5-23-07 Shantaram

almost a month since my last post...i sort of feeling like starting
off with an apology...it's not that life in delhi has not been worth
noting...not in the least...i have had a tremendous time...it's just
that i haven't wanted to write...i have been creating and drawing new
ideas daily...i have almost 30 sculptures sketch to some degree in my
sketch book...three of which i am in the process of sourcing and
building...all of them met with high regard by my friends that have
seen them…the people at the village and the a committee of Delhi
artist and teachers that come here once a week to discuss our projects
...so that's where my creativity has lied in the last month...that and
i little bit of...well… possibly i just didn't want to
chat...writers block…i think that's it...i am playing the role of
observer...observing New Delhi...and it's a fantastic city contrary to
the advice given to me by several friends...yes i suppose if one
visits delhi and stays in the regular back packers area only a few
days would be needed to want to get the hell out of delhi...this is
not the delhi that i have come to know and love...i'm living life with
an unconscious purpose...being a bum is more like it...and i am
enjoying it even though at times i look up and think, 'i should be
making a list'...or...'i guess i should put a budget together for
this'...i laugh at those ideas at this very moment sitting in my room
wearing a sarong...soon i will be praying and going to bed...it's
quite cool here at night...a paltry 85-90 degrees...lol...it's weird
how the body gets used to the heat...today it was mild...mid 90s...a
few days ago it went up to 115s...that 46s Celsius...and it wasn't a
dry heat...it was bloody hot...although it didn't really bother me too
much...i don't mind the heat and the humidity wasn't too bad...the
city will get hotter though and the humidity will rise to nearly
100%...and then it will rain...i am looking forward to the rain...

perhaps calling myself a 'bum' was too drastic...i get many things
done in a day...considering that this is a foreign place and i am
starting from scratch in the materials sourcing game...not too mention
that we work and play on indian time...i'm haven't figured out just
yet exactly how india time works...it's sort of similar too mexican
time or my father's time...yet strangely different...all i know is
that expectations need to be low and then why not...the indian people
are a lovely people...at times the effort is filled with an annual
retentive rage...then a smile will over come and things will mellow
for just the precise amount of time until the next opening on the
highway slivers into sight or a seat on the bus becomes available or
the bus just stops...this city of souls never leaves me without a
smile...the days...even the lazy ones...are full...

for instance yesterday was a particular exciting day...in the morning
i had an traditional aryvedic massage in my room at the village...i
have been thinking often lately of my friend perry...i miss the reike
massages...so yesterday reminded me of perry which is
nice...incidentally peepalbaba the massage dude was very good...in the
afternoon Depa and Lucilda...both my adopted mums although i think of
them as my adopted sisters...took me to see a sculpture friend of
theirs John...i think that i had mentioned earlier...maybe not...that
in the last few months i have been noticing nature a lot more and
seeing nature in a different way...i have been thinking of trees a lot
as well...one of the projects i am working on now is a banyan
tree...well guess what john the sculpture specializes in...oh ya i
forgot to mention that bronzing and casting has been on my list of
things that i really want to learn...i have been thinking about this
for many months now...well john's specialty among others is casting
tree sculptures...wtf you might be thinking...well it's par for the
course...things like this just keep happening...i feel so close when
this happens though...close to love and god...close to all my
friends...kind of strange hun...well john has invited me to come and
work with him one day which is very cool...i am hoping to spend some
time with him and learn...he doesn't cast anything himself
anymore...instead he uses this family that has been casting for
generations and i hope to spend some time with them too...i have a few
pieces that i am going to cast once i get my projects started...this
will be a lot of fun...learning from a family that has been casting
for hundreds of years...how much will i learn...buckets I imagine.

