KorrigibleMe (Khubi Ali)

Artsy at Sixty! My article on Jehagir Art gallery turning 60!

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 04:55:00 -0500

Main Credit Line: FEATURE KHUBI ALI (Published in Bombay Time’s Sobo by Design on the 10th of Nov 2012)

South Bombay’s most popular art gallery is now sixty. We ask some of the city’s eminent artists if Jehangir is still sexy at sixty or is the age catching up. Lead In: In the heart of south Bombay (in the Fort area) stands the Jehangir Art Gallery. Founded by Cowasji Jehangir in 1952, this year as we speak of it, 6o candles flicker on the Jehangir Art Gallery’s cake.

The gallery has been given a makeover to celebrate it’s 60th year, the new look of which was unveiled at the birthday celebrations. Ever since it’s birth in the 1950s, the gallery paved way for the evolution of south Bombay as a center of art activity in the city. And ever since it has commanded a dominance over all the other art galleries in town. In it’s life span of 60 years Jehangir Art Gallery has become a rendezvous station for the artsy breed of Mumbai.

And not just in Mumbai, the veterans of art circuit believe that Jehangir Art gallery has gained a senior citizen stature all over the country. “Jehangir’s importance has far exceeded the art circuit of south Bombay. It has been of national importance. Artists from all major art centers and cities in India have wanted to exhibit in Jehangir Art Gallery” says renowned artist Sudhir Patwardhan. The gallery is an art space in which every artist wants to have at least one show in their career. Some have started their careers there, some have ended theirs. Whichever sect you belong to, the gallery holds a special place in the hearts of the artists, veterans and novices alike. “The gallery is an iconic center of India’s art world today. Whether you’re from Mumbai or not, Jehangir Art Gallery is the one place everyone knows” says an abstractionist Jai Ranjit. The gallery commands the kind of stature that it has, because it provides for an extensive viewership to the artist’s work. The rich and the opulent who want to invest in art, come to the shows at Jehangir. The art literate crowd that prefers art conversations over cocktail come to Jehangir. While the young and novice who want to pursue and explore art also consider Jehangir as their first art station.

However Jehangir is a public gallery so unlike many other privately owned galleries, the Jehangir management is not involved in the selling or curation of an artist’s work. “Because Jehangir is a public gallery the artists have to curate their own shows. The gallery does not involve itself with the curation or the business of any show in any of the spaces in the gallery. Although there is a selection comity that selects what goes out on display at the gallery, it is by enlarge open to most artists” reveals an eminent artist Atul Dodiya.

Sudhir Patwardhan, who’s association with Jehangir dates back to the 1970s, who has shown his work extensively at the gallery and is going to hold yet another show in December also agrees with Dodiya, “Since the 90’s, the quality of shows at Jehangir have declined. With the growth of many other private galleries, many prominent artists no longer exhibit in Jehangir. The new renovated gallery will not change this trend unless the management does some hard thinking as to what purpose such a prestigious institution can serve in today’s conditions” Patwardhan says.

But then it is only fair to wrinkle at 60. These managerial hitches therefore, do not take away it’s glorious 60 year tenure in the art world from Jehangir. Abstractionist Jai Ranjit who was recently given the honour of being one of the artists that painted a tribute to the Gallery at it’s 60th birthday celebrations says, “Yes, curation does fall to those showing at the gallery and to some extent I think some of the showing artists do need a bit more involvement from the gallery. But Jehangir is still one of the most successful galleries in Mumbai, and will continue to remain so for years to come.” Well we hope, with the unveiling of the renovated gallery, all the managerial hitches get sorted and the Jehangir Art Gallery continues to flaunt art like it has all these years.

A visual history of the Apple logo!!

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 17:05:10 -0400

A visual history of the Apple logo!!

When the pseudo-sentiments of the pseudo-religious are pseudo-hurt

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:02:32 -0400

When the pseudo-sentiments of the pseudo-religious are pseudo-hurt:

Word!! Go read!

So it was long impending, a blog post about my features at the...

