the red sketch book

Creature Comfort - Reviews :)

2012-01-06T00:26:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of the show. 10 sold so far :) And here are the reviews Creature Comfort has got till date :) Please open the images in a new tab to read on. Reviews in order of appearance...

01. Timeout - By Jaideep Sen
02. DNA - By Another Malavika :) Not me :)

03. Bangalore Mirror - By Jayanthi Madhukar

04. The Hindu - I don't a printed copy, but here is the online version of The Hindu review by Harshini Vakkalanka :)

o5. And finally the online review by Sam and Soap on the one and only Chai Kadai - On Creature Comfort.

06. One more review - By Natesh Muthuswamy from Facebook.
on Saturday, January 7, 2012 at 9:41am

Mmmmm, me is writing 2 things at a time when I got 3 mangoes with one stone! One in Tamil for boutha ayyanaar and this in English. Enough ammunition to spend a good half day writing-rambling; the louts are slowly losing their 2nd test in Australia, so no point wasting time watching them being listless. He said hey don’t imagine that u r the only one, we too are there, listless whatever, we r discovering ourselves, said, Suresh jayaraman who’s hosting malavika’s show in bengaluru! mmm. The comp went black a few times. I shook the mouse and it came back. The truth is I got so carried over by my boutha ayyanaar write up that I kind of finished it and started this though I need breakfast and I may not write fulleey. It’s 10.12 and I am hungry! My face looks tired said baskar. Well compressing 724kilometres of travel within 22hours is bound to do it… also I got to really look at the mirror and watch this tiredness! Then some cricket and idlees. My veg-sambaar for idlee for my dad which my mom makes is a boring dish but u will love it I guess(if it’s the 1st time). As bad as VVS Lakshman getting out at66 when I switch the TV….old fellows are clinging on. Y can’t they reshuffle so many recent Talents-young and happening in Indianajonassescunt-ry. ? come on fellows anyways it’s a loss. Instead of a Lashmanised loss it will b a Ramanised loss. So Wat? Not vat, what! Ok goin,….10.19…ok in 7 minutes ? how many? Word count says = 121words…. Not bad…shabaash nadesa! Going for a while….ghee&molahappodi instead of dad’s-nutritionistics…

Ok mom hasn’t melted the butter. Today is Friday. So boiling it into ghee is forbidden she says. I tell. Some ma only for 2spoons of molahaappodi ? pl? mmmmmm ok. Gimmesomtime u fellow don-push! …..when muth-da was taking care of Bharathidasan in the mid 50s B wanted him to marry a girl he would find for him. but daddy-cool told him about his childhoodbabylover gal …! B said, bring her! Nex day my mom in true dravidianDK ishtyle & fuuull of luvs wears a black sari and red blouse. When dadyfool bcame ascetic and literaryies She fecame Orthodoxiees enough not to offend gods on a Friday, boiling butter into ghee. Actually deep frying butter into ghee. Hungry. So rambling away from my 3 mangoes……..

Like recent Tamil films I will keep malooooose’s stuff at the end, to make it hot…

Sureshjayaram is a wonderful guy. Must b my age …but I always consider men elder since me’s a hiding boy. Hmmmm. This nose-obsession and sharp registering of noses (though my brain took over more than my eyes at the gallery premises for I got to meet some one like me. Thoroughly useless, but idea-boy)

I told preetam, man shes got a good mentor! He manages his big-house , one large gallery space and three residencies, through the income from the residencies. He’s not taking commission from maloooooose. And hes happy. He was teaching art at Chitra Kala Parishad. Theres one pain-ting which never got paid though bought by CKP! The one Marta Jacobowitz was raving about in 1986! ….even little darling vaishnavi-(I call her kuttipisaasu)-is-his-student. Managing many things, he got my trainticket printed, opening a closed Cybercafe and put me in an auto at 10.30. I rushed into the auto leaving him abruptly without any f…king humaneness; but he grabbed my hand for a goodbye. I told him, “I have never met a gallery guy like u” he said, “I am not a gallery guy, I am an artist” …….i swiftly started loving him. nothing gay pa! aiyoah man these days they suspect u man so fast, inspite of

21st-ting-the-centuries (smiley)…… I rushed into the auto leaving him abruptly without any f…king humaneness, u know why? In goa in 1994 she drank my f….king emotional juices with her suspicion-on-my-frivolty-as-well-as theatrical-animal’s-(actor’s)-bone-crunching angst and dropped me dead, just to enter the acting space to deliver a ‘masterpiece” ….performance!

So this abrupt cutting I need to correct from my existential-theatrics in real life when good people are involved….ghee’s smelling good……she’s subverting aha!for baby’s sake. ….

I shud hav drunk her buttermilkoatsconcoction. Bleddy 10.58; conspiring eh? To finish it when it’s hot & fresh, my memory-opinion-bundle? I got to scan and send her that stuff where her nose is 25% larger……but resemblance?yes? anybody would say who, like that Nagin-automatic which Ashwini took long back. Though me is really mature now from excessive brandy!

11.02mmmmmmmm : Engelmann I met at sureshspace!

12.17 after things got over :

Engelmann is blond, little tuft of a beard hanging from cheek&chin…….he changes hairstyles. Like me. He too is an ideas-boy. 42. I told him, I love germans, for what reasons, he asked…..me too making Hitler, u too making Hitler…is that y ? Nope, perfectionism, precision, meticulous craftsmanship, Gerard richter, mmmmm a lot many reasons. Making makes u different from other life on earth! All those things I fantasise with technology, he does; makes. Physics was my passion. Mechanical engineering & carpentry are his passions b4 he branched off into Art!

