Animals of Lahore

I really enjoy walking around the old walled city in Lahore, Pakistan. On my walks, I run into all kinds of interesting buildings, history, people and of course animals. In this post, I'm going to focus on that list category, animals. Early in the morning, you can see donkeys hauling bricks and other construction equipment down the narrow lanes where trucks can't go. Here and there you'll find chickens, walking around, eating, and checking out the scene. Now and then you'll see a goat, looking confused about why you're there as much as you are about it. There are even some parrots and pigeons, often kept in large cages on tall rooftops. The pigeons shown here are actually outside the walled city, in front of the National College of Arts, where I have seen people drive up and spread bird seeds around the famous Kim's Gun, a cannon immortalized by Rudyard Kipling's, who spent some years in Lahore and incidently whose father started the art college, which used to be called the Mayo School of Arts.

Occupy LA

Dangerous Child.

Compassionate Defenders arrive.

..whom?

One of those “dirty”, “lazy”, protesters? A veteran?

but after taking away several peaceful protestors.

Today I went to a protest in downtown Los Angeles, part of the Occupy LA protests in support of the nationwide Occupy Wall Street protests. I took the bus in, and ended up getting out a few blocks away. I walked up and already there was a growing police presence in the area. Was there a riot going on? Were the expensive bank buildings and luxury hotels in danger from a mob of angry, dirty people frothing at the mouth?I walked a little closer to see if I could spot one of the "lazy bums" for myself. Not surprisingly, I saw a crowd of peaceful people, of all ages and races, standing together, chanting peaceful slogans. There was nothing threatening about their posture or words. I joined them, as I had come to do.A couple of friends joined me soon enough, and we stood there, among people with placards, shouting slogans, all about taking back our system of governance for the people that are supposed to be represented. There were volunteers encouraging people to stay on the sidewalks and out of the street. There were chubby officers up on the bridge. There were ever growing lines of police in full riot gear, ready to crush our skulls. The order was twice repeated in English and Spanish, in a polite enough voice telling us that this was an unlawful assembly and that anyone still there in 5 minutes time would meet violent force, risk serious injury and go to jail. One of the cute kids next to me waved at a police officer, as lines of them spread along the street, billy clubs brandished in their fists, staring at old, short Latino women, children, and non aggressive adults of all races and builds.I felt sad that all these beautiful people have to struggle so hard to demand so little. I felt hurt for Pancho and many others I have never met who have been tear gassed, beaten and imprisoned, for peaceful protest around the country. The officers looked stern and ready to attack at a single order. They looked like us, the protesters, except they had helmets, billy clubs and all kinds of other riot gear, ready for violence. They ended up picking up all the people sitting on the street and taking them away without incident, and eventually, instead of taking the rest of us in, they backed down and left. The protest organizers, entreated upon all of us to pick up what few bits of trash were left around before the street was reopened to traffic and the next protest site was announced.I find it heartbreaking to see these officers who willingly become vicious monsters in uniform when given the order. They too are like you and I, but if given the order, they won't hesitate to break bones, trample freedoms and crush rights. That separates "them" from "us". It is not an easy choice to be moral, when those around you discourage it, but if you took an oath to protect and serve and someone orders you to attack unarmed, non-threatening civilians with brutal force then you may wish to consider what you are serving and who you are protecting.Today, I saw but a small drop in the strong current of resistance to the status quo. People dismiss this movement for not setting out policy goals, and yet there is a commonality of grievance and shared desire for redress. Just because there isn't some ego maniac telling us all what to think, doesn't mean we have no direction. Instead, the direction is one of discussion, consensus and a desire to come to decisions as a group of people brought together by the common desire to make positive change. Sounds like a democratic process to me.

NYC Part 3

After 9 days, with lots of walking, exploring, eating, art and music, the trip came to an end. Here are a few quick watercolor sketches I did on different days. I saw some elderly musicians in the park in Chinatown and contributed the sketch below to their change box. I met a great band near the Lincoln Center and gave them the sketch you see below. I also had the pleasure of enjoying some jazz music one late night at a place called Small's and did a few sketches there. Some of the art highlights of the trip include these incredible Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Alphonse Mucha paintings I had a chance to see in person. Besides that I picked up some great little prints by Chinese artists which will serve as some inspiration for a future work I am planning out at the moment.Thanks to my friends who gave me a place to crash. It sure makes travel easier and more fun!