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:45:00 -0400

So it was long impending, a blog post about my features at the times, so here you are!!

Photo

Sat, 12 May 2012 12:47:58 -0400

Happy Dance!!!

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 11:17:00 -0500

Happy Dance!!!

theartofgooglebooks: “A spectacular calibration failure.” From...

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:28:19 -0500

theartofgooglebooks:

“A spectacular calibration failure.”

From various pages of Wohlgemeynte Gedanken über den Dannemarks-Gesundbrunnen by Johan Gottschalk Wallerius Johann Daniel Denso (1751).

Submitted by Monoskop via Patrick Hochstenbach.

A Beautiful Mess!!! A Photo Essay!

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:41:00 -0500

Every next Gully in Mumbai is a concord, a cacophony, a riot of colours and sounds. One of many such gullies is Masjid Bandar’s “E” Gully. Bustling with the zooming lorries, this industrial lane has a tale to tell…Khubi Ali pens down the stories behind all that Ketki Dhaigude’s lens has captured…

The City’s Street Walls are full of ‘Don’t’ signs. The streets are meant for business. You don’t read a magazine on a street stall unless you want to buy it. You can’t sit in a restaurant unless you want to order food. You just don’t. Nothing is gratis, not even grains. Everything comes with a price tag. Everything. Everything except life, and yet ironically we reimburse in installments, to sustain this very life at every given stage. Subverting this capitalist norm are the ladies in Masjid Bandar, who live not far from the very famous ‘Antilla’. But here is telling a tale far more intriguing and charming that the Mukesh mansion, “Antilla”. The tale of these women, who live in huts and make a living by sieving grains from garbage…

The Suraj Estate based at Masjid Station, is a hub of warehouses (godowns) that are placed in succession at theSuraj Estate “E” gully. And in the lanes by these warehouses, exists a business world, that is administrated by slum dwelling women.

Women here make their living by collecting the spilt grains from the street. The grains that spill on the street while the labourers are loading and unloading the sacks from the transport lorries. Through the day, multiple kinds of grain spill over and get heaped on these roads. The women who reside in Suraj Estate “E” Gully, sweep away these heaps of multi-grains, sieve the collected grains and separate them from the garbage. “The warehouse owners have employed us to sweep the grains that spill around their mill area. We are paid a rupee for a Kg of sieved grain. For a sack of 50 Kg of sieved grain, we are paid a total of 100Rs.” Says one of the sweeper women.

These sieved grains are then taken to the market and sold. This is at the Sunday Market, that these sieved grains are sold at low prices. People from all over Mumbai, who can’t afford the grains at their usual prices come and buy them from this Sunday market. A woman, as she sieves the grains, shares with us a little secret. “I sometimes steal a little grain from the sieved part and save it for my personal use.” confesses Laxmi. This single mother/ widow, with three young children to feed, pilfers the grain that she sieves. With wages as low as a rupee a Kg, she is left with no other choice, she justifies.

“But to complete a sack, we need to sit sieving the entire day. It is quite a time consuming job.” Complains an old one of the gang. She moved to Mumbai 35 years back, and the lack of employment and accommodation forced them to reside on the streets. She lost her husband to the trials and tribulations of the city and hence, is forced to earn her living by sieving.

Some other members of this gang are busy cooking, as we stroll around “E” Gully, while the others are still sieving. Ask them, if they are done doing their bit and they explain… “We earn Rs. 100 a sack, a sack can take us a day and more to complete sieving. We therefore have to have a side business to support ourselves. So after sieving the entire day, some of us set out to lay a ‘Khane ka Thela’ by evening and try to boost our earning.”

Thus are the excruciating tales of the women of “E” Gully in Masjid Bandar. And as I struggle to find words to summarise their lives…”it’s like picking up trash in dresses…” plays the song on my play list.

Art by the way !!!

