I have never been artistic in my life and appreciate what it takes to be artistic. It was more of a chore than an interest in school which is reflected in all my so-called artwork. It was bad, mundane, and painfully mediocre.
So much so that I never thought of art as a part of my life for long. In recent times I have started to appreciate others and wish I could do something similar. Trust me it is a great start given where I was (thinking it is an absolute waste of time).
Yesterday was one such time when I was in awe of an artist. He is my boss S, one of the most creative minds I have ever met. Restless most times and frustrated that the rest of the world is not keeping up with his pace. He is a go-getter, a kick-ass salesman, and an awesome business consultant. One thing I had never related to him was art but the last few yrs have changed that mindset.
He is crazy about the Dasara gombe setup (a ritual where dolls are put up for display during the Dasara festival) and has taken it to the next level. He thinks of a theme for his Dasara which is different every year and designs the entire story around it. It is not just a display but complete end-to-end storytelling of our history :)
This year's story was Ramayana with Ayodhya as the centerpiece. He has taken the effort to start with the ancient scripture that defines Ayodhya and painted a picture of the journey.
- It starts with Ravana lifting Kailasa to show his strength and get Lord Shiva's blessing. The 10-headed Ravana had to be custom-made and shipped. He managed to give a 60 yr old movie scene to the artist to replicate NTR's face. Each face had different features which would the attention to detail.
- The gods pray to Vishnu to save them and Dasharatha Maharaj does a homa to get the blessed with children. He is given a payasam which he shares with his 3 queens and is blessed with 4 boys. The boys are trained by Rishi Valmiki in a gurukul. The elegance of the queens and the poise of the boys in gurukul were super.
- Janaka Maharaj finds Sita (I did not know Sita means Plough/negilu) in a field that has a cow with a plow for detailing.
- Sita swayamvar was so clearly shown. There was a small cart to push the Shiva Dhanush to depict that it was very heavy and could only be handled by Sita and the Groom had to be equally strong🙂
- The marriage happens and they are soon exiled to vanavasa. The pain ok Dasharatha's face is clear and the humble stance of Rama shows his respect
- The bullock cart shows all the stuff that Rama, Sita, and Laxmana leave behind.
- The scene where Bharatha takes Rama's paduka to rule was beautiful. It showed respect for each other on the face
- The next scene of the golden deer with Sita almost ordering to hunt was clear
- Next was the scene of Vali fighting Sugreeva and Rama slyly killing him from hiding (Vali had a boon to get half the strength of the opponent, so had to be killed from hiding). Rama's posture showed the slyness and discomfort of this act clearly.
- Next was Hanuman looking to present Rama's ring to Sita in Lanka before the Lanka Dahan. The expression of the demons who guarded Sita was incredible, for me the best piece of the lot.
- The last scene was Ram offering prayers to shiva in Rameshwaram and building Ram Sethu to cross the ocean and reach Lanka. Ending with Rama's fight with Ravana and winning.
- This then moved to the crowning of Rama as the King with his family and friends around him
- All this story shows the significance of Ayodhya in Hinduism and then shows a real-life replica of the temple being built. He has taken a miniature of the temple and got a scaled version done by looking at multiple videos. The attention to detail in a number of pillars, levels, and structures was crazy.
- There were a few other setups like the Thirupathi Bhramostava or Vadirajaru with his book talking depicting the key places in India.
- He had also added European cities in the mix to tell his travel stories with a big toy train.
What makes me wonder is the time that is spent thinking of the entire story, imagining all the small details, and then working with different artists to bring it to life. S has managed to bring uniqueness to every doll which fits beautifully in the story. Not one doll has the same expression, they are actually living that moment. He then created each scene manually to depict the exact thought process with painstaking detail (trees, animals, jewels, water bodies, etc). And all this has been done while working 14 hrs a day. I don't know when he manages to rest or sleep.
Looking at the scale and the detail, I was so impressed with what is possible if you can put your mind to it. He was like a kid explaining the whole journey to everyone who visits his house to have a look.
I guess art can have that effect on you, you lose track of time and get immersed in the creation.
My respect for artists shot through the roof😄 I wish I could bring in such energy on something creative🙂I hope I get immersed in creating something I love🙂
