Today noon, while I was on call with my Mom (listening to her on speaker), I stumbled upon an old picture of the Diwali decoration that I did last year. The images flashed happy memories of the joyous time I had; how I was immersed in my creative flow by using flowers, a cutout of a purple fabric (a blouse piece I had got as a Tambulam). I kept swiping the pictures in my Google photo gallery and they all appeared in chronological order, as if painting and narrating a day-long story. Those handmade Flower garlands, the Torans which me and my neighbour did; we were a bit frugal and behaved as an ambassador of sustainability 😊 - we gathered the raw material for decoration from around our houses and later conceptualized them all. And when the evening fell, we lit mud oil-lamps inside and at the outdoors, in the balcony and it added a warm festive feeling to my day. Not to mention, how the 'Geru Mandna' accentuated the earthy decor. The pictures ended long after the call was over and it left me with my muse - 'The Creative Flow & Medium'
At one point durning scrolling the e-pictures, I went back to a picture of staircases and zoomed-in to see the intricate design It had; I couldn't believe it was me who did it! - all by myself. I was transported back to the deep sense of ease and timelessness I felt as I was putting the designs. On that day of Diwali, there were deep emotions I was soaking up on...while I was feeling the wet Geru dripping from my fingers, I was also holding the red slurry intact on the soaked cotton ball which was tucked-in between the grip of my fingers such that it all gets collected and drip thru the ring finger and the cotton ball was working as an ink refill of a fountain pen, while I draw designs. Each design was emerging effortlessly on it's own and was getting imprinted on the staircase tile one after the other and I was in awe of the feeling of ease that my whole being experienced (which is a rarest of rare occurrence). I even remembered the song that was playing in the background - Ram aange to Angna sajaugi.... probably deep within my heart I was associating the art with welcoming Lord Ram as it was Deepavali day. I wasn't in any rush, nor there was any guests who were invited or expected....but all I know was something in me was elevated to a different zone. This was also the very first time I was not referring to any images on web or internet, my conscience was my reference and library. On and off I took trips to my childhood where I recalled my aunt (eldest Badi Mummy) who would do these at the entrance of house door, shops and near the Mandir space and I would be her baby assistant following her to every nook and corner of the house, tracing in my mind her hand moves as she interchanged between the red and white Geru and a design gets crafted. It all gave me immense joy and a weird sense of completion as if given a chance, I would just want to do these endlessly and decorate every surface.
As I was penning my thoughts here, I realized how I usually struggled to try different Artworks, feared exploring different mediums or the creative depth for either the cost involved in it or fearing failures.. inspite of no-one to question me or judge me but an intangible mental boundary always exited, hard and loud and it suffocated me. But with 'Geru'- The Earthy medium, I was at my creative best... Flowing effortlessly, fearlessly, without any limits and evolving.
With Geru, I was aware of the fact that water can take it all away in the blink of an eye or stomping shoes on the steps can easily scrub it too but I was thoroughly enjoying every moment of it as it was interlaced with timelessness and this is how I learned the innate affinity of a creative heart towards a particular medium and they both flow together!
💝