I spent the day today...may 22nd...in the old city of delhi...which is
one of the most interesting places i have ever been to...it has to be the largest market in the world although thailand
maintains the guiness world record for largest market...old delhi is
large...i guess it's technically not a market though as it's comprised
of two and three story buildings...however every building has a 'store'
on the main floor, basement and possibly the second story as
well...as it was most likely 500 years ago...every few streets change
their colours, sounds, smells and goods...bangle streets...fabric
streets...tire streets...copper streets...silver streets...and so
on...it's a beautiful place...i bought some tools today and sourced
materials...i have learned that some materials cost more here than at
home...also things like laser cutting and other CNC machining is more
costly here...but the labor is cheap and that makes outsourcing
cheaper...even fabrics...7 meters of some of the most beautiful fabric
i have ever seen worked out to be $375 USD...this is silk fabric that
has been sewn into a sari dress so theirs a bit of labor in
the process...

I have been to the old city twice now although I haven’t experienced even half of it…it’s vast and I could walk for weeks and not see the same thing twice…

Even though at times the feeling to get going over comes me with anticipation…it’s quite crazy as the city doesn’t care that I have to wait my turn for a laptop so I can blog…or if it takes 10 days to get some metal cut and delivered…and so I choose to live with the environment…so that means that things happen on Indian time and I busy myself with meditation…site seeing…sleeping and the lot…

Last Saturday we had a welcome reception for all the artist at the village…there were about 50 people of which 15-20 were people were my friends that I have met here…most of them called me up the next day and said that this was one of the best parties they had been to in delhi…I can hardly take the credit for it though…ashwin is a great host…he owns the village…rebecca another artist played DJ for us all night…we all danced and drank…the last few people left around 4am…I had a lot of fun.

I am reading this book which I highly recommend Shantaram…it’s based in Mumbai…about a escaped convict from Australia who comes to India…it’s really one of the most interesting books that I have read in a while…all 900 pages of it…ya it’s a brick although I have been glued to the first 400 pages of it…incidentally the book was referred to me by a book seller in Bangkok…he told me that he hadn’t read the book…although he sold several copies a day especially to travelers heading to India…I have learned to be watchful for clues like this and I bought the book…I started reading it this past week…one month after arriving in India…this book sums up many of the thoughts that I have had over the last month…thoughts that I couldn’t explain and buried into the back of my conscious to rehash later on…

The village was host to a group of young adults ages 17-20 this last week…kids from the youth parliament…I am not sure what exactly their platform is although I know that they bring issues to other kids in schools…raise awareness and the like…they worked hard into the night on topics of which I didn’t know...ideals as large as life I suppose and their energy had a bright white feel about it…I felt fueled in their presence…not sure what they felt in mine…I chatted with a few of them occasionally and offered them a box of chips ahoy that was marooned into my room by gina who thought that she would eat the whole box…I mentioned or maybe they saw that I was reading shantaram and we spoke about the book…

In the book the main character is given the name shantaram by a woman of a village that he lives in for 6 months…the woman adopt him as one of their own and as such offer him a new name…a few evening back I was walking past a few of the kids and once of them…manka…answered my hello with the name shantaram…we hadn’t exchanged names that whole week…shantaram means son of god…I guess they already knew my name…

I am learning a small bit of hindi…actually I haven’t really tried much since I have been here…most people speak English and even when I speak the little I know I get strange looks…if one of my friends are around they will often stare at me and repeat what I have said in English…oh well…it’s for me that I would like to learn…and one of the main reasons that I will go live in france sometime in the near future…

Not sure if I mentioned that I was invited to the Finland Embassy last week for a small party…it was a lot of fun…there was a poetry reading…it was raining hard that day and there was a lightening storm as the recital was happening…it was quite special…

and so I will bring this post to an end…with the promise to myself to step up the pace…after all this blog is for me and I love myself very much…I want to talk about the other artists here as I know we have all been brought together for a reason…some of which I know and some I need to listen to more closely…I have the time to listen though and I am looking forward to it…I really am…when I think that I will be spending a year in India it seems as though it’s not enough time…I really feel at home here…I think it’s because of the people…and the love…while India may have not invented love I think that they practice it more than many other cities that I have traveled to…

rest in peace

shantaram aka mag19