First I wish to make u laugh, then think. Same here. One difference he pointed out, 2lines u make and I see the backside of a woman. Oh training ur passion my friend. Like I don’t know y I write-ramble, I started at 3 and still going(str)on(g)! I said. He put a few hair and a blotch beneath. Second-look u see Hitler. But difficult abstraction.

See workshops where you redesign, cut, weld, mould&cast with molten metals, align motors, centrifuges, electronic sensors and all other mechanical-mobilisers happen at each street corner in germany, I said. There are fellows who are making cars run on air; far more efficient than battery stuff(he says). But all that is here too and damn enthusiastic workers who can make stuff for you and r glee-ed when they get them to work(who the English speaking call, the-vernacular-types)for you, I said.(a right juncture to hit at the idiots-who-know-english-alone-ruling-india since the TV media requires intelligent-responsible-balancing individuals who can deliver diplomatic-democratic stuff instead of good English coming out of tempting-lascivious-lips eh eh mouths aha!)

But difficult to access and work with since their English speaking bosses would rather hav them grind nuts and bolts. I asked him, “do u sellllllllllll?”…(well I hate the language hence I write in it !)

He started talking about basic number of euros required per month. Aha! I am coming to munich to work with you, let’s hoist our flags at berlin, the art capital of the world(he says).

But secretly will bury installtions&the-ideas-boy in me ….converting the beauty of its physicality into flat photoshop images to be printed and sold to art-customers. I told him, “hello what a relief! U r doing the opposite of cinema. Flat-shot-edited projectionism is cinema, whereas drooping chairs that slouch when you touch and getting up to stand erect when u don’t go near is a threedimensional voluminous physicality of real tangible presence……nodded?mmmm……..now u c y I like germany? Make the fantastic in three dimensional mobile objects …..not 3D-rajni-rat-mouse-thi(rudan)ef-police DEMENTED TIMEPASS NONSENSE EVEN IF IT IS MORE REAL THAN THE REAL ……….

Bindhumalini-narayanaswamy(iyengaar?) sent me 2 massive-smses telling me how to reach the gallery and I do it all wrong, call, mals, talk to suresh and still fumble, only to b put back on track by HDFC’s watchman on the opposite side-of-road. But the red spiral at the first cross was a brellianto-landesmark! Thx Bind.

8hrs by bus, tells me, natesh buy ur car, balls to G-warming; who cares? Will ur near & dear listen if u tell them “man use P transport. Cut feul-fuel-emisssss. B good to ur mom! So natesh buy a car fast”

Man what patience! This gal’s got. Even color shee fut in pen 0.1 needle and colored! From illustration to Art is a great leap! Almost sold out, I wish closes on a sold out show. A good news to spread of a new-bee! Good opening!

Now all those years of grooming up in good stead?

Yup. Power got cut and in one of those rare instances, ramfling moves into the second morning. When I don’t drink I draw, I thought this morning but me’s writing which will fetch no monies. C. Mohan knows and will laugh it away saying “man, u used to come at top speed on ur fil-it-shut-it-forget-it bike and tell me, ‘mohan I will mint money very soon’ those days when ur feet moved with the same pace as ur minds!”

Malavika has done herself good by becoming-the-basic-brat. She will not lis-ten to money-s. by giving herself work she has started basic-maverick-ism! I took the clear step of becoming an artist after my35th-year-on-P-earth. I told her.

Ok now on the work

that madame-moiselle headheldhigh woman in a robe is a masterpiece. And flying shirt flirting with the clipped hanging trousers on a clothesline has enough humor of a free-spirit! With my welltrained nonsense line, I capture volume, light etc including sensations; but mals in that particular picture captures time and quality of light. A clear full-moon lit eyes of a creature-creeper at a night-so-young comes from her illustration-training. Very essential in these all-exhausted times! That fellow in coat designer-wear embroidered neckline, can be blownup into a 3feetx4feet print-on-canvas and sold. Guruji I met after a long time yesterday. Use ur brains my disciple!price ur works 25k and u will survive! As an artist! Asked gitanjali-kolanad is there anything precious that I can smuggle from Canada? My maternal-grandad had a hotel in mayilaaduthurai. He used to hide gold plates from kaaraikal(French-colony) among cowdung cakes ready-ied for burning in stoves to cook food. The tiny “muthalaaly” (boss) sitting atop and driving his/her driver driving a one wheeled cycle is damn good. I told her commentary is essential. U hav a head that can comment(was I secretly admiring my opinionations)? I told her; the very core of pomo(post-modern-ism)

well well well….light, time, commentary, hard-worked-detail! What more do u want? Like in india police come after every thing is finished and calm has set in after the storm; I write this after sho gets over! Sho what? Shes jus 29 and shes got another 100yrs……….poopsiespups my kisses for u darling!!!!!!!!!!!!!

E.O.M.

Creature Comfort - For all to see :)

2012-01-04T23:10:00.001-08:00

So here all the drawings that house the solo exhibition of Creature Comfort. The responses have been so overwhelming. As of today 9 have been sold and three people bidding on one piece called Bappi Coolers that you'll see below. This has been one hell of a ride and I'm loving it. The images below have small sections on which you can see the detail as well. :)

So many people have been my source of inspiration and strength to create this series.
I thank you all for it. :) and specially ...

