All That Matters....: 2020

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

An Art Travelogue

My recent trip to Athens Greece was quite remarkable in many ways. We went there just before the Covid 19 struck the entire world. Since then any travels seem like a distant dream and I am so grateful to have visited the place , a choicest destination for any Art lover!

It was also the first time I saw the ancient city of Athens not through the big pages of Janson’s Art History book or a picture posted online but with my own organic eyes!

Decades ago as an Art History major I would often look at the pictures of Nike or the grand fluted pillars of Acropolis and wondered if I would ever see them. I finally saw and experienced the majestic art and architecture of Greece. Here are a few things that caught my attention in a mild or impactful manner.

Goddess Athena : The main Goddess of Athens, goddess of wisdom and war,

and patron of arts and crafts. She was the one who gifted the Olive Trees to Athens. Interesting fact : Did you know that there is a full replica of the statue of Athena in The Parthenon in Centennial Park, here in the USA ,in Nashville, Tennessee built in 1897.

Column Orders and a Special plant: Classical Columns ( or Pillars in layman’s words) in architecture that we see all over the world, from the White House to the porches of our homes were also a gift from the ancient Greeks! I still remember studying these column orders in great detail during my BFA days! But keeping it simple ~ there are three styles of columns 1.Doric order - simplest and the smallest.

2. Ionic order- taller and had a scroll like vault on the top. 3.Corinthian order- the most decorative , tallest(and my favorite).

While taking a tour of the Temple of Zeus (which still has 15 Corinthian columns standing ), the guide showed a plant nearby, to which I didn’t pay much attention, until I came to know that this plant was perhaps the inspiration for the elaborate design of the Corinthian columns! It's called the Acanthus plant and grows wild in the area. Clearly so, I could then make a direct connection between the shape of the leaves and designs donning the capital of the grand pillars!

One of the most prized sculptures of the Hellinestic Period is the Nike of Samothrace the winged goddess of Victory. There is a small Temple dedicated to Athena Nike at Parthenon. However the Nike of Samothrace which I had been wanting to see up close is not in Athens but at the Louvre Paris! It is undoubtedly the star attraction of the Louvre Museum (apart from Monalisa ). Made around 2000 years ago,it is awe inspiring to think the way white marble had been carved with many tactile textures, the contrapposto pose capturing the moment Nike just landed on the ground, the way the sculpture emits and weaves the energy around is absolutely remarkable! One needs to see this to experience it.

But until our future impending trip to the Louvre, we decided to get this gorgeous marble replica of the Nike of Samothrace from Athens, and now descends and graces my home!

Arch of Hadrian: Just 2 minutes away from the Temple of Zeus is the Arch of Hadiran. Back in 2c AD it divided the old and new cities. Now it’s right in the middle of the city, just off the main road. The archway is made out of marble, standing tall and wide with Corinthian columns on the top story, it also has some inscriptions on it.

After looking at the monument ,that particular day, as we walked around the cobblestone streets in the Plaka area (market), I gave more attention to the quaint windows, arches and decorative doorways of the regular greek households. They had a character of their own, a charming reminder that aesthetics and colors bring joy to everyone, no matter where you are , who you are, powerful or ordinary , mighty or mundane.

The Olive Trees! Who doesn’t like EVOO !(Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

Known for its profound qualities, this plant is the top choice for salad lovers like me, especially the Kalamata olives !

Legend has it that the olive tree was gifted to the city of Athens by Athena in a contest against Poseidon, which she won, as the people chose her gift (olive tree) rather than Poseidon’s (salty spring water) !

I saw these trees represented in many ways : metal sculpture, decorative artifacts & wreaths, patterns on textile and of course olive plantation all over in the region. It is said that an olive tree (highlighted in pic’s) is planted in the very same location as the first olive tree given to the city of Athens ! No it's not that old though ! The present tree is around 60 years old~ It stands in front of the Temple of Erechtheion on the Acropolis.

City views : Athens is beautifully set in between many small hills, surrounding it like a garland. It also offers many high hill top locations to see some stunning panoramic views, espeically at night.

The Parthenon being the center point of the city, looks spectacular both during the day and night. The highest point in the city is Lykavittos, (seen in pictures taken from the Acropolis). Some panoramic views taken from Delphi were also mesmerizing. The greenery was fresh and vibrant in contrast to the hills and rocks, standing still for thousands of years.

This culmination of the new and the ancient was a calming and humbling experience. I tried to absorb these moments by consciously paying attention to deep breathing and being present in the ‘now’. Those moments are now stored in my eternal gratitude file to be cherished forever !

Reflections on a modern electronic makeover in my Desi kitchen

It was a humid August evening in Ambala, India. Looking towards the pink sky from the kitchen window she said to her sister,“It's your turn today!”

“No! It’s yours!” replied her sister within a split second.

“Oh well !”the girl obliged. Rolling her eyes she shabbily walked over to the slab and started working. Beating and punching her fists into the loose flour,taming out her extra energy.

At the back of her mind she knows that this task will be judged and so she must do it well. In 7 minutes precise she rolls out a pliable and fluffy dough ball, feeling accomplished and relieved.

