist and that I would make special one.

I met Prof. Bhattacharyya only ten years ago. I found him a wonderful human being. His impact on me, as it has been for all those who had worked under him, was as a brilliant chemist. So, I decided to highlight that aspect of his life in this collage box . He is a Bengali and like all Bengalis very proud of his cultural heritage. So, I started with a Bengali poem printed on the background paper. He graduated first in his M.Sc class from Dhaka University, back when it was part of undivided India. He completed his doctoral work at the premier Indian Institute of Science at Bengaluru. It was here that Prof. Bhattacharyya did his breakthrough work in the sandalwood oil chemistry.. Soon after, he went to Cambridge, England to get his second doctoral degree.

Upon his return to India which by then had become independent, Prof. Bhattacharya began his long and illustrious career at the National Chemical Laboratory in Pune where a division of Essential Oils was created just for him. The research group under his leadership gained international recognition for pioneering work in natural product chemistry and on macrocyclic musk compounds. One of the biggest discoveries was the isolation and the structural elucidation of constituents of sandalwood oil, which is one of the major essential oils today. (No, he did not patent or profit from it.) From NCL, he moved to IIT Bombay which was where my husband did his doctoral work. He finished the final years of his career at the Bose Institute, Kolkata.

It was this arc of his career that I captured on the cover of the box. When my husband saw that, he asked me if he could add something more. I said yes and he came up with what you see on the inside of the lid--the chemical structures of three of Prof. Bhattcaharyya's major discoveries! Immediately, I knew that it made the idea behind the collage whole and completed the picture. An artist and a scientist coming together, truly an inter-disciplinary project!

Of course, no amount of images can capture the deep humanity of Prof. Bhattacharyya--what made him an incomparable acharya. In Sanskrit, acharya refers to a teacher, but, in the true meaning of the term, an acharya is a guide, mentor, advocate, parent, minister, counselor and a teacher. It endows the bearer of the term with responsibilities beyond the mere transmission of knowledge to the students. My husband would agree that he was an acharya in the truest sense.

January 14: New Beginnings

In Hindu calendar, Sun's northern ascension or the winter solstice occurs on January 14. In Tamilnadu (my homestate) it is the start of the month of Thai or Makara (Capricorn). It is celebrated with three days of harvest festival called the Pongal. Pongal is actually a dish made of rice and lentils and on this occasion the dish is the made from the new rice just harvested. Since it is a harvest festival, on the countryside it is a big event--the farmers paint and decorate their house, throw away old and unwanted things, buy new clothes, prepare feasts and have country fairs where they bring livestock all spruced up and painted. And everywhere, people celebrate it by making varieties of rice dishes--sweet rice, lemon rice, coconut rice, tamarind rice, yogurt rice--all accompanied by medley of vegetables. One of the hallmark of pongal celebration is the beautiful designs that young girls and women draw on the entrance way of their homes using white and colored rice flour .


It is the season for new beginnings and the month of Makara (Jan 14-Feb 13) is considered the most auspicious period for weddings. It is the busiest month for weddings and it is not uncommon to have to attend 2-3 weddings a week just in this month alone. My own daughter was married to Scott, on January 18 the first auspicious day of the month, four years ago in Chennai, Tamilandu. A very happy day it was!


HAPPY PONGAL!

Sari Wall Art : All about Love

The inspiration for this artwork comes from the Sanskrit drama Shakuntalam. Shakuntalam (Story of Shakuntala)is considered a masterpiece of the classical Sanskrit Indian drama. Composed by poet Kalidasa, it dates to the reign of Vikramaditya (5th cent A.D) described as the the golden age of ancient India.

The original story of Shakuntala is a small chapter in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. It is basically a love story with all the familiar ingredients such as love at first sight, promises broken and redemption and reunion. Its protagonist is Shakuntala. Born to a celestial nymph and a human, she is abandoned at birth by her parents and is raised in a hermitage. One day, Dushyanta, the king of Hastinapura (Delhi) comes hunting in the forest and chances upon the hermitage. He and Shakuntala fall in love. He gives her a ring with a royal seal and pledges to send for her after returning to his kingdom. And things start going wrong for Shakuntala.

