This is a generation of Instagram,. Solo trips, Ice bucket challenges, memes, being in the groove, international fashion, being a dude is the in thing!
I agree. Its not like im not cool, I am way too cool. . But at the end of the day I do feel like going back to my old self. I crave to be back with my parents and the way I could eat rice and rasam. It has always given me a sense of belonging which is way more satisfying than being cool. Being a Textile designer, I always fall back to my culture and tradition to find inspiration. Being a child born in a Tamil Brahmin Family I always got up in the morning and took a shower and cleaned the front poach and decorated with the kolam (Rangoli).
This would be one of the most awaited moments of my life I would look forward to everyday. Even though I was just in 4th standard and such a huge responsibility of beautifying the front gate was given to me. I sensed a feeling of duty to make it look the most beautiful. I would spend more than an hour to make intricate patterns, try to find books which have new designs, try new combinations of colors. After completion I would call my grandma, Aunty, both my brothers, dad and mom one by one and show them what I had made each day!
That small praise from each of them on how beautifully I had created the Rangoli kept me going, I thought I was creative. Yes, small things like these started inspiring me, I started looking at beauty in all my surroundings, I started noticing patterns, textures and more everything was beauty to me. Slowly I started painting and drawing learning the art of appreciating beauty everywhere.
I would come back from school after a rigorous practice of basketball and then my mom had gotten me a set of pencils and a huge drawing book. It was so huge that I could not fit it in my lap, I would try to fill the page everyday with something beautiful. Some days with birds and bees, some days with flowers and leaves. Some days nothing, I would just stare. Some days I would copy from the coloring books we got back then.
Back then I didn’t know this was called Inspiration, today in this world when I am a designer I look closely into what made me this person is what I stood for, what my culture and traditions taught me. This improvisation of myself from creating beautiful Rangoli to creating beautiful garments.
This Ground Beneath me isn’t just something for me to stand on! It’s what I always stood for. This culture has held my hand thought my life and inspired me on a daily basis.
9 Comments
This is a beautiful post! <3
Omg you read it ! it means a lot !
I love kolams so much , I so miss them here in Mumbai .
Yes, little things matters a lot. Indeed, you have made a perfect Rangoli. Keep creating and growing 🙂
Y9u have expressed your self so beautifully,totally worth a read.
Such a great post..You have written it so well:) The bitter truth of the life have been written so well in this article 🙂
This is such a thoughtful post! PS I love the mehandi on your feet!
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I totally agree. The bliss you get when you’re near to your culture is something which is hard to describe and you have said everything so easily. In our daily lives, we have forgotten where we have originated from. Such a beautiful story.
This is a heart-touching article. The things and moments that take you back to your roots are always special and inseparable. We always crave to relive those moments.