The huffing puffing teenager beating the dough was none other than me ,few decades ago!

Each day my sister and I took turns to knead the dough for dinner that our mom would then make “rotis” of , and depending on the quality of the dough ,we could be over the moon with her praises or walk away sheepishly with a sharp dose of her criticism.

This was one of the many essential skills that mom had enforced as highly necessary and made sure we practiced through our teen years.

Fast forward it to a quarter century later. I am talking to my 16 year old daughter “Beta, we need to set a time for me to teach you how to knead the dough!” She replies “ Mom, please don't worry I can see the youtube tutorial and learn, you don’t need to go through the hassle of giving me live demonstration!”

My jaws drop and eyes open wide, exclaiming with tension in my forehead I said “You cannot learn everything on the net! Kneading the dough is the one of the most basic but very difficult skills, it needs expertise and you will have to learn it through practice!”

“OK mom,I will if you insist!” she replied with a nonchalant shrug,“ But honestly what is the need of learning all this... when was the last time you kneaded the dough yourself?”

Now that was ‘the’ question! With a clueless look, I thought to myself.”When? Wait, I did last week ! Nope! Seriously, when was the last time I kneaded the dough?”

My daughter was right!

It had been quite a while now. Not that we had given up eating bread or had outsourced to another person. I was still providing my family with fresh and home cooked rotis but the process of things had really changed.

Until recently my kitchen was run in a very traditional way. Early in the morning I would put the pan on the stove and pound the fresh cardamom to make masala chai. It was similar to what my mother had done back in India, a whole generation ago.

I had adopted the conventional style of functioning in the kitchen just as I had learned from her. From tea to dinner, I still believed in doing everything from scratch, otherwise it was no good.

As the years went by, the topic of an immigrant Indian women bringing Indian traditions to the American kitchen observantly increased around my coffee meet ups.

While my friends would talk in awe of the convenience of using frozen meals and pre- made masalas or outsourcing dishes completely, I, in no ability to relate to them, would keep quiet of my reality of still choosing to chop fresh ingredients before every meal.

However, I was gradually realizing the cons of my lifestyle. It was time consuming and tedious, to say the very least. With a full time job and without any helping hands I often found myself grumbling and venting about my inconveniences.

The fact that this precious time being used on the chopping board and stove could have easily been an opportunity to unfold my creative outputs and hobbies, greatly bothered me.

Then, a visit from a dear friend one day, led to a series of drastic changes that my kitchen had never experienced before!

It all started with a gift of gourmet tea bags which simply prefered to to be steeped in a certain temperatures of boiling water rather than being boiled in a open pan, to bring out the subtle flavors. She suggested I get an electric kettle to enjoy the speciality teas.

Only for the love of tea and our friendship did I get the electric kettle to which otherwise I never had felt the need of.

Not only did it brewed that perfect cup of tea with the right temperatures , it also eliminated the hassle of scrubbing the pan with the dishes afterwards!

As my friend and I sat back sipping the aromatic brew, the topic of kitchen time management obviously came up. “ I love to cook, but it is becoming so time consuming”,no sooner had I started complaining,she gave off the looks as if I was living under a rock !

“There are many smart intelligent tools out there that you desperately need girl, what in the world are doing with this ancient style of cooking!”She stated in my face with a matter of fact concern.

It hit me hard in that moment that my kitchen was crying of modern technology upgrades and I had paid no attention to it in years!

That conversation initiated a splurge of investments in smart kitchen appliances. From an electric egg beater to an egg boiler, electric skillet ,grill and cooker (Instant pot ),rice cooker ,roti maker, I got them all!

I had clearly delaved into the evolution of my kitchen.

Most of the smart tools, not only helped a typical task in the kitchen, but were also amazingly helpful for my Desi style of cooking.

The tools became the helping hands that I had always missed. Like the roti making machine (Rotimatic) replaced the sieving , kneading ,rolling and cooking of rotis and turning it all into an efficient and automatic affair.

In this light, even YouTube tutorials on kneading dough seemed irrelevant.

The best part of using the smart technology was it didn’t need the babysitting typically needed in the manual methods. The satisfaction of still providing the family with fresh home cooked meals plus the benefits of being time saver sealed the deal for me!There was no going back!

And while a machine can never replicate the human touch, my zeal and enthusiasm of using it was infectious and my family adjusted well to the food being cooked in slightly different ways.

I felt as if I had transformed into a modern, hip version of myself, adapting to the urban lifestyle I had missed out on for so long in lieu of new and top of the line cooking technology.

This “hi-tech love” was new and I displayed it unabashedly , simply because like a personal aid the technology was there to help me anytime of the day.

So where did the question of teaching my daughter kneading the dough come in my mind?

Well it must have been the remnant effects in my subconscious of a phone conversation with my aging mother from across the sea back in India. Her concern and anxiousness about teaching her granddaughter the basic household skills (just like when I was a 16 years old) must have influenced me.

***

Mom, please don’t worry on that anymore. Not only will your granddaughter manage it all but even your middle aged daughter has finally got it all under control, on a press of a button!