NYC Part 2

I went to Lexington and had some Kashmiri chai. One day I head over to Jackson Heights in search of an excellent Pakistani painter Moazzam Ali whom I had heard might be living in the area. I called a number that may have been his at one point and even went to a building where he might have lived, but no luck. I guess it might have been a more interesting story if I had actually found him. I did talk to some desi sounding dude on the phone a few times that I called the phone number I had. Each time he just said it was a wrong number and refused to talk any further. I had better luck at the amazing Hispanic Society of America Museum. I went there to see some original paintings by the great Spanish artist Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida. He did an almost life size series of paintings depicting Spanish culture from his time. There was a special room set up specifically for these incredible pieces. You can see some details in the photos below.Timesquare was interesting as was Rockefeller Center, and my buddy Ashish who joined me for the second half of my trip. There was fresh fruit in Chinatown, graffiti, food stands, rain, beautiful sunsets on little Italy and all kinds of exciting life and activity in this concrete, steel and glass city.

NYC Part 1

After finishing up at Imageworks on Arthur Christmas, I looked forward to working on my own art for a bit, but it was obvious I needed to take a break and do some exploring and living before getting right back to the computer and drawing board. With the help of a few kind friends in and around New York City, I decided to go spend some days there. Over the course of nine days, I wandered around different parts of the city. From lower Manhattan to Upper and Brooklyn to Jackson Heights, Hoboken, NJ and many places in between. It was great to break away from my routine and be in a place just to be. I wasn't on my way anywhere, I didn't have anything specific I needed to do. I was just there to enjoy the experience and see what I saw.I took a lot of photos, and I'll add some to the blog. The city is a fascinating place. There is so much art and culture everywhere. There is a rich diversity of people, places and things to do.I saw beautiful churches, synagogues, some mosques and some of the best art museums I have ever been too. Really, the art collections in NYC put the permanent collections in LA to shame. Of course the LA weather can't be beat, but what's a bit of sticky sweat for some great live music and art? It was a great break. I suppose I might be odd in that my idea of a break from work is to walk morning to night and explore until exhaustion and beyond for days, but for me, that reinvigorates my excitement to go back and create. That infusion of life is just what I need to inspire a bunch of time in front of a computer or drawing board to interpret and create afterwards.Here's a first set of photos from the trip.

Journey to Sindh

Earlier this month I added a 5 part writeup with galleries on each page, of my journey to Sindh back in the summer of 2008 to record music for my short film Gul(flower). What fascinates me about storytelling, is not just sitting in a room and creating art, but rather the process of connecting to people, enriching the story of your own life and then expressing something about it.Sindhi is a province in Pakistan, rich with culture, heritage and incredible people. The hot desert, delicious food, a strong connection to Sindhi language and heritage and beautiful, colorful traditional clothes and art make it a fascinating place.I hope to explore more of it someday, but you can get a glimpse of my travels and some of the things I saw in Hyderabad and Jamshoro here. 

Ice Walas in Lahore, Pakistan

Whenever I am in Lahore, I love to  walk through the back alleys of the old city. I'll try and share some of the pictures and stories from those many walks among other things, on this blog. This particular day, I ran across some ice walas. They were breaking large blocks of ice to send out to customers. Lahore is a fascinating place, with endless stories and interesting people. You never know what you'll run across. The mornings are really fun, because people are just getting started with their day, and not too busy and tired yet to stop for some conversation.The younger ice walas joked around, telling my friend Imran and I to photograph the slightly  older man, whom I assumed was their boss. There's an incredible amount of hardship to life in Pakistan. There's the security situation, the fact that electricity and gas are rationed to a few hours a day, strangling business and life and a bleak outlook on anything improving. Yet people keep going. These ice walas wake up early every morning, and work hard all day. Despite that, what I love most about taking these walks, is getting to connect to that humanity that people share so warmly. People constantly invite you to come have a cup of tea. There's a genuine interest in our photography, but it is tempered with kindness. People share facts and legends about the area, or take pride and show you their work, or just poke fun at one another in a good natured way.These photos, from a dull gray morning, remind me of the humbling resilience and kindness of the people of Pakistan.

Burhanpur

Burhanpur is an interesting city of historical importance. Tourism there is being developed as sites are being renovated. It was here that Mumtaz Mahal, wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan died and was buried for six months. The Taj Mahal was to be built here instead of Agra, but due to a number of factors ended up there. Even today you can see Mumtaz Mahal's hamam (bath) and living area. It is heavily decayed, but being repaired. Beside this I saw a Gurdwara where the final human Guru of Sikhism; Guru Gobind Singh hand signed a Guru Granth Sahib (holy book and living final Guru of the Sikhs). The Granth Sahib there is much like the ornamented Qurans of Islamic tradition and is very beautiful.Perhaps the most beautiful site I saw there was the Dargah-e-Hakimi of the Bora community. I do not know a lot about it, but it houses the tombs of some very important community members. It is like a gorgeous compound with schools, gardens and beautiful architecture. In one sense, it is very much like that utopian sort of futuristic society with old culture traditional looks that they show in science fiction movies. Where the people look happy and well dressed in traditional clothes and live a cultured and meaningful existence. It had that look and though I don't know much more than that about it, like any truly great holy place, it had a real sense of peace and beauty.There was also a beautiful mosque with Sanskrit, Arabic and Urdu writing in it. It had lotus designs similar to a Jain mandir, like the mosque I saw in Ahmedabad. There were also beautiful Jain temples and a fort out in Asirgarh, outside the town, from the times of the Mahabharat. It had a mosque and mandir in it built, I believe by Shah Jahan and a Christian cemetary built by the British among other things.We met some very friendly people walking around in the fort who taught us more about it. We went down to a beautiful mandir at the base of the mountain afterwards where the holy men were ironically glued to the cricket match on tv. I think it was Sri Lanka vs. India. There was something surreal about that little tv right there by the murtis (idols).After taking in some sites in Burhanpur and eating many a delicious meal at Heena's restaurant in the hotel across from the bus station, we head off by train to Delhi.

