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| Funeral procession. Pashan. Pune. |
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| Sugarcane juice stall. Baner, Pune. |
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| Couple in rain, Baner-Sus Road. Pune |
I had planned to do this. Draw scenes of life in the neighbourhood where I live, from memory, like a visual diary. I drive a very short distance through Pashan village to my work place on Baner Road. I get to see a lot of village life everyday to and from work. The village is quite "villagey'. Pashan sits amid all the boom in construction as urban Pune threatens to swallow it. Kids run around barefoot. Goats, chicken, and dogs roam freely. At the appointed bathing hour, a herd of water buffalo block my road to work as they lazily wander from the river to their dairy. I take photographs sometimes but I really had hoped I would be able to draw from life that will very soon be gone. I have been teaching myself figurative drawing and other technical aspects. Drawing from memory is a lot of fun but frustrating when you cant really construct the scene as you see it in your minds eye. Hope you like them.
Short story: My father on his way to bed recalled a story from his childhood. He and some others in their childhood used to tease his mother ( "JiJi") that her father used to peddle hooch. It so happened, the land her father had given on her marriage to my grandfather ( Dowry you think? Of course!) had a number of 'Mahua' trees.(Madhuca Longifolia) These trees bear a sweet and fragrant flower ( and a fruit) that is fermented to brew 'Country liquor'. Jiji's father used to auction off the flowers and fruits of the Mahua trees to manufacturers of country liquor. Hence the young scamps, my father included, would tease their matronly mother. Well, I had to write it down. So I did that here.
