Print making at the imagination factory...

Some of the stuff that one team collected for their printing... :)
That's the seed pod of the Silk Cotton tree and those are the clusters of seeds.

"Eh, saavkash le...! Jaasti paint haakiddra, yella sorteti... print chalo barragilla nod.mattha...!!"

 The very interesting prints that they got...! :)

 The very interesting prints that they got...! :)

 Look at this...!! :)

 The leaf of the Bauhinia...

 The leaf of the Bauhinia...

 A smart little Ladybird beetle created from prints made with the leaf of a weed and a dry flower head... :)

 The same boy made this clever minimialistic Lizard with prints made with a bamboo leaf and some pebbles...!
Pretty innovative...!!

 "Idu nann chitte.ri Moushi... Haarak ready aagakhattaiti.ri...!"
Wow...! :D

 A casuarina sprig being used to make bushes...!

And the completed painting...
These two girls, Shreyasi and Sushma, worked in partnership and used interesting stuff like bits of sponge, leaves, twigs, two varieties of flowers, a wild fruit, pebbles and bits of cardboard, to make this simple yet elegant work of art. Ingenious...!! :) :)

 Another pretty one that these girls made...

"Moushi, nann aami.ri idu... Yesht odsidru munda hogvaltaagait.ri...!"
Material used to make this super lazy tortoise- Leaves and pebbles :)

"Kai yeshta holas aagtaav, ashta chand namm paintings aagtaav all.ri Moushi...??"

 
This boy chose the colour blue and blue it was all the way...! :)

 It's gold for me...! :)

 The same Silkcotton seeds helped make this beautiful tree...!

 The leaf of the Passion fruit creeper...!

This boy used some wild fruit to make these prints and then converted them into a row of pretty flowers...!

 Taking a break...!! :))

I kinda loved these colours- Very different !
He used a sliced Aloe vera leaf and very smartly got the paint diluted with the aloe gel...!! :)

 "Gaalyaag naayikodi/mushroom haaryadaakhattaiti.ri Moushi..."
This is exactly what this boy said and for a few moments, I just stood there gaping at this intriguingly stunning image...!

 Working together as teams... :)

Watching intently as their team-mate makes a print... And then as she lifted off the leaf, they would all go- "WOW, Moushi, lagoo barri.pa, yen mastha aagait.ri...!!" :)

 Kai kesaraadra... :)

 The boys couldn't have enough of painting on mushtaches... :))

 "Sikkiyale...!!"

 Raghottam was not satisfied with the mushtach, he went to the corner of the classroom and was very surreptitiously adding on side burns...!! :))

The girls having fun... :)

BOYS...!! :)

We did some creative printing today...
The challenge I set for the kids- Find objects that you feel could make prints and use them innovatively to create interesting pictures/patterns/designs...

And boy, they came up with some really innovative stuff...! They'd sourced an interesting range of stuff, right from a wild fruit, a variety of leaves, twigs, bits of sponge, pebbles, causirina cones, seeds and seed pods, to cardboard...!! And at the end of it all, the kids had some super fun painting each others faces...!! It was interesting to note, all the boys, very instinctively painted on mushtaches and the girls did some abstract colourful streaks... !?!

Mustaches and streaks aside, it was even more interesting to see a few of the kids reveal their creative side and come up with some intriquingly stunning stuff... And guess what, the kids themselves gave me and my teaching methods a stamp of approval with their closing line- "Moushi, ivatta naav yenu gaddla haakilla houdillri...?"

KIDS...!!!! :) :)

  Not very happy with the quality of the pictures though. Very difficult to get good lighting in our classrooms...!

Silhouettes against gold- An awe-inspiring evening at Kelgeri lake

This was how mundane and plain looking the evening sky was to begin with...
But then, I knew there was something spectacular for me in store...!

I sat there on a rock taking in the lovely evening breeze, waiting for the naatak to begin, Shamim Bhaiyya went about finding the right dabba angadi for girmitt and chaha...

The sun was steadily sliding toward the horizon, the bridge before me began to form a silhouette, and a faint hint of burnished gold crept in the sky, giving a hint of the drama to come...

The blue in the sky began to gradually fade allowing the gold to spread...
As I captured this last frame of the blue sky, a herd of buffaloes were driven past me to the lake... I jumped in excitement, and shouted out to Shamim Bhaiyya, who was now watching from the bridge... "Shamim Bhaiyya, Yemmi, yemmi...!" Shamim Bhaiyya just smiled and nodded his head and continued telling an inquisitive bunch of people who had gathered beside him, about my "photo lene ka paagalpan" ...

As the spectacular backdrop streched, the water turned to molten gold and the setting sun formed a glimmering streak across the water...
There came Basu to watch over his Yemmis and get his cycle washed alongside...

It was interesting to watch him go about his cleaning so meticulously... Basu does love his cycle...!!

His painstaking, meticulous, careful cleaning, remindede me of a friend... :P
I had to admire Basu... As he cleaned his bicycle, he also kept a cautious eye on his Yemmis, who by now were wallowing luxuriously in the Kelgeri waters...

Ah there...! Looks like he's finally happy with his handiwork...

Not really...
He's back to some more cleaning along with his mother, who's now joined him to bathe the buffaloes and some bullocks that she brought along with her...

How could one not be in admiration and respect for all this hard work...

All done, washing up and ready to head back home with their cattle...

And there we have some enthusiastic fishermen...
These guys were from Kelgeri, and were very keen to see the pictures...!
They were mighty pleased to see themselves, though they were mere silhouettes...!

"Manyaag hoyykontaar le.pa, lagoo nadrriyo...!!"
A bunch of kids returning home after a fun evening...

For a moment, I stopped focusing on the sky before me and turned around to look down at the earth... A what do I see...
It was simply beautiful...!!

And then the glimmering gold took on a burnished sheen and began to slowly prepare for an exit... Everything around turned into deep dark brooding silhouettes...

Shamim Bhaiyya's shout of- "Varsha Ma'am, girmitt ready huahai, khane tak jaaneka time ho jayega...!" reminded me of the time I'd spent by the lovely waters of the lake...

It was time for me to make my way up to the walkway... Time for some fresh girmitt and bishi bishi chcha... Time to head back home and excitedly transfer the pictures to my laptop... time to...

And before I left, how could I miss this silhouette...!

And then the shimmering gold turned to shades of warm orange, tangerine, vermillion and bronze...

Ha, how could I not put up a picture of the place where we had this yummy girmitt and superb chaha...!!