Milana Workshop in Bangalore

After a few days rest and figuring out the next leg of the trip we went back to Milana and did an art workshop for the women living with HIV and AIDs. Previously we had discussed some of the things they wish they could communicate to others. With this workshop I hoped to get them communicating their feelings first for their own emotional well being and second as a means to help others understand.As usual, I had a basic plan and had spent time thinking about how best to try and connect, but beyond that I had no idea if I would be able to give them something of value. I never have any doubt that art has value to be shared in all things, but whether I know enough to connect people to that is always the uncertainty. I suppose that's the exciting part of it all.So I had copied some images of watercolors I painted in the past in response to different social issues that I felt I needed to express something about. Those pieces are all here on the blog in previous posts. Lilly translated my English to Kannada for the women. We sat down, had some tea, shared some smiles and then sat down. I went over what I wished to do and Lilly related this to the women. I opened up the laptop and went through a handful of images, one at a time and shared them with the ladies. For each one, I explained the context of what I was reacting to and how that painful or sad emotion was translated into an image to try and make people think. Thanks to Lilly, the words and sentiments were beautifully translated and at once the women connected. To come in and talk to a group of women who are dealing with issues I can't even imagine, and try and share something that I think can be useful for them was a daunting task, so I tried to share how I deal with issues that I can't outright fix in a theraputic and communicative way through art.That the women responded is thanks to Lilly's excellent translation. I spoke to them of the multiple meanings and symbolism of each image, and also heard them connect their own experiences to what they saw. I didn't try and say that I know what they are going through or that I can make it go away. Rather I shared the power of art, through my own attempts to express and make people think. I could have taken from better artists than myself and shown their work, but it seemed to make more sense to share my own.We had a really good discussion, after which each woman got a sheet of paper and some colors. I went to the marker board and spoke went through an example of happiness. I got them started and asked what types of things symbolize happiness. They responed with smiles, christmas tree, food, sunlight etc. I filled the board with simple sketches of these. Then switched to sorry and anger and changed each of them in turn to express that. Next the women started their own drawings, expressing what they wanted. While I want people to explore and create for themselves in these workshops, I also want to give them enough in this short time to get started and feel comfortable with a process that they can continue in the future on their own. So as the women drew, I went around and helped give them ideas on how to visually represent different things they wished to express.I didn't have a clear sense of what the women might create. The process was organic and down to these women's willingness to participate. That they gave us that kind of love and were so open to try something that many adults might thing too childish was what made it work. They expressed joy at the upcoming Christmas holidays, visiting daughters and mothers. There was also sorrow at their infected children's condition and anger and frustration at a lack of drugs for survival. There were even messages in a world context of an appreciation for home and sorrow for the conflicts of people.Each time we get to share with people it is special. This day was truly amazing. In the summer of 2008 it was beautiful to connect to people through music with my friends Andy, Omar and Mike. Here it was beautiful to try and share something of what makes me and my life in a way that is meaningful to people I may never have met otherwise, whose experience is now a part of mine.Afterwards, we head out and met a lion, before visiting the cartoon museum (a museum of Indian Cartoonists). The cartoon museum was exciting just for the chance to connect to artists with a rich history in India. While animation is big in India, it is cartoonists and painters with whom I feel I am more interested in, in terms of artistic content. It is here that I can see a rich history of communicating important and personal stories. Just to have a brief visit and to speak to Narendraji there was fun. He showed us some beautiful Indian Cartoons (political and newspaper cartoons). There are some books, but these are not easily available. I did get one publisher's name so I'll try and look further into it. I also want to go to the National Book Trust store which publishes amazing children's books under the Children's Book Trust name. These books are not available at most stores, but the art and ideas in them tends to be far superior to anything I've seen in locally published childrens's books at other bookstores here.That evening we hopped on a train to Burhanpur.