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Divya Attri is a visual art educator, an artist and a writer living in Princeton, New Jersey. When she’s not teaching art to kids , she is gazing at an empty canvas or paper trying to give her colorful ideas a life.

https://www.indiaabroad.com/blogs/reflections-on-a-modern-electronic-makeover-in-my-desi-kitchen/article_1dbaa710-0d1a-11e8-bd49-7fd73f54db7c.html

Of midlife, midriff and a meditation on rest of life

“Mom, read this book, you will love it!,” said my teenage daughter enthusiastically. I glanced at the cover of the book and handed it back to her. It almost felt unfair to out rightly put the book down and say that this best seller doesn’t interest me anymore. I replied “Thanks beta, will definitely do after I finish the current one.”

“Which book are you reading these days?” she asked inquisitively. I paused for a moment and hesitantly showed her the cover of the book. Parts of the title read, “The Ancient Science of Mantras.” She looked bewildered at me. “Really mom! Ancient Mantras! Is that what you’re reading these days? What happened?”

For a person who wouldn’t pick anything other than best sellers and popular book club titles, reading a rather obscure book about the ancient knowledge of mantra surely marked a change.

Beating around the bush, looking for an answer myself, I wondered, what had happened?

The other day I revamped my wardrobe, pulling out all the tight-sits - pretty- at- the-waist kinds of outfits, replacing them with bohemian style, relaxed fits. The body must have finally thanked me for letting go of those bodycon dresses which demanded that I suck in the belly and take half breaths for that perfect look.

Driving in my car last weekend, the whole family dozed off as my Spotify belted out deep soulful Sufi music that I was joyously listening to. It was a far cry from the usual Bollywood top charts that would usually blare in my car before, mostly just to keep up with the trends.

The shift in my food palette was notable too. Of late, I’d been wearing the sash of being herbivore queen in the house. Keeping the typical heavy Punjabi food at bay, I was feasting on veggies and fruits. Even the husband was not spared in this regard, his favorite methai being replaced by a red apple for a dessert.

What was going on? Was there any pattern between these changes? Were they indicative of something I was not aware of? Or, was I suddenly getting old, too early, too soon?

Oh, dear. Before my hair completely turns grey and my teenager graduates from school, it was time to assess the situation.

45! A number in life, that neither holds the excitement of starting a new decade nor the maturity of becoming a quinquagenarian. One is in middle of life, dealing with oddballs thrown in here and there. The hustle bustle of family life, jobs, social engagements, lifestyle and health issues. Ah! The grind of everyday life! Adulting felt like being a hamster on the wheel all the time.

Where was the time to pause?

A few days back my girlfriend passed along this forwarded “Whatsapp gyan” which actually caught my attention. It read, “I’m at that point in my life where I don’t have time for games. Either be real or be gone!”

How true was that. And how exhilarating. Half of my energies would not be depleted if only I focused on things that were necessary, meaningful and rewarding.

That was it! “Either be real or be gone.” This quote from so called ‘karma bitch’ slammed right in my face igniting a desire to set some changes in. As if I was waiting for this moment to fix my midlife burnout.

“Svadhyaya,” a word mentioned by dad (who is an avid practitioner of yoga) had made little sense to me until now. Harking back on the ancient knowledge and wisdom of the sages, I was ready to dig into it.

Upanishads and Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra greatly emphasizes the importance of “Svadhyaya,” which directly translates to “self-study.” It is the art of contemplative meditation, where you take some time to reflect and bring awareness to your thoughts, actions, emotions, feelings, subconscious programming, conscious choices -all of which are often pushed aside to attend to our daily responsibilities.

There is no better way to declutter your mind, body, and soul than by just by paying attention to all that we do in our daily life. We do so many things just to please people. We are afraid of rejection even in saying a polite ‘no.’ We don’t value our time or just do things because it is trendy and everyone else is doing so.

Just by giving a few minutes every day to focus on what we did and what decisions we could have made better also helps draw the mind away from outward-going tendencies, silencing the crowd of thoughts, and ultimately nudges us towards inner harmony.

Paying attention to what you wear, seemed like a good starting point, hence the revamping of wardrobe. Removing those pretty “party stunner” dresses was like weeding out the “unnecessaries” out of my life. If I could not breathe deeply under the comfy layers, what good were they hanging in my closet?

The same thought applied to food that was not nourishing, music that was not

soulful, books that were not insightful, social engagements that were not uplifting, even chatting on Whatsapp that was redundant.

These were small baby steps but necessary to assess where one stood in life and in what direction it was heading. It definitely helped in carving out some extra time to pause and fill the mundane days with fulfilling moments. Especially if you start at 45, there is a whole lot of room for growth and miles to go on that journey.

Divya Swami Attri is a visual arts educator, an artist and a freelance writer based in Princeton, New Jersey

https://www.indiaabroad.com/blogs/of-midlife-midriff-and-a-meditation-on-rest-of-life/article_bcb9315c-4085-11e9-a3de-0778020f7c40.html