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:31:00 -0500

‘Art’ a term that defies a definite definition… figurative, metaphoric, out and beyond the stereotypical lush; art is more things than one…KHUBI ALI discovers…

Art is conceived in an artist’s mind. It is then given birth to in opulence and moulded into the medium of the artist’s choice. It is kept in the luxury of air-conditioned studios and galleries, cut off from the street by cold air, frosted glass and the chilly manners of concierge and receptionists. Meant to keep company with the elite, it speaks their mannerism. Or so thought a novice writer who is only just beginning to learn to read art.

Perhaps most non-specialists like me would think that art consists of all things beautiful; paintings, sculptures, even words. But as they commonly say in the art circuit… “Art is what artists do”, and they do many things that are not just beautiful. Contradicting my former belief, are the works of artists like Sudhir Patwardhan.

“When I started on the road to becoming an artist, there was no doubt in my mind as to what art was about. It was about people…this may sound self-righteous, but the remoteness of artists aims from the immediate and pressing needs of ordinary people bothers me.” Says Sudhir Patwardhan, In Ranjit Hoskote’s The Complicit Observer.

Sudhir Patwardhan altogether rejects the belief that art can be autonomous of social concerns. He accentuates the importance of social issues as a primary value in his work, as against the seclusion that most artists often claim for their art. He practices realism in his work with a purpose to marry the specialist sphere of art with the wider realm of society. “The need is to relate to and understand the larger world, beyond one’s own class.” he says.

In his pictures he renders the city in his own unique style. His pictures accumulate pictorial references from different parts of the city at once. Some areas of the city merge with other very contrast areas of it, as if to replicate the very character of Mumbai. Ask him, what makes a thing or a person, potential subject of art for him and his reply is as articulate as his work , “We all walk the same streets. I keep my eyes open.”

On further interrogation about his work screaming social realism and sufferings of the labour class, he asserts “My art speaks about them, sometimes to them. Not for them.” Especially after the 1980s collapse of the Mill Worker’s union, Patwardhan’s relationship with the working class evolved from just speaking for them to treating their landscape as a ‘structured environment’. In his painting ‘Town’ (oil, 1984), Patwardhan therefore provides a ‘corrected view’ of the entire scenario of the Mill worker’s sufferings. He deliberately edits away all provocations to horror of the town. As his confrere Gieve Patel justifies, (in the book The Complacent Observer) “This corrected representation of the situation reflects his belief in art as a means of healing and enabling people to lead their lives with hope and reason, rather than as a means of shocking them into an awareness of a reality that is already brutal and overwhelming.”

Art therefore speaks for itself and can talk to provide access to the artist as well. Unlike Sudhir Patwardhan, some traditionalists may dismiss art and social issues as an uneasy marriage. But the waves of change are now hitting Indian shores with organizations like ArtOxygen. More and more artists are now willing to take the plunge. Creative diversity is more apparent today as both artists and curators have not only moved beyond their comfort zone but are reaching out to the streets and social issues.

“Art plays a crucial role in our lives, it enables us to better understand ourselves and our surroundings. We need creativity and inspiration to improve our lives, our work, our relations with each other and with our cities” state Leandre D’Souza and Claudio Maffioletti, the art curators from ArtO2.

ArtOxygen (ArtO2) a Mumbai-based organization, aims at increasing the importance and awareness of contemporary, Installation art practices in all their expressive forms – from poetry to painting, from performances to design.

Installation or contemporary, ‘Art’ is a term that defies a definite definition. However, installation art can be described as a genre of art that is site-specific. An artistic work that has been ‘installed’ by the artist on a site and consists of an ensemble of objects/people that work together to create a whole. It compels the viewer to enter the space of the artwork and provides for a multi-sensorial experience, explains Leandre.

“ArtOxygen wants art to matter, because art makes life better” says Claudio as he further reveals the work ArtO2 has been doing. Encounters (Editions 1 & 2) and IAmMumbai are the two projects ArtO2, has managed to successfully organize in Mumbai by far. “Encounters invited artists to investigate Mumbai as a base of contrast. It was a five site- specific project with five artists working on it. Similar to Encounters was the IAmMumbai project. IAmMumbai was more of a cultural campaign that fought discrimination in Mumbai. It adopted the gorilla underground tactic. With ‘Guerrilla Girls’ and ‘Asco’ groups, only being the smaller components of the whole” reveals Leandre.