BIRDS NGO 5

The next day we visited the principal of the social work college and his wife at their home on campus and learned why he loved the work he did. More than anything, what struck me about BIRDs was a sense that A. R. Patilji, who had served as a provincial minister and came from an agricultural background, had started his work in the 70's and genuinely worked to create programs where there was a lot of independence. Staff were given support and guidance, but also the free will to make decisions, mistakes and programs. To give support and guidance where needed and to empower the people who work with you, is to be a true leader. While Patilji did not know how to do every single task, but he knew to create an atmosphere where people could grow and create programs while he provided invaluable support, without interfering. I can't really say enough good about all that the Patils and the staff at BIRDs. I'm an artist, and don't pretend to be an expert at that or anything else, certainly not all that we saw and learned of the programs at BIRDs, but the Patils really made an effort to share the vast work the people have done and continue to do.The next place we visited was perhaps the most incredible of all. We walked over to the nursery school to pay the kids a visit. Children sat and played around the classroom. The teacher had several come up and recite nursery rhymes. There are few things cooler than hearing a little kid recite a nursery rhyme in English with the cutest heaviest accent, mixed with little cute kid talk, such that you almost can't tell they are speaking English. Seriously cute. Kristeen tossed a ball back and forth with a little girl and heard a squeaking sound. She shook the ball, but there was no sound, finally she figured out that the girl had little squeaking slippers that squeaked every time she stepped like a little toy. I played blocks with some very serious looking tots, then Kristeen came up with the idea to teach them duck duck goose.So we all head out to the courtyard of the girl's dorm, which was right outside, with teachers and children and started playing. It's really hard to describe how magical it is to become a kid and play, but if you don't know what I'm talking about, you really need to do it! We sat in a circle and the teachers would translate our instructions into Kannada. My cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing so much. These little ones were so sweet and sometimes confused, and excited and happy, then sad and more happy. Kristeen was a popular goose in the game as child after child would pick her, certainly not because they had the best chance of outrunning her. The teachers didn't join the game, but sat on one side and guided the kids. Kristeen and I played along with the kids. Some kids caught on quick, while others would sit there confused when someone touched their head and said "Goose!" Even some of the kids would start giggling, but they were actually quite nice to each other.The little girl who squeaked was so cute when she ran, generally confused and and with a blank look, never sad, never happy, just calm and collected, even when she chased after me and fell flat and broke some tiny bangles. Two of the youngest children had a hard time. Kristeen tagged one of them goose. He got up to run, but before his little legs could take him far, Kristeen reached over and tagged him. He froze as Kristeen laughed, then started crying uncontrollably. We all laughed and a teacher consoled, but he was never the same after that. If anyone tagged him goose, he would start crying, so all the kids let him be, and just tagged him duck as they went around. Another little guy was in the same boat and it was cute how the kids would smile at how funny it was, but still be sweet and not tag them, without needing to be told. They would even help the confused kids and run as fast as they could. Sometimes I would run around a few times and purposely and also accidently miss my open spot to sit as I came around. It's hard to run in a little circle. We played many cute little games with the kids, and got a great workout.It was time to say our goodbyes. We thanked the staff and Patils for their amazing warmth and the knowledge they had shared. On the way to the train station we stopped by the beautiful Gokak falls, before heading out and ending our time at BIRDs.

