Blog — Mad Guru

I was working on some blog posts in an office at the design school in Hala, when I heard all of these voices saying “Assalam u Alaikum sir!” one after another. I looked up from my laptop and saw a whole bunch of my students from Sindh University. They knew I would be here, and I knew they were coming on a field trip to visit. It was really fun to see them and get a presentation on ceramics and pottery with the amazing faculty here. I got to meet the principal before the students arrived, and he is also very inspiring in the efforts he is making to revive and revitalize the ceramics and pottery industries here by supporting the artisans and working with them to create new innovations using modern technology.

It was fun to see the students and Naimat sahib. Afterwards, I went around Hala a bit with Azam. We walked through some of the old markets and visited a beautiful dargah just down the street. It is a small town, but relatively peaceful compared to Hyderabad, Jamshoro or Karachi. At night, I put together an on the spot workshop for the students who are living on campus on UV mapping and polygon modeling in 3ds max. It was a bit tricky, as the software was 5 years old and did not have a lot of features I have come to rely on in newer versions, but hopefully they were able to gain something.

Due to some technical difficulties on my end, I was not able to screen my short film “Gul” during the first workshop session. We had an in depth discussion on the creative process, from the seed of an idea, to visual development, reference gathering and concept refinement and execution. I had spoken about my work for companies, and answered questions on the division of tasks at companies, as well as differences between character animation for gaming and films.

After the usual, and delicious anda paratha (egg and paratha) breakfast at the hostel, I head to the campus. I setup my things and we began our second session with a screening of “Gul” It was fun to show the students how I had recorded music right here in Jamshoro, using Sindhi culture, in a piece that travelled the world. We had a fun discussion on their interpretations of the film. I was very glad to hear the confidence and insights that several students shared. We continued with small presentations by each student, regarding their assignment, which was to create a drawing of a character on the basis of 5 reference images of a feeling and 5 images of a culture or time period. The idea is to share a process by which these students can bring an influx of fresh ideas to any project they work on.

Even the self proclaimed shy students did a great job of sharing their sketches and ideas. Some had several designs, some just one. A few had no reference images, while others had many. Through the discussion, each student was able to understand the value of this process. I emphasized the value of their thoughts and ideas, and the validity of their interpretations.The session would have been 2 hours, but the students were so eager and hungry for learning, that we decided to extend the sessions. We went over how to breakdown and simplify our character designs, and then draw them from the side and in a 3/4 view based on that. It was really fun to see students first struggle and then grasp these concepts and apply them in their work.

beautiful hand made work from near Badin

I love to see the excitement in their eyes, and a genuine desire to express something in their work. With the right dedication, they can do great things. That of course is the real challenge. I always give everything I can to these workshops and end up pretty tired by the end of each session. Mangi sahib picked me up afterwards, and brought me back to the hostel. There was a program going on at Sindhology, regarding climate change. The hostel staff had prepared an amazing feast for delegates. I joined them, at least for food, then we went to Sindhology. I saw some good entries for the painting contest on climate change. There were several interesting stalls. I particularly enjoyed meeting some fantastic artists/artisans. I spent some time talking to them about their work and possible collaborations. They were very friendly and eager to work directly with artists.Afterwords, I went back to the hostel for a bit of rest, then walked over to Najeebullah Rashdi’s place. He was working on a portrait for a friend in oil paint. I sat down and connected to his internet to send out some emails and upload a bunch of blog posts. He showed me more of his excellent paintings, which I ended up posting in yesterday’s blog post. It’s really great to connect to all these artists. His little daughter came to visit throughout the time I was there. She spoke in Sindhi, so I could not understand her words, but it was very cute. She brought a little plastic container with slime in it and poured it in my hands. I pretended to sneeze it out.I shared some of my process and thoughts in my approach to adapting “Risalo”. It was fun to learn about some other musical forms and places around here as well. Afterwards Najeeb sahib and his daughter walked me back to the hostel. She asked her father why I didn’t speak in Sindhi, to which I told her in Punjabi, “Jadon tusi mairai naal Punjabi ij gal karugai, tai mai wi twadai naal Sindhi ij gal karanga (when you speak to me in Punjabi, I’ll speak to you in Sindhi.” She just looked at me a bit puzzled :). I was just kidding around. A lot of people start speaking to me in Sindhi here, but I don’t really understand it, so unfortunately, I have to switch to Urdu. Sindhi sounds beautiful and when people translate bits of poetry by reciting in Sindhi, then Urdu, even the sound of the words and the bits I can pick out are so much more interesting than the sound of the translation, though it is good too. I certainly pick up a lot of fascinating things in conversations with people here. There is a very deep sense of culture and appreciation of it here with the arts folks in Jamshoro. The connection is deeper than I have seen in some other places.At night, Mangi and Najib sahib took me out for some tea. Though the mosquitos were eating me alive as usual, I got to hear some fascinating stories about a guy named Watiya Fakir from Tando Allah Yar, famous for his anecdotes, similar to Mullah Nasruddin, whose stories are famous in large parts of the world. The stories were anecdotes of questioning society in humorous ways. One story went like this. He arrived to a dinner party dressed as a fakir (wandering ascetic) in tattered and dirty clothes. The hosts quickly pushed him out. He returned a second time, dressed in fine clothing. They let him in and he sat down to dinner. He began rubbing the food all over his clothes. When people in shock asked him what he was doing, he said it was the clothes that you invited for dinner, not me.There were several anecdotes in a sense questioning religious leaders in their preachings on God, or just making a humorous statement on it. Mangi sahib’s storytelling was really great. He shared it in Urdu for my benefit, but when he would mention a key phrase in Sindhi, it sounded that much more rich.