Amma and Baba - for giving me space to paint on refrigerator, fans, walls, cupboards and all their preciously recorded notebooks - and for liking it :)
Sam - who's lit me up since the moment I first laid eyes on her.
Deepak - for being my friend.
Tarun - for love.
Ashwini - for being my support and my critique
Suresh Jayaram of 1 Shanthi Road - for seeing my work 4 years ago and making sure I created Creature Comfort.
Papaji - For seeing things in me I haven't.
Sukhdev - For building me a kiln.

Jas Chitti - For all the stories she told me while I lay on her staying awake till 5 in the morning imagining the rest of it.
Gowri Chitti - For taking me to the beach the very first time and walking back home with one rubber chappal and me on her waist.
Enver Chitappa - For the first big box of colour pencils I ever owned.
Paati - For understanding me.
Kamesh, Mahesh, Chandhu and Darshi - For never giving up on me.
Rashmi - For the most beautiful mind I have ever known.
Rakesh - For Ernst Haeckel.
Shobha - For giving me the space to create a world for children through 7 books (and I have been difficult) and flying all the way here with flowers to see the show.
Joono - For finding me.
Rajiv - For the imagination.
Veenapani - For giving me the time to be.
Kira and Ganavathi Amma - For feeding me and taking care of me.
Aruna - For believing in me.
Ravi - For teaching me to ride a bike.
Soap - For doing so much for the show and making the beautiful postcards possible :)
Anushka - For being herself.
Iswar - For the hundreds of cups of tea, cigarettes and dream rolling.
John - For being there.
Sculpey - For her lines and perfection in everything she does.
Ashwin - For his belly button.
Ahana - For loving that belly button :)
Anu - For Dho bucket paani.
Uk - For 9 months of freshlime.
Aunty Bhai - For giving me my very first home.
Blaa -For all the pjs, postcards and letters.
Darshan - For pieces, peesloose and mala-di.
Clinton - For the years of patience and support.
Bindhu - For I cry when she sings.
Ponni - For growing up together.
George - For the strange world he draws.
Kaveri and Hans - For making two children who rock my world.
Perch - For things we created and will create.
All at Auroville - For bringing chocolate back into my life and making me feel at home.
Bullet, KC, Vendekka, Gypsy and Ginger - For I love them.
Shekari Amma - For helping me clean up.

And a special mention to all 1 Shanthi Road:
Raghu - For helping me put together creature comforts and getting me pani puri.
Aishwaryan - For hanging up all the drawings so many times and adjusting them till we got them absolutely exactly and perfectly right.
Cop Shiva - For photographing the opening.
Mona - For her energy and enthusiasm to keep Shanthi Road alive.
Devi - For feeding me.

Catherine and Christian - For being here.

Much love
a comfortable creature.

Creature Comfort - Opening Soon

2011-12-12T01:32:00.003-08:00

:) Finally it seems to have all come together and here is "Creature Comforts" an exhibition of 22 pen and ink drawings by me.

We open at 6.30pm on the 29th of December and close on the 6th of January 2012.
Venue: 1,Shanthiroad
Shanthinagar
Bangalore-560027.
[+91] 98802 27706
Be there. More on the show with time. :) Yaeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! Finally :)

On Covers - Kuzhali's Insects - Responses

2011-08-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

Surit Das contacted Blaft and several other publishers and designers to talk about what goes into making book covers. Here are my responses. The article appeared in the Open Magazine. If I get a link I'll post it here.

Surit: Well, emailing is easily the least useful way of conducting this conversation, the purpose of which is to try to elicit your insight into the book cover design "process". I understand it is not algorithmic, and I say "try to elicit" because it is rather hard to describe.

That said, how did you go about designing the cover for the "insect book"?

The insects cover began almost a year before it came out in the form of a "Coming Soon" poster, which is infact extremely different from the book cover as you see it now. The "Coming Soon" poster idea of tagging chapter names along the insects body evolved as a design for the illustrations inside. So the idea became a repetition to be used in the cover. It therefore made us revisit the cover when it was ready to hit the shelf.

One has to read the book or the draft definitely before creating a cover. Over the year I had read bits and pieces as the book came together. the book was referred to in everyday's conversation as Kuzhali's insect. Insects and wings were recurring motifs in her writing that could not be easily ignored. Having gone through her stories once the book's almost final was ready, I decided to have something from the previous poster. Which is the papery feel. Then I set about illustrating these small people with wings. It felt like the right images to go with.

The overall ideas I personally wanted to arrive at with the cover were these: Old Paper, Handwritten Title copy, Dreamy people, wings and so on. These were all inspired from her writing.

Usually I send something like a sketch or a first draft. I don't send pencil roughs. After which the conversation and tweakings begins.

:) And finally after quite a bit of back and forth the cover emerges.

Surit: Do you read a book, or merely flip through it? A book designer said he doesn't read the book cover to cover, but merely flips through it, to restrain himself from forming an opinion, and thus interfering with the professional design instinct. What might be your view?

I did read a few chapters as the book was still being edited. People work in different ways with different projects. For instance with a book like Pulp Fiction, I did not read the book fully. But as a team we lived with the book for almost a year, and that rubs off something :) We also constantly talk and discuss the writings, the experiences and that goes hand in hand with putting the book together.

Surit: Can you describe a typical conversation with an author, or the person who gives you the design brief (loosely speaking)? And/or the conversation with Manickavel?

Well most of my so called "Book Covers" have been for Blaft. With them each book is approached differently. I met Kuzhali only on the day of the book launch. But Rakesh constantly talked about her quirks and her writing. In terms of a brief with Blaft it is lots of conversation and freedom. Also invariably we are on the same page. Very little needs to be explained.