BIRDS NGO 4

It was finally time to give the kids an art workshop. We were under the impression that the workshop would be for the younger children in the BIRDs school. So Kristeen and I prepared a lesson on hygiene. She researched basics like how to wash hands, clip nails and etc. I incorporated this into a set of four drawings. A clean and dirty boy and girl. I draw them in a more basic sort of a way so that the kids could be taught to draw them. Drawing something, much like writing notes is a great way to remember things.At the last minute it turned out we were with some older kids. So there we stood with a lesson plan prepared for small children. So I asked them to show me the correct way to wash hands, and one of the boys did. Then I asked them to talk about issues of hygiene and they all knew the lesson well. I stood there for a moment wondering what I would do to make the time worth their while as their bored faces stared back at me.Then I decided that I could teach the class to make the drawings I had made, and then use that as a tool to teach younger children about cleanliness and hygiene. I hope that learning to draw would interest them and the idea that they too could teach others the lessons they have learned could be very helpful as most of the children are strictly in a teacher teaches, student memorizes and regurgitates mindset.The boys sat on one side of the classroom and the girls on the other, so I started drawing the clean boy on the boy side of the blackboard and the clean girl on the girl side of the class. I started very slow, describing each shape as a basic shape, such as being like a square, or a triangle, or a circle etc. I would talk about each part, draw a little bit on the board, then walk around the class to see how they were doing. The girls were hilariously shy. Many would cover their notebooks as I came around, but there were smiles everywhere and I felt relieved that I could give them something they could hopefully learn from and enjoy.Kristeen walked around the room and took photos and helped the kids out. The kids are really cute. Each one wanted to know if what they had done was right. The beauty of this lesson was that everyone was able to do it "right". Some kids would add their own little innovations, or change things around, and that was great. I joked around a lot with the kids as I drew, like describing the monkey like ears, being just like theirs, which made them happy.After finishing the clean boy and girl, I continued with the dirty boy and girl, who looked the same, but had messy hair, dirt all over, boogers coming out of their noses, messy clothes, long, black, broken toe and finger nails etc. I loved watching the kids get excited and laugh and have a great time while learning. After the finished that, we passed out larger sheets of paper, one per table and had the kids redraw the two children as they had in their notebooks on this paper, side by side as a learning tool they should use with small children. They started drawing and coloring and it was a lot of fun.The bell rang for lunch and no one wanted to leave. It was very humbling. The Hindi teacher who had helped translate my Hindi into Kannada for the kids at the beginning thanked us and we thanked him and the kids after I told the children they could keep their drawings, finish coloring at home and then their homework was to teach 3 small children a hygiene lesson with these posters. We slowly said our goodbyes and left for lunch.For lunch we met up with some of our friends at BIRDS and one of the teachers and his new wife. She had made lunch and the two of them served us some delicious thalis.Later we went to the HIV/AIDS clinic run by BIRDs where we were given an indepth presentation on the work they are doing in awareness prevention, safer practices education for sex workers, minority gender communities, and much more. Aftwerwards we visited one of the community centers in a village and sat in on a session where kids were getting after school help with their homework. It was pretty amazing how genuinely enthusiastic these kids were, so late in the evening, after a day of chores and school, to sit and continue with math etc. The teacher was great too as he was warm and encouraging and after a child would excitedly solve a problem on the board he would explain to the class how that answer was arrived upon. We spoke to the kids after their class, and I drew one of the boys on the board and in turn another kid came up and drew me. It was fun to try and answer questions about the U.S. and share some experiences etc.

BIRDS NGO 3

In the morning we went to the medicinal plants building where we were given a tour of their compilations of plant samples and recording of ayurvedic medicinal properties of indiginous plants into a countrywide database. Oustide there was an area of land where many of those plants are grown to be used for collecting samples and just to keep many species of plants from becoming extinct.We checked out the fish farm and then head to lunch at the home of the local farmer who went with us to the music show the day before. In Karnataka we could not communicate with everyone as easily because many people did not understand Hindi or English. So I had not spoken much except smiling and nodding that we really enjoyed the music when "speaking" to him the day before, but he had communicated to Patilji that he really wanted us to come join him and his family for lunch. In a place where food can be difficult to afford for your own family, much less guests, I hoped they would enjoy the experience too.It was a lot of fun. One of Patilji's relatives who was nice enough to take us to the areas we went to that morning took us there with the driver of the jeep we had been riding in. We visited the beautiful farm, and the farmer and his family. His extended family was there and we tried to speak via our two friends who spoke Hindi and Kannada. They asked about farming in he U.S. and also about life. As usual we did our best to speak a little about farming and explained that we lived in cities, so could not answer those questions definitively. Still, it was good to just share. Sometimes sharing what you have or know the best you can is enough. We saw how they grind wheat and corn. There were mattes covered in fresh corn and red chilli peppers. We also say pan leaves being grown.In the home we sat with the family and enjoyed a wonderful meal. We went into the kitchen and met the mother and wife. The didn't have a chiminey or at least not an effective on, so the wood burning stove really created a horrible black smoke filled atmosphere. My eyes burned immediately, and it made me think about these wonderful women working there every day. I tried to ask why they did not cook outside and how it was really terrible for the women to work in there. This is where you are at the mercy of your translators. Sometimes people will just do their best to convey your sentiments, while others, well meaning though they are, paraphrase or answer your questions for you and thus you can't really communicate as much as you'd like. Kristeen made friends with a small child with fancy footwear. While we drank tea outside the home, some more relatives came by and we talked again through our friends. An older man came by and invited us to his home after we had exchanged more smiles than words. We couldn't refuse so we had more tea. It was really great to try our best to share experiences and get to know people while letting them get to know out world too.That evening we went to visit another one of BIRDS' many projects. This one was a dairy where women who had purchased buffalos via their micro finance program brought the milk in twice a day to be tested, recorded and deposited for sale through the collective. I can't say enough good things about how kind and informative people were. Patilji Sr. and Jr. really welcomed us into their organization and everyone went to great lengths to share with us what they did, not with expectation, but with a desire to share. I truly hope that we can return that favor by telling others and connecting good resources and volunteers to them. Being in a rural area, though they have done a great deal, there is always a hunger for outside knowledge to continue. I feel people interested in agriculture and social work can gain a great deal by spending time here and giving back to the community in BIRDS.We spoke to some of the women, particularly those in leadership roles at the center after they had finished with the evening milk aquisition. These are illiterate women, who run entire households and obviously always had the ability to do a lot, and now made good use of the opportunity and showed others. We spoke to them again through translation and learned a bit about how they were impacted by the programs. These were not public speakers or mouth pieces for the org. They live this, so unlike someone trying to sell you on the idea, they just talk about it matter of fact and don't consider themselves all that incredible. It was fun to share some of what women deal with in the U.S. with them, good and bad, to kind of connect them, if only a little. I was also glad to tell them that we read about the work of women like themselves in other parts of the world like the U.S. and are inspired by what they are doing.