Installation Art thus demands for the artist; to establish a relationship with the place and the artwork, to go through a process of interaction, negotiation with the place and thus develop a relationship with it. It brings to surface the issues of the place and urges the viewer to question those issues. Such, that art can facilitate realization and change. The artists therefore, through this process are expanding their vocabulary to express their concepts, by stepping out of their studios and taking their art out to the streets.

Also fortunately for Mumbai, there are a few prodigies like Atul Dodiya and Sudhir Patwardhan who have always been street aware in their art. Their works have always been beyond the definitions of Installation or Contemporary. They have always married the Streets with their art in order to produce social awareness.

So how do these street realities and struggles crawl onto his canvas? When the question is posed to Atul Dodiya, he says_ “In India, particularly in Bombay we have so many cultures, mythologies, heritages and issues too. So all of these become a part of my work. My life in Ghatkopar has given me a wide-angle view of the middle class life, their sufferings, emotions, even their body language. These observations are important for an artist. These are the issues I address metaphorically in my art.”

And what is it that he needs to see in something, for it to be potential influence on his art? “There isn’t a single thing that an artist is inspired by, it is many things that an artist will weave together into his portrays.” says Atul. Born and brought up in a Mumbai Suburb Ghatkopar, he justifies his work as a concord of different shades and sounds of the Place. His work has splashes of popular bollywood villans, famous artists, popular Bombay culture and most of all the social suffering of common man. All woven together by sarcasm and humor.

Well, one can’t help but agree that so figurative are the expressions of both these prodigies that their art unfolds stories and street issues with magic and mystery, leaving the viewer free to derive his own narrative of it. Much like the artists who participate in the ArtOxygen Projects. Geogina Maddoe _ Art Editor, Indian Express, Pradeep Mishra, Bobby, Neil and more who have been a part of the ArtOxygen projects, came together for The Encounters Edition 3 in Jan this year.

iamumbai poster poem,Courtesy: ArtOxygen

My house is far behind me,

an ocean of eyes and smiles

walks around me, inside my heart,

the deepest hope and desperation…

Are you mine Mumbai?

Do you love me or hate me?

(anonymous, Western Railways)

Women In Media!

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 04:38:41 -0500

The efforts of women to integrate economic pressures, exigencies of employment, exposure to a vast array of other perspectives and cultures through globalisation and rapidly-burgeoning information technology have been articulated and represented in a variety of genres–the visual arts, film, and literature. As part of the continuing series of Mumbai-themed seminars being hosted at Sophia College over the last few years, the Sophia Centre for Women’s Studies and Development in collaboration with the Departments of English and Mass Media, Sophia College, and the Social Communications Media Department, Sophia Polytechnic, is conducting an interdisciplinary seminar on the theme of Women’s Spaces, Women’s Voices in Mumbai at the Sophia Bhabha Auditorium on Friday, 6th and Saturday, 7th January 2012.

The seminar is open to students and faculty of Mumbai colleges as well as the general public. The sessions feature papers by scholars from various academic disciplines and practitioners in the fields of art and literature. These include sessions devoted to Women in Literature, Women in Art and a historical investigation into the spaces allocated to and claimed by women in Mumbai. As with the previous seminars, the organisers hope to expose students and faculty to emerging fields and to areas of research and thinking beyond the limits of the prescribed syllabus. This year, an added dimension is that an entire session has been devoted to student presentations, both on video and as paper presentations. This offers students the experience of working on these topics with academic rigour, while student participants of the seminar will be inspired by seeing what their peers have achieved.
Chief Guest, Dr. Jim Masselos from the University of Sydney, will inaugurate the seminar. The programme includes presentations by Dr. C.S Lakshmi (SPARROW), Dr. Mridula Ramanna, Neela Bhagwat, Arundhathi Subramaniam and other eminent academicians. There are also four panel discussions – Women in the Newsroom; Women using New Media for art, business and activism; Women in Documentary Film; and Women making Feature Films featuring achievers in these spaces like Kiran Rao, Bishakha Dutta and Paromita Vohra.