Attached is a basic sketch of the cover that was also sent to Kuzhali. Her comment was that it looked "Happy". The sketch was a bit of a departure from her book. But that is the nice part about working with a team like Blaft. People bring in their perspectives and when put together it all somehow fits.

Surit: Are you happy with that cover?

With "Insects"??! I'm very happy. :)
In retrospect I would have like to add some flecks of gold on the cover :) that is the first image that struck me from K's writing. Bits of gold dust flying around. But yes, then... we were on a beginners budget :)

Surit: As a designer, when do you consider your job done? (What is a test?)

As a designer of book covers per say, I guess the job is done when the publishers, authors, and people closely associated with the book feel this is THE cover for this book.

Surit: Are there covers you are not happy with?

Zero Degree is a cover I wish I could rework. Over the years I've come to not like that cover much. Something about that cover doesn't sit well with me now. If an opportunity comes, that is a cover I would like to revisit. Though I read parts of the book, spoke to the author, and the publisher somehow at that point most of the books charm flew straight over my head. Maybe I've grown up a bit more to be able to appreciate it better :) I'm not sure.

Infamous Gandhi statue - The first secret we hear.

2011-07-29T05:06:00.001-07:00

This infamous statue is the work of Debi Prasad Roy Chowdry, the first Indian principal of the Government College of Arts Chennai. He ruled for almost 30 years from then as principal.

Seeing this on Sculpey's blog has made me very nostalgic of the first secret we hear from teachers to students at college. This statue is the first favourite topic discussed by almost all the teachers to the eager first year students. Unfortunately each teacher believes they are the first ones imparting this very important secret to you.

Students will huddle around the masters with elbows on plaster covered old wooden tables. The teacher will say... "attention to detail" that is what you will learn here in the next years to come. So we think okay that's a good thing to learn. Not bad. Then the teachers will pull out a something special. A photograph. Old and touched by generations of students and masters. These photogtraphs no longer have an edge... only frayed photo paper peeled torn and curled up into a paper mache frame.

Each teacher has a favourite place for this one photograph. Under the glass cover on their side of the table, inside their oldest book of notes, folded in four creases and saved in their wallets, padded inside a brown paper cover of nalli silks.

This prized possession will be held up by the teacher and shown in an arc slowly and will pass under our noses steadily till each one of us has a good glimpse of this picture. It's the picture of the infamous gandhi statue on the marina beach. We all know it. We all remember the first time we saw it. We all remember making plans to meet someone by the gandhi statue. We've all made observations of the crows that perch on his head and the crap that got cleaned once a year for his birthday. As a first year artist in making we all take pride in the fact that this statue was built by none other than the one and only Debi Prasad Roy Chowdry when he was ruling the scene. But what else?

The teacher's eye would light up and ask "What's wrong with this statue?". It's our first day. It's a big deal to not look like the dumbest idiot who joined the clan. So each one of us will respond to save our graces. It's too tall, his head is too small, there is no salt, Gandhi was brown not black ... and so on and so forth.

The teacher will shake his head. We understand it. He's thinking, "These kids, they'll never learn. Tsk Tsk."

The teacher will then prepare to unfold the secret. Again each one in their own style clearing the throat, flipping the photo on the table and leaning back on their chairs, tapping each of their fingers on the photo for a few seconds while he looks into our eyes with a smirk in his own, chuckling a bit and shaking his head, or a heavy long sigh.

"This is not the way a man walks!" Huh! One of us would be made to walk. The entrance is critical. We will step out of class and enter and walk sheepishly. That's not enough. "Walk like Gandhi! Chin up! Chest up! Ah too much... that's like He-Man." Some teachers will walk themselves and show you. Then the bulb lights up. Left leg front, right hand up. Right leg front? Left hand up :)

This is our teachers' moment. They make their point. They don't need to be teaching first year duds. They need to be prinicpals of art colleges. Their observation is immaculate. Their reasoning awesome. Their jobs ... two low for their awesomeness.

"If ever we are commissioned to re do that damn statue... this is how we'd do it.

"Right hand up. Left leg front!"

They will all add.

"And by the way the Monroe statue! No stirrups! How did Monroe get on the horse? With a ladder?"

http://kalpanabalaji.blogspot.com/2011/07/steps-to-reach-gandhi.html

Kalpana Balaji is an architect and a friend. She's been drawing for years. Follow her impressions of Chennai on her blog.

Covering tracks

2011-07-29T04:31:00.000-07:00

After almost a whole month of editing their film Nushk and Iswar now have the time to get back to updating us on the stops they took during their travel. Watch their film!!! And read their blog :)

Remember this from the film? :) Read on and find out more about Pia of Manali who runs Johnson's Cafe, the enthusiastic bus conductor of Kullu who stops for every possible passenger on what seems like a really long long up hill drive and o fcourse lots more.

http://somethingwehavealwayswantedtodo.wordpress.com/2011/07/29/kullu-to-kalpa-%E2%80%93-75/

02 - Squid Juice

2011-07-29T04:08:00.000-07:00

Squid Juice began as an idea in the Blue Sketch Book. The piece seemed to fit for the next experiment in 4 colour. I hereby present 02 - Squid Juice. :)

The sketch that started this.

Size: 210mm x 297mm

Colours: 4

No. of Prints: 20

Papers: ( for practice - Newspaper & Single side pre-used bond) and Ashram handmade paper and Canson cut to size for the final.

