It's very difficult to practice what I preach!

              I had a good conversation with a kid who learns music from me. He is a very intelligent kid with lots of enthusiasm. He is just 5 but has exceptional understanding. Whenever I talk to him, keeping aside the innocence of his', I don't feel like I am talking to a 5 year old. The way he responds to any question never failed to surprise me.

        

              He keeps crying in the class, and says that he misses his parents. Though I tell him that his Dad is going to be with him in just a few minutes, he cannot control his grief. As a result, his focus on the lesson being done, is very less. One fine day, he was, for some reason, not missing his parents much. That day, he learnt 6 of the lessons, as opposed to only 2 in 4 of his previous classes. And he became worrisome again another day. So, I explained to him that when he worries much, his focus is less. I told him how he learnt 6 lessons in one class. At the end of the class, I usually give a summary of what I teach. So, when I asked him what we learnt that day, the response he gave made me extremely happy. I was so surprised. I was expecting him to say that he learnt so and so swaralu. But he said that he learnt not to worry, and that worrying will decrease his performance. I was awed by his understanding.

              I could talk to him and explain how worry leads to things not being done properly. But I, myself am not able to follow that. These days, I think of that kid, and what I explained him, whenever I am worried. And I really think, it is not easy to practice what we preach. Those who can, are praiseworthy. 

My First Music Performance

               I feel so happy for being able to sing Carnatic Music. I, in fact, feel fortunate and blessed for getting the chance to learn this form of music with lots of support from my family. I don't remember practicing music ever, while I was a student. All my practice was in the shower. I still sing in the shower. So, this morning, in the shower, I was singing one of those beautiful Annamacharya Keerthanalu, and I suddenly thought of my first ever performance on stage.

              
              I was 10 or 11 yrs old may be. In Nellore, TTD conducted State-level competitions every year. So, my parents felt that I am grown enough to perform on the stage and they enrolled me in the competition. I was myself very interested in participating too. So, I chose one random cassette of Annaymacharya Keerthanalu from the pile and played it. I chose the song 'Kanti Sukravaramu'. And I practiced it myself. This song will always be my special song. That being said, please don't think that I did very well in that competition. 

             
             That was the very first time I was going to perform on the stage, that too in a competition. I was so very nervous. When my name was called for, I gathered some courage to perform, with the support of mom and dad. It was my first and last worst performance :) I started singing, but because of nervousness I couldn't control my breath. On top of that, I saw one of the judges, nodding her head. Today, I feel that she might have done that feeling that my song was going good, in spite of my no control over breath. But, that day, I thought that they did not like my song, and that she is asking me to stop the song. What a fool I was!! They were asking some folks to stop the song, when they felt they have already judged their song. So, may be I was not confident on my song, or whatever, I don't know. I just came off the stage, and started crying :). I still remember that day and laugh my heart out. Some of my friends' parents suggested me to practice more. However, that day, I learned something. The next year, I took the same song and I was selected for semi-finals. Of course, I couldn't get through the semi-finals but that was an achievement!!

Dotted Mani!!

          So, here is a dotted mani I did for myself for a contest -- http://www.chalkboardnails.com/2012/02/im-hosting-nail-art-contest.html. 
         Just saw this and thought I can give it a shot. I am not an expert at mani but wanted to give it a try. So, here is my mani!!

           I am not very good at taking pictures too, but yeah.. here it is!!! :)

January Post!

       Heylo folks!! It's been very very very long since I posted something on my blog. Have been quite busy from a couple of weeks before the new year even started. Had so many friends visiting us. And now, I realized that today is the last day of the first month of this year. So, badly wanted to post something for the month, lol.

       To me, the new year started very well. As with every year, I started this year too, with a set of resolutions, wink. And please don't ask me how I am dealing with those. I lost track of those in the first month itself. But the year is not over yet. So, I really hope to follow my resolutions for this year (Power of positive thinking :P). Some people really does not want to make any resolutions. I think one should definitely make some such list. Following it or not, is secondary. I really feel it is important to get some ideas kindled. My most important resolution for this year is to not speak ill of anyone, either in front of them or at their back. I don't say I do this often. But, sometimes people drive me crazy with their behavior and attitude. Even in such situations I should not give up.

       Well, I took some other resolutions too, like eating healthy, ways of spending, to never get upset with loved ones and some such things. I have done many new things last year. I hope this year too, brings me the joy in doing new things and enjoying every moment to the fullest. I wish all you guys to have happiness, joy and I wish that you guys get what you wish for. I know it's a little too early, but, Happy New Year :P

Glass Paintings

          Here are some of the glass paintings I made. Some are candle holders and other are vases. Just thought of sharing the pics.