Among the attractions of the event is a photography exhibition by the alumnae of the Social Communications Media Department, Sophia Polytechnic, many of whom are professional photographers. Additionally, Vacha, an NGO focussing on women and adolescent girls, will be displaying an exhibition of photographs taken by adolescent girls living in bastis. As a special feature, Sanjukta Wagh and her troupe will present a dance performance related to the theme of the conference on the evening of the 6th of January.

SCHEDULE:

Day 1 (6th January)
3:45-5:00 – Women in the Newsroom
Moderator: Kalpana Sharma
Smruti Koppikar (Magazine)
Anshika Misra
Anahita Mukherjee
Priyanka Kakodkar
Anuradha Sengupta

Day 2 (7th January)
2:00-3:00 – Women in New Media
Peter Griffin
Bishakha Dutta
Chandini Parekh
Natasha Hemrajani
Harini Calamur

3:00-4:00 – Women in Documentary Films
Moderator: Jeroo Mulla
Paromita Vohra
Surabhi Sharma
Madhavi Tangella
Anjali Panjabi
Sophy Sivaraman

4:15-5:15 – Women making Feature Films
Moderator-Jerry Pinto
Kiran Rao
Deepa Bhatia
Leena Yadav
Nameeta Nair

National Seminar on Women’s Spaces, Women’s Voices in Mumbai

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 04:22:12 -0500

At Sophia College on 6^th and 7^th January 2012

The seminar is open to students and faculty of Mumbai colleges as well as the general public. The sessions feature papers by scholars from various academic disciplines and practitioners in the fields of art and literature. These include sessions devoted to Women in Literature, Women in Art and a historical investigation into the spaces allocated to and claimed by women in Mumbai. As with the previous seminars, the organisers hope to expose students and faculty to emerging fields and to areas of research and thinking beyond the limits of the prescribed syllabus. This year, an added dimension is that an entire session has been devoted to student presentations, both on video and as paper presentations. This offers students the experience of working on these topics with academic rigour, while student participants of the seminar will be inspired by seeing what their peers have achieved.

Chief Guest, Dr. Jim Masselos from the University of Sydney, will inaugurate the seminar. The programme includes presentations by Dr. C.S Lakshmi (SPARROW), Dr. Mridula Ramanna, Neela Bhagwat, Arundhathi Subramaniam and other eminent academicians. There are also four panel discussions – Women in the Newsroom; Women using New Media for art, business and activism; Women in Documentary Film; and Women making Feature Films featuring achievers in these spaces like Kiran Rao, Bishakha Dutta and Paromita Vohra.

Among the attractions of the event is a photography exhibition by the alumnae of the Social Communications Media Department, Sophia Polytechnic, many of whom are professional photographers. Additionally, Vacha, an NGO focussing on women and adolescent girls, will be displaying an exhibition of photographs taken by adolescent girls living in bastis. As a special feature, Sanjukta Wagh and her troupe will present a dance performance related to the theme of the conference on the evening of the 6^th of January.

Documentary Shoot, Day 1… Loged and Signed!!!

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:38:41 -0500

Documentary Shoot, Day 1… Loged and Signed!!!

Bombay, Street Style!!!

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:30:00 -0500

Main Credit Line (Copy Righted): FEATURE KHUBI ALI

The Streets of Mumbai tell tales of the city. Tales that make Mumbai, all that it stands for… Read on as the article takes you down the Mumbai lanes…

An explosion, a cacophony of endless colors, sounds and even smells. Chaotic, vibrant, pulsating and colorful are the characteristics of Mumbai Streets. Much like Bollywood itself! The paradox of the city however is its spilling opulence like at Trident, in antithesis to it’s strident streets. Now to capture this paradox, this riot of colors on the Mumbai streets into frames and weave into words the character of this city in one article? Well, over many cups of brewing coffee and the many walks along these streets in company of the SLR Camera (alone), HELP and how.

