Weekly Challenge #4: Starry Eyed Surprise

My response to I am the Diva's Week #4 challenge Starry Eyed Surprise

365 Days of Photography (2)*: People in Your Neighborhood

 *365 days of photography is a new feature I have started on my blog. Every day I will be posting a photograph taken by me. I am not a professional photographer, not even an amateur one. My interest in photography had been minimal till I launched my online store. We all know the importance of good photos for online selling--I not only learned quickly but also began to enjoy the challenge of shooting good photos. I am using just a regular point and click Canon digital camera. I am excited by the challenge and want to see how far I go with it.

365 Days of Photography (1)*: People in Your Neighborhood

Delivering newspaper in the neighborhood

Remember that song from Sesame Street?


Who are the people in your neighborhood, 
the people that you meet when you are walking down the street, 
the people that you meet each day.


In the second decade of 21st century, the song sounds like a nostalgic anthem for a bygone era. The plumber in my neighborhood is now more likely to be a randomly assigned franchisee from  Roto-Rooter.

Yet... take this song and play it in a neighborhood in Chennai, India, it will ring absolutely true. I was reminded of this song as I watched every day, the same people delivering newspapers, cleaning the grounds, vending vegetables, delivering milk or ironing the clothes. The young lad pictured above is a regular delivering newspaper in the building complex where my sister lives.


* 365 days of photography is a new feature I have started on my blog. Every day I will be posting a photograph taken by me. I am not a professional photographer, not even an amateur one. My interest in photography had been minimal till I launched my online store. We all know the importance of good photos for online selling--I not only learned quickly but also began to enjoy the challenge of shooting good photos. I am using just a regular point and click Canon digital camera. I am excited by the challenge and want to see how far I go with it.

New Beginnings: Pongal

I am currently in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India visiting my sister. Entire Tamilnadu is gearing up for Pongal, a three-day festival, starting on January 14. Pongal, which  means "flow over", is a harvest festival, but celebrated by all Tamilians. The most popular icon of Pongal festival is a cooking pot with a sugarcane shoot tied to the side and, brimming over with steaming rice. Pongal celebrates the transit of Sun into the sign of Capricorn (Thai) and the beginning of uttaranayana punyakala or the northern ascension of the Sun (its 6-month transit over the northern hemisphere). Hence, the month of Thai  is also celebrated as the season of hope and new beginnings. You can read more about this festival in the post I did last year .

To commemorate the beginning of new season of light and hope, I created the aceo above as a response to Mixed Media Monday Challenge: Size Matters. This is a first for me, since my usual canvas size for mixed media is 8" by 11".  I have found the idea of creating art on a canvas measuring just 2.5"X3.5" both intimidating and fascinating. Now that I have done it, I am hooked. This artwork is also a response to Etsy Melange Team January Challenge Beginnings.

HAPPY PONGAL!!!

Blooming in January

Even in tropical cities like Chennai, Tamilnadu, January is a tough month for flowers to bloom. But, some try and, succeed in lightening up dreary spots with color. Here are photos of some winter blooming flowers:

Intrepid Entrepreneurship: Mobile Sewing Service

We have all heard of mobile computing. But do you know what mobile sewing service is?  Look closely at the photo above. A foot pedal sewing machine is mounted on a four wheel cart and is taken around various apartment buildings for a quick mending of a loose hem or a torn sleeve. How enterprising!

Giving and Sharing

I did these two variations of the greeting card that was sent out to supporters and friends of Sukriti Social Foundation, a disability service organization founded by my sister Sowmya Simhan. The text (in Tamil and Hindi) is a verse, in the form of fable, about giving and philanthropy. Roughly translated, the verse states: "When an elephant eats, the bits and pieces and pieces of food that fall of its mouth feed thousands of ants". The elephant being a large creature, eats a lot. The ants, being very tiny, need very little to survive. The barely noticed  little morsels of food that dribble out of the mouth of the elephant, provide sustenance to thousands of small creatures. 

As I was reading the verse, I was thinking of Bill Gates who has pledged millions of dollars for humanitarian causes. As the world's richest man, the money he is giving away is still pocket change for him, hardly likely to make a hole in his bank account. Yet, it is making a huge difference in the lives of thousands of people around the world. Of course, not every one is Bill Gates with millions to spare. But, whatever we give or choose to share, has the potential to make a difference in the life of at least one person. 

Happy new year and best wishes for a healthy, prosperous 2011.

Tamil verse by Kumara Gurupara Swamigal

Hindi verse by Kabirdas

Many thanks to L.N. Srinivasa Krishnan for locating both Tamil and Hindi texts.