BIRDS NGO 2

In the morning we learned about the composting methods used to reuse organic waste and create fertile soil.It was a Sunday so the school was closed and things were quiet on campus. The younger Patilji took us, along with a local farmer and another man who knew many musicians to see a Shahnai (a high pitched wind instrument with a narrow mouth piece and large opening at the end) performance in a mandir in another village. We drove out to the Laxmi Devi Mandir. In the courtyard, children were playing around a holy tree with green bangles strung about it by grateful mothers giving thanks for their healthy babies.The performance started with some drumming. We would write a word on a piece of paper for the drummer and he would drum it out for another young man to decipher. Simply by hearing the drumming he would speak the name or word with correct pronunciation. Then the rest of the group came together. Two talis (small cymbals), two shahnai and this incredibly double drum. They started with a slow drone on one shahnai then quickly picked up into a frenzy. It was amazing to see the energy and excitement they brought to the performance. I couldn't help but sit there with a huge grin on my face, enjoying it all. Music is such a beautiful gift.All of us enjoyed the performance then shared some bananas with the musicians, paid them as thanks in appreciation for their wonderful art before heading out. These are incredibly gifted and hard working, musicians who end up eking out a living doing other work to survive.That night we went to the inauguration of an NSS camp in a village mandir. The community was there to kickoff a series of community building workshops, street plays and clinics where volunteers and BIRDS staff work with the community to learn about them and educate them on social issues.

BIRDS NGO 1

We arrived early in the morning with the Patils. We got off on the side of the highway and a jeep took us the rest of the way through crater filled roads. The sun was coming up and there was a beautiful orange tint to the green all around. The air was clean and it was very soothing. As we went through a small town and rural areas there were people going about their mornings. Many people were defecating by the roadside. They do so because there is a lack of information regarding sanitation, but more than that people don't have and can't afford toilets. They go by the roadside because they don't have to be afraid of snakes by the side of the road, rather than in the brush. Besides this they don't have enough area to dig and and cover their feces. It's very humbling to see how much of the world lives, without the everyday amenities we all take for granted.We drove up down extremely bumpy, broken down roads and arrived at the BIRDS campus, where there is a social work college, school, nursery, fish farm, farming research lab, medicinal plants labs and so much more. That morning we visited each class and said hello to the children form grades 1 to 10. In each class Kristeen and I tried to engage the children in some conversation, with the teachers translating from English and Hindi to Kannada and back. The kids were really sweet and shy. They aren't really used to having class discussions, so it was tough to get them to ask questions about the United States or to tell us about their home. The questions that were asked were mostly regarding crops in the U.S. and some of the older ones asked about the climate and price of land, so we city folk did our best to answer what we could. Mostly, I found myself connecting similarities rather than differences.In one class I decided to make a contest out of it. Boys against Girls to see who would ask more questions. That helped a lot. We even had kids come up and draw on the board as did I. It was a lot of fun. There was one boy who could not hear or speak, and yet there he was in this class. I was told there were special needs teachers who worked with him. He seemed happy enough and when I asked what he likes to eat he told me and I drew those things on the board to show I understood and just to connect the whole class to it. It was all really simple, but fun. Shortly after we finished visiting classes, the bell rang and an army of children came running out to catch the BIRDS school bus to go back home.Walking around the campus that afternoon, was very quiet. In the distance we heard some activity and walked to it. In a room in the college (which is next to the school), we saw some people through the window. The girls invited us in and we sat down inside where the social work students were rehearsing street plays on social issues like alcohol abuse, hygiene and women's issues.That night we went to a celebration of Hanuman, the monkey god in Hinduism.

Bangalore Arts and Crafts Show

We went to visit Patilji Sr. and Jr. of BIRDS, an organization working in rural areas near Belgam, in Karnataka. They were on their way back home and had stopped in Bangalaore where Kristeen and I introduced ourselves and they invited us on the spot to come see their work. Parmod Sharma of Yuvsatta in Chandigarh had highly recommended we meet with them, so we agreed to join them on the bus ride that very night. After the morning meeting, we visited a fair with crafts from all over India that Jayashree had told us about. There was live music, beautiful statues, paintings and all kinds of art and crafts.That night we found ourselves on a bus to the countryside.