01 - Lady

2011-07-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

So here is what I have been up to :) I've been wanting to print for years and now I've finally come to a place where I can learn how to. I learn the art at a production unit here in Auroville called Lumiere, run by Suzanne who is a wonderful teacher. This post will be my first of the many more to follow on what I'm learning and eventually how I plan to use it towards creating a series of artwork towards an exhibition. So here is 01 - Lady. The first screen print by yours truly.

Size: 210mm x 297mm

Colours: 2

No. of Prints: 20

Papers: ( for practice - Newspaper & Single side pre-used bond) and locally available coloured cartridge sheets cut to size for the final.

The hand drawn film.

My unit :)

The two screens exposed side by side.

The drying stack.

Prints :)

Single colour prints :)

Coming up next... 02 - Squid Juice :) Look out for it.

Firing Queens

2011-07-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Ashwini's Queens are out.

Something they have always wanted to do

2011-07-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

Our friends Anushka and Iswar are travelling India with the intention of making a film and discovering lands and people. Over the past few months they have been to Rajasthan and Himachal. The travel has resulted in their very first film together. Make sure you see their film here. It's beautiful.

http://vimeo.com/26881804

If the link doesn't load automatically try copy pasting the link.

Catch more on their adventures on their blog. You can contribute to their efforts as well. Find out why and how on...

http://somethingwehavealwayswantedtodo.wordpress.com/

Enjoy :)

On Covers - Tamil Pulp Fiction - Responses

2011-07-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

Meher Ali from Himal Magazine asked Shyam and me about the TPF covers. Here are our responses :)

Meher: How did you decide on the cover image for both the volumes, as in why did you decide on those cover images as opposed to others; did you look through other pulp novels for ideas?

We decided on the cover image because "super-sexy" is what most of the women featured in pulp are.
For decades illustrations that have accompanied tamil pulp fiction work in print have sported these very sultry and powerful women. So the choice of having "her" on the cover was in fact very simple and straight forward.

The original illustration for the cover was actually a full scene. With this woman in her half sari and jasmine holding the gun and a very crazy looking mad scientist experimenting on a man who looked equally buzzed out. As exciting as that whole scene was, it was just getting too busy to look at on a cover of a book, so we finally came back to just using her image.

The Blaft Tamil Pulp fiction cover woman's image was particularly inspired from Vaijainthi featuring in the story "Hurricane Vaij".

It is interesting that this woman is sort of generic in one way. Her face and body is sort of set template. The buxom vital-statistics, the curved eyelashes, broad foreheads, jewelry, sari with all prominent curves stretched out for the viewer, and very powerful yet languid eyes. This very same "woman" image appears both in pulp and in the more domestic tamil weeklies and daily print fiction.

Women in pulp illustration have a space for the crazy, the immoral and the extremely adventurous. The same women will appear in more domestic and docile avatars in the tamil weeklies and dailies. In the magazines and dailies you will see the same super sexy women holding babies, feeding ailing mothers-in-law, fighting for her husband with equally sexy looking typically short skirt , low neck and sleeveless blouse clad vampish women for her husband, sometimes very pregnant ... you know she will look like the immortal image of the unfailing pathni with only unconditional pyaar. In pulp most women really couldn't give a rat’s ass. They live. And they live on their own terms. Yet they all have very strong cultural identities.

This is why Vaij was the inspiration from the word go for the cover.

The illustration comes from Shyam, because this is his forte. This is what he has been doing for 18 years. He was very excited when Blaft found him for the project. It was a refreshing and fun take for him, for he did what he was best at and loved doing but a quirky twist.

Meher: In both the covers, the women appear 'super-sexy' for lack of a better word, was that deliberate and why?

As for the TPF 2 Cover and the woman drinking blood from the coconutty skull, that was because the theme was horror. And we wanted this woman and only this woman to be on the cover again. The white ghost woman again though cliche is a very strong and recurring image in most horror fiction in pulp. And her drinking from the skull well that was just our idea that made the image jump to a whole next level. It was truly and honestly us getting kicks creating more and more possibilities. It came up in one of our brainstorming sessions with Shyam, Blaft and me. She was originally in our first draft only holding the skull. We thought she had do something with it. :) So she now drinks from the skull :) Yes it is gory which is what we like too. It also has a touch of humor. Well I don't know how else to explain it. When we got this particular idea our eyes just lit up. It just seemed to fit. What else do I say!

Meher: The cover image for TPF-II is especially graphic/gory (which I liked), what was it that you wanted to communicate through it; also the really bright colours -- was that also deliberate and how did you decide on this.

The design for the cover was something that came out of references from many many Tamil pulp books that have been collected and read and re read by Blaft and Pritham and my own aesthetic license and responsibility. It needed to look Pulp it also needed to look "today". The cover had to yell "PULP", it HAD to catch attention as it was also Blaft's first book on the shelf. It had to be loud and not gaudy. So the work was to find a mean between all this. I love the style of the "pulp covers" as a genre. It has some crazy, mind blowing and weird photo-shopping and imaging. In terms of both inspiration and reference the Tamil pulp books have a wealth of resource to offer.

Overall we had to have fun working on it. It kept us excited to create it and present it.
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Shyam illustrated both the beautiful TPF covers and will soon be on the third volume J. Shyam hates internet and computers. Here are his responses got through the phone.

He says the key thing that created the cover art was team work. All ideas came from the team of Blaft, Pritham, me and Shyam himself.