Someone once rightly said that the most blissful experiences are not always the ones that you end up paying a hefty amount for. A walk on the Mumbai streets, can be a blissful not paid for experience? Sounds unrealistic, eh? Not quite. A stroll along the city can be rather insightful and fun if one has the eye and the well, patience! An experience better than that, of the Mumbai Darshan bus is assured. So sit back, grab that favorite cuppa hot chocolate and enjoy the read, as the writer of the post takes you on an amble through the streets and lanes of Mumbai.

Mumbai, considering it’s cosmopolitan nature, is an amalgamation of both high-rise towers and chawls, that continue to co-exist not too far from each other. Walk a lane in Mumbai and you are bound to come across both… gates that are well built and guarded by human forces, the skyscrapers behind these gates belong to the classes, and the gates that don’t exist really, the homes behind these belong to the masses.

Either way Mumbai, quite literally lives on streets. The footpaths are usually spilling into the streets. That is so, because the roadside shops are usually spilling onto the footpaths. This therefore leads to trafucked streets. And as the last tinges of blue fade from the sky, the crowd’s appetite to street shop and eat, increases two folds and these already trafucked streets are thus invaded by the pedestrians. This leads to more honking more traffic and the madness continues, leaving the Mumbai streets a ‘full house’. Not to forget if you are in Dadar, you are sure to find a cow or a buffalo for company in the mad rush. Phew! Ok, so that does sound intimidating, more so if you aren’t a bombayiet. But don’t worry, this is a part of Mumbai’s cityscape. Once, one sinks in the city fabric, all this seems routine.

In fact it is the very street shopping and street eating drill, that defines the famous street culture of Mumbai.But seriously, there is so much more substance to this street culture than just the traffic. There are so many aspects to it…the Street Shopping and Street Food being only two of them. The one another aspect of Mumbai streets, are the movie posters, the wall Graffiti, the street shows and the street festivals that are held. All of it and more in a glance…

Street Shopping:

Like mentioned earlier, Mumbai’s street shopping is rather popular. Hill Road, Linking Road, Fashion Street and of’ course Colaba are some of the hot favorite shopper’s stops. Packed to the brim with latest fashion and in vogue clothes and accessories, these streets bulge with stalls, sellers and buyers. Bargain being the most attractive element of these street markets.

Street Food:

Mumbai’s night life and it’s street food are extremely significant of its character. Street food is an integral part of Mumbai’s street culture. For example vada-pav the most popular street food is a metaphor of Mumbai’s cult. Be it the Jumbo King that is out to compete with the Mc. Donalds burger or the vada-pav wrapped in a local newspaper, either way it is symbolic of Mumbai’s street food. The well known Bachelors ice cream, the Kailash Parbat and the Amar juice center are all equally popular, but ask a true Mumbaikar and they’ll tell you nothing beats the street chat. There’s something about the dirtiness of the lanes that ad the unmatched flavor to the chat. The real street fare is not complete without the street vendors. And it doesn’t end there, places like the Muhammad Ali Road only ad to the fun fair, but then street food can be an article by it self.

Bollywood posters:

Mumbai’s street art! Bollywood and Mumbai are synonyms of each other. Any culture in Mumbai is a derivative of Bollywood. Throw a glance down the Mumbai streets and the influence of Indian Cinema is evident. The street walls of Mumbai are splashed and painted with all shades ‘Bollywood’, quite literally. The movie posters pasted all over the city are another characteristic of Mumbai. These Posters capture the essence of movies and about 800 movies are produced in Bollywood each year. Glamorous, provocative and inviting these film poster, on the Mumbai streets act as an instant representation of Bollywood. The time when these posters were painted and not printed, were the glorious times for the artists who did them. It is these posters that contributed to our art world, the prodigy of M.F Hussain. Well, that isn’t all about the Mumbai streets. There is a lot more to, Yeh Galiyan Yeh Chaubara that can be written and read about. We shall hopefully follow up on more as we decide to Yahaan Aaana Dobara, Bollywood Style.