Bangalore

Flew in to Bangalore to visit my friend Jayashree; a documentary filmmaker I met in Los Angeles when she came for a screening of a film about HIV and Aids drugs and how companies are trying to create patents to prevent generic prescriptions. It had been over two years since we'd all seen each other, and I have to say it was great to see her, meet her other half and son.Busy days finally took their toll and we rested up comfortably thanks to Jayashree's wonderful hospitality. I visited a beautiful campus, a few places to eat, but mostly just the bed, food and bed. It was nice and warm and lush with greenery in Bangalore.We visited an organization called Milana with Jayashree who is a board member. They are an amazing group of women both infected and affected with HIV and Aids. We sat down with them and spoke through Jyoti and Lilly who have made these women their family. Most of the women spoke in Kannada, and some spoke a bit of English and Hindi. Being in the south of India, there was more English than Hindi around. We spoke to the women who shared some of their difficult stories of not only being infected by their husbands who died, but then living with the stigma and day to day lack of understanding on top of financial hardship and health issues. Many have children of which quite a few are infected. This group is really like a support group. The women cook food, some create crafts and have a space to interact with people who understand them. It is a very small organization, but they work on awareness in the community as well as just working through the day to day difficulties. Many can't work, and if they can get a job, it is difficult to get beyond the stigma as well as the fatigue and other health issues that prevent them from working more. Still, they were all strong, vibrant women, finding the will to smile in circumstances quite beyone my understanding.More than all of that, it was fun to get to know them, and share of ourselves too. I tried to explain that though I could not solve their problems (nor had they asked me to), I would like to share art with them as a means of communication which is also a big part of our conversation. While there is a lot of attention on prevention programs and awareness for Aids and HIV (never enough), there is even less support for those who are living with it. With NGO's focused on big picture issues and juggling large numbers of people, I guess it is very difficult to get in there and reach people on a personal level, by understanding their daily needs and struggles and working with that knowledge. There is a lot these women have to teach us and much they would like others to know. How does one tell a child that was born infected, but is now a teenager, that they can't love and get married, or that they must simply deal with a stigma they have never even lived without. There's a lot of pain there, and several of the women did break down into tears as they told stories of all manner of rejection, apathy and impossible circumstance. Yet these are all warm, loving people if those around took the time to know them.So, I promised to return and do my best to share some ideas on how they can use art to communicate.We visited a book fair afterwards with all kinds of books from around the world. We also visited the graduation show of Shrishti, a design college thanks to Jayashree's friend and fellow documentary filmmaker Shabnam. She picked us up and graciously took us to the two locations. One featured installation pieces in a sort of jury rigged structure, while the other, on campus was full of inspiring and innovative ideas for positive social change through design and research oriented projects that focused on specific needs, like education, sanitation etc.

Old Ahmedabad

I went on the walking tour called the Ahmadabad Heritage Walk. We started in the old part of the city which I had yet to see at an incredible Mandir. The walk took us through old lanes, past people making kite string, beautiful old buildings with layers of history in their architecture. To me, the old parts of towns in Pakistan and India are the most fascinating. They may not have all the modern amenities, nor are they the best planned for modern traffic, but within that chaos is that unique identity of that city as a sort of living culture and history. Dead culture can be found in monuments, but to walk down a street and look up at hundreds of years of architecture in a single glance, with laundry hanging across jury rigged electrical and telephone wires with children playing and all kinds of people passing through is truly breathtaking, while dodging motorcycles, bicycles and cars. It's not all romantic. There's a lot of pain and misery too, but it is all fascinating and bursting with chaotic life.We went to a few Mandirs, including Jain Mandirs, walked past old city gates, and a street bard, old pigeon feeders, and all manner of activity before reaching the Jama Masjid there which is a beautiful combination of Jain Mandir architecture and mosque. On the way I saw two boys trying to set fire to a doll's head and a little girl sitting beside them. While there is a lot of poverty and misery, even within that there is a lot to learn and much to be curious about and enjoy. These naught kids were hilarious and got all shy when I asked them why they were burning the doll's head.Things were kind of tense in the city that day and we later learned that it was the anniversary of the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhia and the brutal massacre. Before knowing why things were so tense in town, we left the old city and went back to Manav Sadhana to join the wonderful people there.That night a bunch of us volunteers from outside Ahmadabad cooked food for the some of the volunteers from Ahmadabad who do this work every day. It was a beautiful evening. I was really exhausted from the many workshops, and yet I felt really satisfied as well. We cooked a few dishes and sat together and ate. After that I shared my short film "Gul (flower)" with the group and we all had a long and lively discussion afterward. I feel really grateful to all the insightful interpretations people have come away with. Each one is an insight into the viewer and their own life experiences. I could not ask for more.