Due to a sage's curse, the king loses all memory of her and fails to send for her. Shakuntala, now pregnant, travels to his palace. However, on the way she loses the ring the king gave her and is unable to show any proof of their involvement. Heartbroken, she returns to the hermitage and in due course gives birth to a son. A few years pass by. Meanwhile, the ring is found and returned to the king and, as soon as he sees it he regains his memory of Shakuntala. Determined to right a wrong he goes looking for her. At the hermitage he sees this this young kid playing with a little lion cub. Impressed by the little boy's courage he asks him his name and the child answers "I am Bharata, son of Dushyanta". Deeply moved, he picks up the child and just then Shakuntala comes looking for the boy. Of course, all misunderstandings are cleared and the couple are reunited. The king, Shakuntala and their son return to Hastinapura and after his father's death, Bharata becomes a powerful and a famous king. It is said that Bharat, another name for India, comes from its most famous king, Bharata, the son of Dushyanta and Shankuntala.

Shakuntalam was the first Indian language drama to be translated into English by Sir William Jones in 1789. It is also the subject of an Italian opera. It continues to be a source of inspiration to dancers, musicians and other artists including my inspiration for this sari wall art

Transit of Sidereal Jupiter

Jupiter



Along with the winter solstice another important celestial event took place on Dec 20, 2009. This was the transit of Jupiter from its sign of debilitation Capricorn to Aquarius. Transit of slow moving planets are always significant and their effects are also felt quite deeply. In the case of Jupiter, it spent most of the twelve months in Capricorn in the company of Rahu (North node). In Indian astrology this combination is called Guru-Chandala yoga and is not viewed favorably. Jupiter is the planet of dharma whereas Rahu is a non-traditional planet. Generally, Rahu's influence on Jupiter is said to indicate deviant behavior or thinking.

For those of us who have been feeling the weight of Jupiter's debilitation and its conjunction with Rahu, its passage to Aquarius is likley to offer much relief. Aquarius is the positive sign of Saturn and Jupiter's transit in this sign brings out the humanitarian impulses present in our selves. Serious practitioners of Hindu astrology will also notice that with Saturn in Virgo, the double of transit of Jupiter and Saturn now falls on Gemini, a Mercury sign. Ketu, the South node, is also transiting Gemini. Depending on which house Gemini falls in one's chart, that house may become active during this triple transit. Of course, all transit interpretations should take into account the natal chart placements as well as the dasha sequence.

Similar to western astrology, Jupiter is regarded as a great benefic in Vedic astrology. Referred to as Guru (spiritual guide or teacher), it is described in classical texts as having a big belly and a fat body, pale eyes, virtuous nature, knowledge of scriptures and sciences, bright yellow complexion, Sattvic (higher nature), sharp intelligence, keenness in religious pursuits and yello colored dress.. Jupiter is the lord of Saggitarius ( the 9th house of dharma) and Pisces (the 12th house of spirituality) and has directional strength in the first house. In vedic astrology it is the significator of five houses: 2 (personal finances), 5 (creativity including children), 9 (knowledge, education), 10 (career) and 11 (income from employment). Here is a brief summary of Jupiter's planetary qualities and significations:

Jupiter symbolizes: Growth, kindness, spirituality, optimism, generosity, wisdom, idealism, friendliness
Day of the Week: Thursday
Position in planetary cabinet: teacher, mentor, advisor
Relationships: children
Colors of Jupiter: Clear, bright and transparent shades of yellow, orange, and gold
Metals for Jupiter: Gold
Gems for Jupiter: Topaz, citrine
Its natural planetary friends: Jupiter is hostile to no planet though its natural friends are Sun, Moon and Mars.

As is my wont, to commemorate Jupiter's transit I created this jewelry piece in golden swarovski crystals and pearls.