Photo

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:26:43 -0500

Photo

Sat, 26 Nov 2011 11:59:31 -0500

Roofs are lovely, plant and creep!

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:02:00 -0400

Devour on the next couple of pages as we let the creative canals flow and flood you with, innovative ways of building your very own roof top gardens.

Allow not your, time and space frugal lives take away from you the joys of natural beauty. Let not the flash of bling, blur your vision to the splash of fresh. Relish to the optimum, these glories of Nature_ be it a surreal smiling morning, scorching noon or a plaid warm evening_ be it the sun, stars or the moon! Well alright, pardon me for getting poetic and romanticizing but I have a thing for this utmost form of beauty. That has nothing excessive or extravagant about it, but is just soothing simplicity! However these green co-inhabitants of our earth are fast becoming that windfall for us, advantages of which we refuse to savor. But then, blame it not on the space crunch no more, as we bring you some expert advice on how you can accommodate a personal oasis in your own abode.

Browse on, as Anusha Babbar- a well known Mumbai based horticulturist, owner of Green Grower_ a popular plant nursery; enlists the dos and don’ts of building a perfect roof top garden…

Strain not on the Drain!

The foremost things to consider before you start the building of your terrace garden, is to make sure you are well equipped. Not just with equipment and ideas but also with permissions and counseling. Consult a structural engineer or ask for your builder’s approval if you live in an apartment. Ensure before you initiate, if the flooring of your terrace is strong enough to take the wait of not just the plants but also of the accessories that will come along.

-Seek advice from a civil or structural engineer about the drainage system. However if you take care of these few little things you can manage the drainage of the terrace yourself. If the roof is quite a large one (say more than 500 sq. ft.), you need to construct drain at several places. Place pipes, leading to main holes. However, be careful with waterproofing while laying pipes, also they should not be visible and should get covered by lawn.

-Lay the floor of your terrace in a way, such that it slopes towards the drainage points thus making the mechanics of it simple. To keep your drainage system hassle free and to avoid any kind of blockage, use a net covering on each drain hole.    

Soil sufficient!

When it comes to deciding on what soil to use, more than often one will have to be satisfied with the availability in one’s region.

-You can however improve the soil texture by adding organic fertilizers and organic manure. Like the Coco Pitch (dried decomposed coconut husk), which is a little heavy on the pocket. A reasonable option to this can be simple fertilizers that are available at Rs.8-10 per Kg.

-While laying the soil bed, maintain a uniform depth of approximately 2-4 ft. So that the water percolates well into the drainage. Remember to maintain this 2 ft depth in your soil bed, apart from the 6 inches that of the floor and drainage itself.

Flora n Fauna!

Once you’ve sketched a draft that takes into consideration every basic aspect of the garden, it’s time to think about the plants you’d like to incorporate into your terrace design.

-Plants like Mint, Lemon-grass, Money plants, Palms, Aloe vera and Tulsi, basils and herbs, make apt options for your terrace garden. Flowering plants like the Convolvulus blue, Lantana, Helicomia and the Plumbago plant will add the refreshing color quotient.

-Hanging plants, plants that vine, and drooping varieties are excellent ways to soften edges and create flowing, natural spaces. Creepers like Bougainvillea, Rangoon Creepers et al, are an effective way to conceal concrete, ledges, and walls.

-While Tomatoes, brinjal (egg plant), bhindi (Ladies finger), Chilies and cluster beans are apt occupants for your kitchen garden section.

Making your hardscape easy!

Choose carefully the hardscape for your terrace garden.

-Avoid using light textures and reflective surfaces to save your self the hardships of cleaning often. In time to come, you don’t want to confront ugly faced tiles and a withered floor. So use hardscape that is water resistant and garden friendly.

