Kalyug???

My mom has a habit of putting the newspaper next to my pillow right up in the morning. I don't think it was deliberate but today morning's front page scared the shit out of me. ASSAM BLASTS - MORE THAN 60 KILLED. This time 3 terrorist organizations seemed to have worked in collaboration.

It's KALYUG I said, when Mom asked me what the hell is going on in India. She replied, in KALYUG fire is gonna be the wrecker in chief. I nodded in agreement and then said we just need to live on with this, because god knows when and where we might die. Yes, live life to the fullest, she said.

But isn't this a self imposed KALYUG? At least the kind of incidents that are happening in Mumbai and some other parts of Maharashtra. In school we used to say a pledge where 3 words stood out. UNITY IN DIVERSITY. Well, in my opinion it is no longer true. The politicians have managed to scatter us so "diversely" that it's nearly impossible to unite. I could sense the fear in mom when she asked me recently, "Are we south indians gonna be the next target?" Words fail me.

It's a shame that we are forced to turn a blind-eye towards the injustice that's happening. But it’s a fact, and let’s face it. WE ARE POWERLESS.

Right now I could think of only one song although the context may be contested. HAR PAL YAHAAN JEE BHAR JIYO, JO HAIN SAMAA KAL HO NA HO.

I got a little sketchy!

There are two things which you need, when you decide to make a portrait. One of course is time and the other is mood. You might argue that one also needs to have the gift to be able to draw. I would say, oh come on, that is so obvious. One wouldn’t want to do something outrageous with the pencil. I think I am quite decent when it comes to drawing and hence give it a shot whenever I can.

So finally after an eternity of sorts, I got into the mood and had ample time. I opened my laptop and browsed through some pictures. I found the one I wanted and I was away. First was the outline of the face. Then the hair, and next were the eyebrows. Now come the toughest part. Eyes. I kept the eraser handy. (Boy, I wish I do a portrait without lifting the pencil).

Nevertheless, the eyes were done in about 10 minutes. The nose and the mouth completed the picture and some finishing strokes produced a draft version. This then went through further modifications after some criticism from Mom and sister. I hope the final version looks alright. See for yourself.