Goodbye, old friend!

This is a post which I wrote the day after I moved out of my previous apartment.

Everyone has their routines, like morning chores or commuting to work or buying groceries, routines that people give little or no thought to, activities that just happen in everyday life when most people are busy planning other things. All of it changes when you know that this is probably the last time you are going to do what used to be just a routine in your life.

Yesterday when I walked to my apartment from the train station, I took my time to do it. I enjoyed the sunset more than I use to, forgot to cross the road since I stayed longer at the signal, simply looking around, got immersed in the beauty of the blue sky during twilight (my favorite time of the day) even though I have seen many times, all of this because I didn't want let go of that feeling, the feeling which I get when I am around that neighborhood for a random walk to the nearby shop or a Saturday morning jogging session, when the feelings are always that of hopes and dreams.

I didn't want to let go because, it was time for us to move out from our apartment, the place where I started my life with the love of my life, the place where we not only lived, but enjoyed every bit of it, for the last two years. The place which gave us nothing but happiness, the place which is full of happy memories, laughter and energy, the place which we set up from scratch, where we painted the walls with “loud” colors, the place which automatically gets transformed to a party place every Friday night, the place which we transformed from a mere apartment to our home.

When its time for us to move on, we all think about the time when we started it and it never looks that far into the past, it always feels like yesterday. The apartment was no different. It gave us a lot of memories to cherish for the rest of our lives. Each of those walls or windows had some special memory etched to it. The place never stopped inspiring and motivating us.

By the time we were done with cleaning and packing the last of the stuff, it was late night. Still we just sat there for a while thinking about all those nostalgic moments. Both of us felt heavy at heart. We felt that the apartment has a soul, one which we created out of our own soul, our lives, one which we hope will follow us, no matter wherever we go.

The last of the beer cans we consumed before passing on the keys to the landlord

Varnam 2013- My first Art Exhibition

As some of my readers already know, I have ventured into many types of visual art forms over the years. I started with sketch pen, crayons & watercolor as a kid but continued to use water color as my main medium until very recently. Lately I've been using acrylic as my main medium due to the ease of use and many other factors.

I enjoyed the whole process of “creation” immensely (the frequency was going down recently as I focused more on photography), but mostly I did it only for my own satisfaction. My family and close friends were my audience and it was their encouragement that inspired and motivated me to do more. I never exhibited my works for an external audience to see (except for the exhibitions I was part of in school and college days).

The fact changed when my good friend Nikhil called me a with an invitation. An invitation for an Art exhibition organised by Kaleido - a digital arts club led by the youth wing of Singapore Malayalee Association (SMA). The goal was to create a platform for amateur artists in Singapore to showcase their work, to give it an international exposure.

Immediately I agreed to join. I had 3 of my works in Singapore and I decided to exhibit them. Even though I wanted to do a new work just for the exhibition, I couldn't make it as I had a lot of things going on.

The exhibition was organised on Jan 26-27, 2013. It was conducted in the SMA building, in Singapore. 11 artists - both amateur and professionals - participated in the event. More than 80 artworks were exhibited with a variety of media like watercolor, acrylic, oil, charcoal etc. Clay modelling, miniature modelling and animations added new dimensions to an already vibrant collection of art forms. The event was a huge success with more turnover than expected by the organizers.

For me personally, the event was a big opportunity, an opportunity to showcase my ability as an artist in front of a greater audience. But more importantly, it gave me the chance to meet a lot of like minded individuals who share a common passion and spend 2 days with them, discussing ideas and exploring various possibilities of a variety of media. This enabled me to get back in track with my long fading passion for colors and to kick start my “painting” activities, again.