-Add warm tones, wooden textures and distinct lines to a décor otherwise dominated with wilder sensibilities. Use earthy tones for a harmonious look that attracts birds and butterflies thus giving your garden space a soothing feel.    

Accessorize to Tranquilize!

A roof top garden, can be a personal corner for respite from one’s busy schedule, a party place or a family den. Either way you can transform it into any of these, with a few alterations in your garden accessory.

-A cane couch, a portable swing, an east chair, a set of side benches, a coffee table; an exotic sculpture, bird baths or even a little water body.

-Earthen pots and earthen trays available in all shapes and sizes are a perfect fit for such a setting.

-Another add on should be appropriate lightning. Make a thoughtful, right but not bright choice when picking lamps and lanterns for this area. Cause you don’t want to give the moon any complex!

Now any or all of this, can add that tranquil touch to your roof top. Take your pick however, as per the availability of place. And there you are! Ready is your garden to refresh your parched nerves.

And finally, it is of immense importance to maintain that these little gardens are an extension of your home. Therefore make sure you create an environment cozy enough, for both_ a cuppa coffee with that favorite book or a glass of wine with a bunch of friends. Such that, when the last tinges of mauve fade from the sky, you have found yourself an oasis to linger in and around! And all this, amidst these anesthetizing textures and smells of your vegetation and landscaping!    

WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 07:30:00 -0400

A Cuppa Hot Chocolate, Music, reading a good Book, writing posts as these and at times Photography!!

Bake bitter brownies, disaster style!

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 06:33:00 -0400

Step 1: Try finding your recipe book, that was Manni Khala’s (an aunt’s) gift in sheer HOPE.

Step 2: When can’t find it, try to remember your usual recipe, because the last time you baked these was ages ago. Convince yourself that you remember the recipe. Yes you do!!

Step 3: Measure out your ingredients.

Step 4: Melt together some butter, chocolate and sugar.

Step 5: Plug in Earphones, and let the ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ melt together while you wait for your symphony in the bowl to cool a bit. Stir occasionally. The chocolate mix.

Step 6: Attend to mommy, who is constantly trying to guide you through the course. Skip, this step of taking the advice!!

Step 7: Crack two eggs into the chocolate mix. Stir. Stir. And stir some more, while you miss the Blender device back home.

Step 8: Put the oven on pre-heat. Grease and flour a baking pan.

Step 9: (Change song to ‘Beat It’) Mix your measured and sieved flour and cocoa, little by little, into the chocolate-egg mix. Beat the Batter without the Blender. Just Beat It…

Step 10: Suddenly realize that you have remembered the measurements wrong and now you’ve added twice as much flour.

Step 11: Change song… A Beautiful Mess!!! Think about taking mumms help. Then think again and drop the idea!!

Step 12: Melt together some more chocolate and butter, trying to make your batter better. Mix it in. Beat Batter without the Blender. Again.

Step 13: Pour the beautiful mess into baking tray.

Step 14: Mumm thinks you should have added another egg. Think, don’t take the advice yet.

Step 15: Put tray in oven to bake. Say a little prayer.

Step 16: Off with the earphones. Switch on the laptop. Start typing this post.

Step 17: Go to oven when it beeps, touch. Ouch, it’s obviously haaat!! Realize it needs more time. Bake for five minutes more.

Step 18: Remove from oven (this time carefully enough) what looks like a tray of Mud, but tastes fairly decent. Let it cool while you contemplate having taken mumm’s advice. Repent. (God damnit, OK it could have been wayyy better had I added another egg)

LESSONS LEARNT: Always, ALWAYS check the recipe. ALWAYS ALWAYS LISTEN TO MUMM!!

The real recipe, for the sake of it:

Melt together 100g each of butter, sugar and chocolate. Let it cool a bit, then add two eggs. Fold in 1/2 cup each flour and cocoa (NOT 1 cup each, as I did.) Bake @ 180C for 10 minutes.

These steps will give you some seriously dark bitter black brownies. If you are a bitter chocolate fan, leave comment, suggestion etc, if not just leave!