From my library- Rumi's Daughter

image taken from sufibookstore

Lately i've been getting this urge to read voraciously. I have been looking around in bookstores for material to read read, if you know what I mean, to be transported to another time and space, to live in a world populated with ideas and people that make you feel as if you changed after turning the page. And so I quickly finished reading (need to slow down sometimes!) the first book that came my way, Rumi's Daughter by Muriel Maufroy.

Kimya, as she was called really did exist, she was adopted by Rumi and married Shams, his spiritual friend. The story is set in Anatolia at the time when the Byzantine Empire was at its decline and the threat of Mongol invasion loomed. Here is a link to an extract fromt the book

http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/catalog/extract.htm?command=search&db=main.txt&eqisbndata=1844135837

Why did I read it? The reasons are the same for me to recommend it. I feel a call to such places that remind me of fountains, turquoise, poetry and tea, to be in the world of Jalalud'din Rumi and whirling dervishes for a while. Rumi was a mystical poet, born in 1207 on the Eastern shores of the Persian Empire. Altough the book itself does not carry his verses an interest in Sufi philosophy is enough to draw one to read about the girl-woman Kimya's burning journey towards the Infinite.

Love & light!

getting started

Finally! I joined my hands and thanked the universe when the technician left. I could not believe that I could now surf the net, blog and check my mails once more....ever since I moved I have been living without the internet, at first I barely missed it but soon, I started feeling deprived at not being able to blog, post pictures on flickr, simple things like that. Contrary to what some may say, I don't think having a cyber life is addictive or leads to poor social skills, true, there are some who overdo it, to me it is just another mode of communication suited to this age and I know that sharing in this way through my blog leaves me with a feeling of 'expansion' :)

love & light

Blessed

view of the hills from home and the sea of concrete which I have come to see simply as homes of many many

families....every morning is beautiful with the sky, clouds and hills, there is a watefall too in the distance!

Dear friends apologies for a long blog absence, I hope these last two months have been good for everyone. Life in Bombay is as they say has been, "same same but different" (ha..ha)....in my earlier posts I had mentioned that I recently moved to a part of the suburbs that was until now unfamiliar to me. I will simply say I feel blessed living near Filmcity in Goregaon east, I enjoy the morning sunlight and view of the hills. We now stay near Aarey Milk Colony, that lush green expanse. It is tranquil there and I love to go there for early morning walks and my greatest delight is to be able do some bird-watching on my own :)

Soon I will be sharing more of my explorations, of the feathery kind and of the arty kind too. For instance I've been meaning to share the poetry of a dear artist and friend Sarita Chauhan. It will be my pleasure to share her writing on my next post.

Till then love & light! (literally Diwali is just round the corner!)

Poetry of artist Sarita Chouhan

It is a delight when you have friends who not only paint but also write. For a while now I've been meaning to share the art-practise/writings of dear artist and friend Sarita. Originally from Delhi, Sarita lives with her husband, a script-writer for feature films and daughter in Bombay.

Some months ago I had visited her well-lit studio which is located in a nice residential locality at Four bungalows. Over tea we discussed art, life and other interesting matters. That day while going through the artist statement of her 2001 series, I happened to read the poem, 'There is one tune. And there is one song'. I was struck by her intimate understanding of 'stillness' and ‘movement within stillness', very subtle concepts. Since then I have wanted to share it on my blog.

A little about the artist- Sarita’s works were recently part of Studio Practices at Chemould Art Gallery. She has been exhibiting her works in solo and group shows since 1998. Her fifth solo exhibition, ‘appear, re-appear’ was at Museum Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2008, which I missed :( but made up for partly with the studio visit :)

I leave you with her poem,
as always love and light! :)

There is a one tune. And there is one song. Mix media assemblage on paper, 217 x 184 cms, 2001.

There is one tune. And there is one song.

If there is any stillness, let me feel it.
If there is stillness let me keep looking at it, till the time it makes me still.

And then both of us can come closer.
Be one and move together.
Move together and dance together.

We will go on moving till we again become still.

Now we lie still.
We are still. We are silent.
It seems nothing is moving. Everything is still. There is no sound but silence.

And then there is movement. Silence is also moving. What looks still is also moving.
Stillness is no more stillness. It is movement.

It is moving now. And with it everything around is moving.
There is one tune. And there is one song that is going on. And in its music all become one.


Sarita Chouhan, 2001