Vignettes of Chennai

There is little to match the pleasure of the aimless stroll- you  go where your legs take you! You can start from anywhere. I did just that each day....took an auto-rickshaw and got down at the "tank"- Mylapore tank. From then on, I let my feet take complete control- choosing this lane over the other, turning into a little street here at the roundabout, an alley there....and simply soaked in.... the sights and sounds of Chennai. The smells couldn't be missed too- the fragrance of jasmine, the aroma of rich, freshly-ground coffee and the heady pull of "masaal-vadai" from the wayside hotels! 


But....the aimless stroll has one cardinal rule- you don't pause and get caught-up in any particular topic. That's the trick. You "observe" with a keen eye.....and register all the details...the cyclist, the auto-rickshaw, the car, the cow, the crow, the people, the tiffin-menu.... but you let-go each time...and walk past. You walk, observe, walk, observe...walk....
It's therapeutic....I tell you... and the perfect antidote to break the tedium of routine, the routine of our lives....the "triteness of being"!


It was thus that I found myself at Ramakrishna Mission as I turned the corner. The location changed...but not the approach-  I didn't rush to the main structure- the prayer hall, spend the ten-minutes and dash out! That routine will wait another day. Instead, I chose to linger around the satellite buildings.  The foundation stone went back to 1906 and the "Old-Temple" came up in 1916! Sri Ramakrishna's direct disciple, Swami Ramakrishnananda was sent by Vivekananda to Chennai...and the mission's activities in the south started from this very site.....a hundred years ago! The plaques were informative and marked key spots around the entire campus.
I selected a spot facing the Library. To the right is the "Old Temple". To the left is a park with a monument. The sky....in swirls of grey...and the ground...damp...with a hint of overnight drizzle and strewn with yellowed leaves. A canopy of trees spread its gnarled fingers...over the entire pathway.

Perfect setting! Sitting down on the steps....I took out the sketch book and the sharpened, 2B pencil and drew. 

Just a rough, loose, breezy sketch....an attempt to convey the mood of the moment, without worrying about exactness or detail. In an hour, I was done....the outlines inked in black. It was time to head home. Later in the day, I faired it up, with water-colors and color-pencils.


The next day, my stroll took me to the Kapaleeshvara Temple, one of Chennai's most celebrated temples. I selected a remote spot, facing the shrine of "Punnai-vana-natha". Lord Shiva is Punnai-vana-natha....the Lord (natha) of the forest (vana) of "punnai" (punnaga, "Alexandrian Laurel" in English) trees. As per the Temple-Purana, Parvati, in the form of a peacock ("mayil") worshipped Lord Shiva at this very shrine. That's how "Mayilaapore" got its name!

 


People thronged the temple premises...to form queues to get to the main-sanctum and to see the "vahanas" on display. I chose to "observe".....the place, the people..... and a little cat which stretched itself on the stony-corridor...mindless of the commotion around!
And that's when the sketch was born...I drew what I saw....till it got so dark that I couldn't see any more! The next day, I faired it up at home, with black-ink and a quick, water-color wash!


Ultimately, Chennai is about having oodles of time on your hands. It's about that inexplicable feeling of leisure; it's about reconfirming from the clock that it's only 7:30 in the morn but you felt it should be 11 am,  it's about taking your time over a cup of hot filter-coffee tucked with the morning Hindu, it's about overhearing Carnatic music from the neighbor's, it's about the raucous caw of the crow at the window-sill, it's about the eye-piercing dazzle of the afternoon sun!!!

That's how the other home-sketches came up. Just drew what I saw each day. It's all about a box of colors and time....that's all you need!