Manav Sadhana 4

The earn and learn kids were busy creating Christmas Cards. That night, some of the other volunteers and I went to a restaurant called Vishalla which is basically a sort of Rajasthani folk village with live musicians, puppetry and amazing food. Somehow someone thought I might not be that interested, even though it features my favorite things. It was amazing. I spoke to the puppeteers for a while and watched all these interesting puppets do tricks. We talked for quite a bit about history, different arts and I tried to share how what I do is very much like what he did as a puppeteer, but on a computer. For me, that was really the most exciting thing, was to sit down and speak to a wonderful puppeteer.Afterwards we all piled into an auto rickshaw and made our way back to the volunteer homes.

Manav Sadhana 3

The next day Kristeen and I went to the community center/school to do a workshop with a class there. We were greeted by the sweet kids and hard working teachers. One of the children gave us sandhur as a way of welcoming us into class. The kids were amazing as usual and it was a tiring, but incredibly rewarding experience. I jokingly said invited myself to come eat lunch at one of the children's homes as we were leaving after the workshop and she was walking home for lunch. She said she'd ask her mom what she cooked. So many dimples and funny little toes. After that we ate and went to another slum that was more recently adopted by Manav Sadhanda. The look and feel are completely different. There is not yet a sense of community. The first tikra that was adopted by MS has more of a community feel. There has been a great deal of work by MS and people of the community to really make it a home. The other slum is much dirtier, and doesn't really feel safe. We had Jagad bhai with us, but I don't think we'd come alone. Of course these are people who are squeezed harder day by day and things are unimaginably tough. We made our way through to the school that MS had started there. We climbed up a ladder to a floor with all these children sitting there. It's a little nervous to start these workshops, not because I am shy with the kids, but because I feel some pressure from myself to do my best to give these wonderful children my very best and I hope that they will feel good afterwards. These kids were just like others I have met at earlier workshops.Next we walked to Indicorps offices to visit, then had some lunch at a cafe and made our way back to the Gandhi Ashram.

Manav Sadhana 2

The next day we went to the Dalit school across from where the earn and learn kids meet. I had peeked into the school the day before and I can't quite describe how excited I was to share animation with them. The children I met so far have really been an energetic and amazing bunch. Many are not used to discussion questions in class so carrying on an in depth class discussion has not really worked, but they are bursting with energy, creativity and most of all a genuine desire and willingness to try new things and learn. This really does a lot to make what I am doing with the children possible.First I was introduced to the class. Then, as Kristeen continued to cut paper, I asked the kids if they understood Hindi (as Gujarati is their first language) and then liked cartoons. Thankfully they all said yes to both in a cute little chorus. When I asked which cartoons they liked, they would say Tom and Jerry, Chota Bheem, Popeye or Chooha Billee Wali (cat and mouse one :) ) Since most of the kids had seen "Tom and Jerry", I explained how just like they do drawings, the people who made "Tom and Jerry" made many drawings of poses to show Tom running after Jerry.These kids live away from their parents in order to be at this school. They are absolutely beautiful. It's so much fun to get them started with the shapes which they all know and can draw easily. Then coaxing them through that first flipbook with the shapes is fun. Kids eagerly ask if they have done it right as I go around the room, and the sweet thing is that no one really does it wrong. Each drawing will be different even if they try to make them the same and so when they flip the pages, it will move. Walking around and just talking to each kid and congratulating them on their very own cartoon is so fun. They really feel so happy, and I do too.Next I went back to the blackboard and showed them how to draw stick figures in different poses, including getting them all to jump up and down to show me what jumping looks like and also joining them. Then I drew some different things on the board and gave them the option of choosing one of them, or making something of their own. I drew stages of a flower bud blooming, fish, a cricket bat in the hands of the stick figure and more. Then the kids got started. Many first copied what I had drawn, then started creating something of their own. It was like magic to look at a child's flipbook and show them the movement they had created, and then hand it back to them and have them flip it and see it come to life with their own little hands. Next we tracked down a school in the slum and repeated the workshop there. It was so sweet how the teachers welcomed us and most of them participated too. The kids were so eager and full of energy and excitement. Much like children I have seen in Casa De Paz orphanage in Mexico, these kids are so sweet and nice, full of cute naughtiness but so eager to do things. It is really quite humbling to share something with them and see them go from confusion to understanding. It takes a lot of energy to give each kid the individual attention they need and foster that confidence when they ask if they have done it right, but to be able to get everyone creating and understanding within 2 hours is worth it. I love seeing all those crazy, cute, happy faces jumping up and down to show me their very own little animation.Afterwards, exhausted and grateful to have enjoyed such a wonderful experience, we caught an auto and made our way to the school for street kids. Unfortunately we did not make it in time to give a workshop, but Anjali shared the beautiful work they are doing with getting kids that literally live on the street and live unimaginably difficult lives to come regularly to a school and teach them about hygene and other health related issues as well as the core subjects that other kids are learning in school. There are beautiful murals in all of these schools and the kids are provided a nutritious (and might I add, delicious :) ) meal.