"What makes something interesting is when you make something happen in a place where it is not supposed to happen. That is being creative and that gives the edge and makes work fun and alive."
The idea of working on the covers appealed to him. He found it exciting and fun and was more than happy to work on them.

"It is nice that people stop at the TPF 2 cover and pause for a second to get it." He says the fact that such questions have arisen is exciting for him because it means that its got you interested.
As for the woman he says, “The woman is a sort of all in all queen. She can do anything and yet she looks typically Tamil, young, sexy and vibrant :)". He also says that if you are interested in such work you should contact him because he has a full stock of similar ideas :) He says, "At the end of the day it has to be fun and that is the key for sometimes people take things too seriously." His idea for the next TPF 2 book reading or party, he says we should paint skulls on all the coconuts and add rose essence to the tender coconut juice and serve it to the guests. :)
-----------------------------------

Here and thus end our responses.

Read Meher's article here.

http://www.himalmag.com/component/content/article/4424-self-consciously-pulp.html

Blaft Anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction is translated by Pritham K. Chakravarthy

when this key sketch gets real tongue is fork hen is cock when this key sketch gets real my baby eagle's dream comes true

2011-07-27T14:07:00.000-07:00

Zero Degree - Charu Nivedhitha

2011-07-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

Author: Charu Niveditha

Translated by: Pritham K. Chakravarthy & Rakesh Khanna

C Creatures - The Beginning

2011-07-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

3 x 5 - Acrylic

If you don't see more very soon, feel very free to bug me.

Postcards and Sexuality

2011-07-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

For the Geneva conference on sexuality sometime back. Actually way back in 2006.

This was my first independent commissioned project :) in 2006.

Old Coming Soon Posters

2011-07-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

Perch Posters

2011-07-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

Chai Kadai's - Cutting Chai

2011-07-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

Chai Kadai's magazine Cutting Chai is a must read.

http://issuu.com/chaikadai/docs/cuttingchai-stuck

Please bug them to get the next issue out super soon.

Hippiness is a state of mind

2011-07-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

One more for TOI

Madras nalla Madras

2011-07-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

The brand of carnatic musicians.
Crazy Mohan on love in Mylapore.

Onnu indha inga irukku. Innonu enga?

The ABC of Chennai Senthamizh. Note "W" for wotha was censored :)

Vaazhga machi valarga tamil.

Columns

2011-07-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

Chalk

2011-07-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

http://vimeo.com/22616401

Noises Off - Sounds we could live without

2011-07-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

Pink Punter

2011-07-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

Karadi Tales - Mouse Series - Reviewed

2011-07-27T12:07:00.000-07:00

Saffron Tree's review of Karadi Tale's Mouse series.

http://www.saffrontree.org/2010/08/kaka-and-mouse.html

Coming Soon - Intergalactic Idol - Preview

2011-07-27T12:04:00.001-07:00

Watch out for this book! :)

Written by
Samit Basu
Art by
Malavika P. C.

Published by
Karadi Tales

Kaka and the Mouse

2011-07-27T11:55:00.001-07:00

Narrated by
Karthik Kumar (Evam)
Music by
Anil Srinivasan
Written by
Pankaja Srinivasan
Art by
Malavika P. C.

Lion and the Mouse

2011-07-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

Narrated by
Karthik Kumar (Evam)
Music by
Anil Srinivasan
Written by
Lavanya R. N.
Art by
Malavika P. C.

Monkeys and the Capseller

2011-07-27T11:25:00.000-07:00

Narrated by
Sanjay Dutt
Music by
3 Brothers & A Violin
Written by
Anushka Ravishankar
Art by
Malavika P.C.

Bablu and the Mouse

2011-07-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

Narrated by
Karthik Kumar (Evam)
Music by
Anil Srinivasan
Written by
Lavanya R. N.
Art by
Malavika P. C.

Kutti and the Mouse

2011-07-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

Narrated by
Karthik Kumar (Evam)
Music by
Anil Srinivasan
Written by
Shobha Viswanath
Art by
Malavika P. C.

Anthology of Tamil Women's Poetry - Sahithya Academy

2011-07-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

An anthology of Srilankan Tamil and Tamil Tamil women's poetry. Translated by N Kalyan Raman for Sahithya Academy.

The stress of a night during wartime

Sivaramani (1989)

The stress of a night during wartime

Will make adults

Out of our children.

Because of

Every blood-soaked, faceless human corpse

That’s hurled across

The passage of their mornings,

Lovely as a tiny sparrow’s,

And the smashed ramparts falling

On their lively laughter,

Our little boys have

Ceased to be little boys.

The report of a lone gun

On a star-lit night,

Smashing the silence and exploding,

Has reduced to naught

The meaning of all children’s stories.

During the brief daytime still left,

They even forgot how to make chariots

From thorn apple seeds or to hop

When blocked by cells of hopscotch.

Later, in herd-like fashion,

They learnt it all:

To shut the wicket gate well before nightfall,

To recognize any unusual barking of the dogs,

To refrain from asking questions,

And to remain silent when

The question had no reply.

Wantonly ripping out a moth’s wings

And turning staves and twigs into guns

To kill a friend, pretending he is the enemy,

Became our children’s sport.

Amidst the stress of a night during wartime,

Our children had

Turned into “adults”

________

Untitled

Tamilnathi

It’s a forenoon hour

When the youngsters nap:

10:30 am, Chennai.

As the sunbeams rise, dappled

With swirling golden motes,

These boys in their twenties

Are fast asleep.

At first, I only wanted

Rudely to snap and throw away

The strand joining their dreams

Together, raising my voice to sound

Like a vessel clattering

Noisily to the floor.

