Whatever you may think, I’m an introvert through and through.
Those telephone ladies
While I was cleaning the house this morning, I had to dust the telephone (Yes we still have one, and it’s hardly ever used). The inadequacy of my feather duster reminded me of the telephone ladies that used to visit our house in Calcutta when we were growing up…Like everyone else we had the black model 500 telephone designed by Henry Dreyfuss. Of course I didn’t know it then.
They were nearly always middle-aged, in sarees, with folding umbrellas, and a huge black bag in which they carried their tools. We would watch curiously as they deftly did their job…And left as inconspicuously as they’d arrived.
The phone was a bit smelly for a day, though…Anyway I can only sigh…and sigh…for those lost telephone ladies and of a slow, quiet time. (And my inadequate modern duster.)
From the Monocle podcast
I listen to podcasts quite a bit. Here’s the link to Monocle’s. And if you’re wondering, you can also listen to a podcast without an Apple device.
A place with magic
And I think this is true for most of us, including non-designers.
Calm in the air ends with Periyar
Calm in the air | Calm in the air, Kochi and Silent Valley | Calm in the air, Silent Valley and Alapuzzha | Calm in the air, Lake Vembanad
Bengalis, as everyone knows, are notoriously bad at other Indian languages, specially if they’ve grown up in Bengal, and my uncle is no different. And faced with Malayalam, he devised his own version:
Anyway, from Kottyam we went on to Periyar Forest Reserve. The road was beautiful – bordered with tea gardens and rubber plantations – and the aroma of spices greeted us the closer we got to the forest
I was drawing more nature on this trip than humans and the brown boy objected. “What’s the point of drawing nature? You can’t even do justice to it! I hereby direct you to draw only people.” So I tried, somewhat, on the last day.
And of course, the best part of every holiday is when you’re recounting the stories to your friends – just like I’m telling you now.
Calm in the air, part 4, Lake Vembanad
Calm in the air | Calm in the air, Kochi and Silent Valley | Calm in the air, Silent Valley and Alapuzzha
We took a local ferry from Aleppy to Kottayam, on Lake Vembanad. It was absolutely breathtaking.
The ferry would stop at these villages, every few minutes or so – just like bus stops – and people would get on and off. To tourists like me who’d never been to Kerala it was really new.
We passed hundreds of houseboats, and here is Anirudh telling us to read an article about Kerala later on –
And there were tons of birds – and I kept drawing and drawing trying to capture their motion
And amid all this beauty, someone was snoozing away
Calm in the air, part 3, Silent Valley and Alapuzzha
Part 2, Kochi and Silent Valley
So, on to part 3 of the now-long forgotten Kerala holiday.
We didn’t do much more in Silent valley, except go on a safari. Here’s a place which reminded me of Spirited Away.
We also saw a couple of animals (I drew these from memory, so they may not be true to life).
Then we went on to Alaphuzzha, or Aleppy as it was called in English, a few hours away by car. It was all about the backwaters, tapioca chips and coconuts.
Yes, the retreating monsoons, my sketchbook. Happy Kerala-ing.
Part4 tomorrow.
inktales 