           

                This was a very beautiful candle holder. This is the first one I made after coming to the USA. Unfortunately, it broke (wail).

             

                 This is a plain vase I found unused at my sister-in-law's place. And, I turned it this way. I simply love the way this vase helped in making a beautiful design.

                Mmmm.. this is the one that I did on a beautiful bottle. Right from the time I started drawing, as a child, I loved to draw this kind of  'girl with a pot' pictures. I went with the same using glass paints on this bottle. It's looking quite good. But, there is still a lot left to finish this one. I hope to finish it some day.
 

                These are the candle holders I 'wanted to' paint for Diwali this year. But I could do them only a few months later. Here are some more pictures of the same ones.

 

             The next picture is of a vase-brush-comb holder trio. I had hard luck finding this trio that matches my shower curtain. So I moved on with glass painting. 

               With a little effort and time, I feel that I got some unique pieces in my home :)

My latest Crush-'Fipu'

         No no, not a person! It's my food processor. Yes, it's Cusinart's Prep 7, 7 cup food processor I bought for thanksgiving. Here it is, cute and beautiful :)

         This was one of the early bird specials at Kohl's for Thanksgiving sale. We ran off to Kohl's at 11.45 PM since the store was about to open at 12 AM. And, there would be little chance to get this one, late in the morning, as it was on a huge sale. We waited in the queue to get into the store. It was quite an experience since it was the first time we ever went shopping for thanksgiving, in the midnight. Somehow, I got one for myself. I never planned to buy this, but bought at the suggestion of a friend. He told that it is good for making Chapati dough. As chapati is something we eat most of the times at home, using some ready-to-use chapatis, which have hell lot of oil, is scary. And making dough with hand makes me cry. So, I thought I can give it a try. And, now, I can't tell how much I love my 'Fipu'. Hahha.. yeah I named it so. I just give it some flour and water. It gives me soft and smooth dough in just 1-2 minutes, which is incredible compared to 30 mins of preparing it with hand. OMG, I am loving it more and more, day by day. I have had several 'not so good' experiences with many kinds of doughs. I am sure this one is going to be of great help for all those in the future. Long live my 'Fipu'.

Experiments with Canvas

        Painting or drawing is something other than singing that makes me happy. May be, I started drawing when I was 8. After all these years, a few months ago, I tried painting on canvas for the first time. Since acrylics are easier to deal with, compared to oil paintings, I decided to go with acrylics on canvas. Here are some of my paintings.

 

           'Gam Ganapathi' - This is the first of all. Lord Ganesh. As it was the first time I was trying on canvas, I wanted to keep it very simple. So, I chose this comparatively easier picture of Lord Ganesh. This, however, found its way to a friend's place!

          'RadhaKrishnulu' - with Bapu's inspiration. I was always a fan of Bapu's paintings. This was one of the paintings in a Bapu's collection that was printed as a book called 'Harivillu'. My mom bought this for me during my Undergrad. I definitely struggled with this painting. I think it's kind of okay though!

         'Gorgeous Gals' - This is a painting that I took inspiration from a picture I found on the internet. I really worked very hard on this one, to generate the colors. Since this is a grouped canvas art, and it also had connectivity between one board and the other, it was quite a big project to hang it on the wall. It was a project for Shiva though, wink! He somehow struggled to fix them in place. And these 4 Gorgeous Gals, now hang gracefully on a wall in my home.

           
         'Swastika' - This one, I painted as a gift for my sister-in-law. I wanted to show a little of Indian culture, mainly Hinduism though. I chose Swastik since it is used mainly to denote good luck. So, I went with using Swastik. This is also a grouped art, that has connectivity among the boards.

          

         'Life' - This one, I really consider as one of the best paintings till now. And, this was done by Shiva and me, together! I was attracted to frame art recently. So, I decided to go with some frame art for our dining room wall. I went to the craft store looking for some beautiful frames. But, could never get one, since they were obviously out of my budget. Fortunately, I found a plain white frame for just 5 bucks, and I instantly took it. And I wanted to go with two 11x14 canvases for this one. We spray painted the frame black, and decorated with Ruby Gems and Gold paint. We chose a random art for the canvases, and painted it with acrylics. Initially I planned to stick the two canvases with just the frame around. But it was Shiva's idea to use the red board and stick the canvases on it. I think it's an awesome idea. This is our favorite painting till now.

           

            Shiva was the one who helped me a lot by encouraging and giving opinions on the colors and the paintings. He never let me compromise on colors. So, I must say, he contributed a lot to these. I dedicate all these paintings to him -- Shiva!!!

To Shiva... With Love.. Tyu!