The younger one lying prone,

Dribble streaking a corner

Of his mouth, is made

Of many colours: as he utters

The name of his beloved, Madhula,

His eyes bloom on a bed of deep scarlet.

We found the portia trees –

Beside the spot where

The angel chilled by cauldrons

Lay buried – teeming with yellow flowers.

“Emerald,” he called the sea he had

Sighted on his passage here by boat.

“Blood,” he whispered later, diffidently.

Evenings, when love tossed the breakers in,

I saw them both – he with Darkness –

Always seated together on a stone bench

At the edge of the shoreline.

The other one, though, having lost his way

In a foreign country, wanders aimlessly,

Carrying wherever he goes a land

Replete with fertile fields, kingfishers

And eddying surges of water in streams.

The boy who got here last month

Is adept at silences.

As he confided, “They kicked us, akka,”

His fingers trembled

Like leaves in the rain.

In conversation, he hurried past

The moment when he had panicked

And torn off a bit of flesh

Still stuck to his body.

But the girl who was brought here

With me possesses a heart

As soft as the hairs on the underbelly

Of a beloved cat.

In front of a fire

Which incinerates the model papers

Of tests she could not take,

She daily sings dirges for her lost life.

On the beach at Thiruvanmiyur,

The breakers talk about

Children uprooted from homes

Blessed with neem trees and koels.

I now have five children

Who are still alive,

A few memories and some cash.

Everyone is talking about it:

There is a war on in Sri Lanka.

________

The ant and the blaze

Bhanubarathi

After what the dogs and jackals

Carried away and what

The evil spirits took away,

A few bits of bone

And some embers

Were left on the ground.

Let us bury them in

The Indian Ocean, some declared.

Let us bury them deep

Inside the earth

For the archeologists,

Suggested many others.

I said:

Let us safeguard them till

We hand them over

To the next generation.

Now

These few

And those many others

Expressed their wish to bury me.

One thing, at least, was clear:

To bury

Something

Somewhere

Was all they knew.

________

In the dark

Banubarathi

Something must’ve gone

Amiss last night.

Bereft even of Death’s last whimper,

Today’s dawn and morning

Lay inert

Like a corpse.

The frosty wind came over,

Bearing the smell of fat

Melting over a fire, and

Sprinkled it on the streets

It’s not daybreak yet,

It’s not daybreak yet –

Cawed—no, wailed—one or two

Stray crows, through the leaves

Of a shade-grown tree.

Under the shade-grown tree,

Neem seeds plant

Their shoots firmly

On the ground; and throwing

Their heads back to look

At the top of the tree,

Ask the sunlight refracted

Through its branches:

“When will the day break?’

The crows on the highest branches

Keep up their senseless refrain:

The day has not dawned yet.

________

Raining Stars

Meera Balaganesan

It was drizzling.

A little boy sat

Gazing at the sky.

Droplets from the drizzle

Sprayed down on him.

The sun began to fade away.

Except for the boy,

Everyone stayed

In their respective homes.

He remained gazing at the sky

As if he’d never, ever

Set eyes on it before.

Suddenly,

Something fell on his head.

He screamed in pain –

For a rain of stars was

Pouring down on him.

________

Bringing the ocean home

Malathi Maithri

By means of its traces,

The sea is meandering

About in this house.

A child’s unwashed garment

Hanging on the clothesline,

Reeking of the ocean’s smell.

A sand pile moved away to a corner.

Conch-shells that rattle suddenly

While you’re looking for something—

As the sand that clings to your fingers

Whenever you put a hand inside your pocket,

Like a painter’s unwashed colour bowls,

The sea stays back with everyone.

The house sways amidst the waves –

Like an anchored rowboat.

________

Three poems

Perundevi

Loneliness is a rivulet.

A stunned droplet of water, trapped

In the vortex of a whirlpool,

Will reach the riverbed and rise again:

Water’s condition never kills water,

In accordance with the Truth.

Loneliness never kills the lonesome,

For a lone man is the incarnation of loneliness

For at least a split second.

The river’s sustenance:

A piece of the moon tossed by the sky.

The river is its own begging bowl.

On either bank of the rivulet,

Whether in the company of another

Or with none, the consolation

Of passing brief intervals of time:

Rare bathing ghats.

The cry of the cicada is loneliness;

Will cling to anyone who hears it.

The unquenchably thirsty heart rushes on

At a furious pace. On a morning marked

By such leaps, the loner’s eyes smiled

Tactfully and tenderly

From the blaze.

As he, powerless even to melt,

Turns into a black stone figurine,

The one who grabbed his hand and revived him

Could be on his way

In the form of a rainbow.

The crying heart shall cry:

‘Don’t come down without having climbed up –

On feet that are both yours.’

________

Untitled

Sugandhi Subramanian

The destiny of shapes is

Indeed somewhat complex.

Just as a random painting may result

From the colours chosen,

The end is always uncertain.

Even so,

For some reason,

The mind roams tirelessly in search

Of some unknown thing.

Whenever the Self is cruelly revealed

In glimpses afforded of the Truth,

I am paralyzed,

Robbed of all sensation.

Even so,

Along with the trees and the sky

That stretches and widens before me,

I shall live on, counting

The days that dawn for my sake –

Alone, and on my own trail.

________

Untitled

Thenral

Flowers carry

Whole forests

Inside themselves.

As a silent bud,

Winter.

At the centre

Of an open petal

Whispering of nectar,

The season of rain.

Parching all

Colour, summer.

Then, when

The petals are shed,

One by one,

Autumn.

This,

The forest that dwells

Inside a lone flower.

________

Untitled

Thenral

Quite needlessly,

This ant is

Crawling across

A page of my book;

Even if only

At the margin,

It’s as annoying

As a moving type.

I haven’t moved

To the next page,

But this ant has,

As if of dire need.

Doesn’t seem innocent either,

To warrant sympathy.

What to do?

Some acts are

Carried out

Before being given

Due thought.

Its head is now sticky

Like a dented

Printing error.

________

A trustworthy few…

Ilampirai

Addressing the portia buds,

I bemoaned

My heart-stopping sorrows.

When they bloomed and fanned me,

I heard and was moved

By their language of solace.

I told the crow perched

On the antenna of my woes.

It cawed…and flew away

As if it shared my grief.

I confessed, looking

Into the cat’s marble eye.

‘I’m here for you.’

Tail grazing my arm,

It drew near and sat close.

I dropped

The shoe flower I had worn

In the river’s water.

Making it dash against

My feet, the river stopped

The flower.

‘Take it and wipe your eyes.’

I cried my heart out

To the room, replete with

Wind…and memories,

It made me write poetry.

I should have left it that,

Without confiding in you…

________

Landmark Summer Carnival - Rubecon

2011-07-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

Bossini - Mudra

2011-07-27T09:49:00.000-07:00

Resign in style - Mudra

2011-07-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

Escape to a holiday - JWT

2011-07-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

Insects are just like you and me except some of them have wings

2011-07-27T09:34:00.001-07:00

Unpublished

2011-07-27T09:32:00.001-07:00

Bengaluru Talkies

2011-07-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

Featuring Karuna Amarnath, Joseph Antony Raja and Ashwin Vissa :)

Pub Nation

2011-07-27T09:26:00.001-07:00

Noises Off

2011-07-27T09:20:00.000-07:00

Hear talk

2011-07-27T09:17:00.001-07:00

Records

2011-07-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

Impibians

2011-07-27T09:10:00.000-07:00

Flower people

2011-07-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

Clock in

2011-07-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

Nib

2011-07-27T09:04:00.001-07:00

Paper Cuts

2011-07-27T09:02:00.000-07:00

Paper Mash

2011-07-27T08:59:00.000-07:00

Pentacles

2011-07-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

Interbetweens

2011-07-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

This Red Sketch also is a gift from Ashwin :) : ) :)

Archers & Dancers

2011-07-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

Interbetweens

2011-07-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

Rehearsals - Mathilukkal

2011-07-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

Rehearsals - Man

2011-07-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

Rehearsals - Poovan pazham

2011-07-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

Wired

2011-07-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

Orange Book Twisted

2011-07-27T08:15:00.000-07:00

Copters

2011-07-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

Families

2011-07-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

Paper Floats

2011-07-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

Waters 2

2011-07-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

Furnifers

2011-07-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

Waters

2011-07-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

Lady

2011-07-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

Half and Half

2011-07-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

cat means poonai

2011-07-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

ginger

2008-07-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

coolers

2008-07-18T08:59:00.000-07:00

Inspired from Max Ernst's - 'Some Animal, One of Which is Illiterate' - 1973

once upon a hair cut

2008-07-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

adishakti

2008-07-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

Adishakti for one has many many many trees. I dare you to climb them. They have many honey coloured reddish brown ants. They look beautiful but I'm warning you that if you do get bitten you would look like someone actually stuck an extra lump of fat on you. A nice bunnish lump of fat. And of course it would hurt so much that you would want to cause someone you really like, a lot of pain. But if managed to them bloody ants you would get to a sweet high spot that matches no photograph. It's good fun. Hard to really explain the kind of fun. But you'll know when you get to the sweet high spot and see teh place that is no match for a photograph!

vibhudhi pachai

2008-07-17T23:06:00.000-07:00

basil family

lalita

2008-07-17T23:05:00.000-07:00

cat

2008-07-17T23:04:00.001-07:00

copy

2008-07-17T23:01:00.001-07:00

frida kahlo

head rush

2008-07-17T22:59:00.000-07:00

sometimes these things pop up in my head.

dream

2008-07-17T22:56:00.000-07:00

a dream thats now memory

squiggles

2008-07-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

chain reactions

2008-07-17T22:52:00.000-07:00

tap dancers

2008-07-17T22:50:00.000-07:00

we have our peedom

2008-07-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

lone woman's travelling kit

2008-07-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

a survival list

art for art's sake

2008-07-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

mind it

2008-07-17T22:42:00.000-07:00

proposals

2008-07-17T22:40:00.000-07:00

sun goddess under the sun

2008-07-17T22:39:00.000-07:00

and no shadow.

witchy

2008-07-17T22:37:00.000-07:00

twins

2008-07-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

so close

2008-07-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

we are linear

2008-07-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

fall

2008-07-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

monster tranformers

2008-07-17T22:24:00.000-07:00

hands and feets

2008-07-17T22:15:00.000-07:00

and thus they were born.

mario miranda and goa

2008-07-17T22:14:00.001-07:00

shiva's third eye

2008-07-17T22:11:00.001-07:00

rain game in goa

2008-07-17T22:08:00.001-07:00

This one is under the "needs more work" section.

shhtuck

2008-07-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

waiting for ponni

2008-07-17T22:05:00.001-07:00

smoke

2008-07-17T22:03:00.000-07:00

more people

2008-07-17T22:01:00.000-07:00