The summer blossoms

In our lives , may we not be our own obstacles and limitations so that we can mature . May we all be liberated from our fears , inertia and prejudices of likes/dislikes. Happy Ganesha Chaturthi to everyone!

After Bangalore, the summer blossoms art workshops finally resumed this month in the Bhuj house :-) Interested and eager students, lots of art , movies, books, play and genuine conversations .

After almost 3 years of house design, construction and struggling with my health, I am very happy to be able to resume this here in Bhuj. May the flame burn bright in all of us , and let there be more art, he'art', and e'art'h :-)

The Summer Blossoms Bhuj chapter begins ! And that too in our new home !! :-) More about the home and our journey of last 3 years in the next post . Thank you all for the immense support in both Rutvid and my life so far and wishing for your love and blessings as we embark on this next phase of the summer blossoms 🙏

Reviving this page today - a renewed connection with art , children, humanity and all that is life.

I really enjoy this painting and how Germany helped me experience this fully - that is when I knew I wanted to work with children , I wanted to be closer to life . I confused it with wanting to become a parent at one point , till I realised it was social pressure which was seeping into me , and also we were both being a little greedy about wanting more parts of one another in our lives :-)

But once I started working with children and learners, that was it for me.

As a teacher , this painting experience is more from a commitment to life than a particular child , and there is no limit to the number of children/humans one includes.

After 16 years of marriage, I still get asked why I don't have children , and all I have to say that I wouldn't be happy with one , I want to include many in this life and I would want to learn from and share myself with many .

Nature continues to inspire as a nurturing , wise giver / teacher.

Happy mothers' day !

*Prayaas magazine 2023 edition*

Hello and namaste everyone,

We hope that you are doing well and wish that everyone is safe from the effects of ESCS (Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm) Biparjoy – the planning and teamwork before and during the cyclone has been commendable, and care has been taken to even include animals and reduce the impact on them.

However, in the warmth of that realisation, let us not forget that this was the longest-lasting cyclone in the Arabian Sea, ever, and global warming, rising sea temperatures and climate change are factors which have caused this. We need to face these truths now. That means you and I have had a role to play in this too and this will continue to happen unless we change our ways.

Here is a link to the Prayaas 2023 magazine –

https://priyashasharma.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/prayaas_june2023-2.pdf

A 120-watt fan throws air around in a room, imagine a cyclone that does that over an area of lakhs of square kilometres, for days together. Imagine the energy source of such cyclones. Frightening and humbling at the same time, and yet another reminder to look inwards.

Hope that Prayaas reaches you, connects with you at a deeper level and hope it brings the warmth and clarity which this entire process has given us.

Happy slow reading everyone! If you enjoy it, please do share in your circle.

Love.
Priyasha and Rutvid

P.S. - We are both safe . The cyclone has caused damage in the area and quite a few people and animals are in distress due to the heavy rain, the electric poles falling and the tress getting uprooted.

-with Rutvid Dholakia Rajasee Ray Vijay, Ura, Geeta ben, Nishi, Brisha, Kush, Arju, Kuldip bhai, Srija, Niki, Mayank, Tanuj sir, Shragvi, Charu, Charlie, Parneet, people of Uttarakhand , everyone who has inspired us .

priyashasharma.files.wordpress.com

Namaste to everyone here !

It has been a while since this page saw regular posts, my apologies - I have missed the energy this space offerred. A lot of things have fallen in place since we shifted to Bhuj 5 + years back, and now seems like a good time to revive the page .

Sharing a poem and illustration from 2 years back .

With changing habits and life routines for a disease-free body, my love for sweets too is seeing some changes.

I think there will be more poems on sweets than actual sweets in the coming years 😁 Good that writing poetry seems to excite me more than sweets now , thanks to all the encouragement received in Baroda !

Sweet weekend everyone :-)

May this year be our journey towards facing the evil that lies inside us, and the light that burns bright inside - bright enough to see the evil and override it.

May this Diwali burn off all that is against creation, against nature -
Attachment, arrogance, lies, anger , envy, greed, lethargy, immaturity.

May we be lit with truth, compassion, wisdom, courage, humility, contentment and constant striving.

Happy Diwali everyone!

Love and light,
Priyasha and Rutvid.

Work on Prayaas begins again, and this time we wish to explore nature and art even further .

Please do drop us a message for links to our previous issues, to better understand how and what to contribute. Looking forward !

What a great start - surrounded by painted storks , grey heron, pond heron , red-naped ibis, spon-bills, open-bill, spot-billed ducks , cat fish , stilts , koels and mynas :-) Started observing birds with a few students last month, but today was our first 3 hour session painting the painted stork which we have been studying and observing. We got lucky today - it caught a fish right in front of us !

I have been slowly but steadily observing and studying birds this last year, and thanks to Natrajan Prasad ji, my perspective and interest has expanded and continues to . I began to wonder , why not start sharing it with the children - after all , what better way to experience as well as practice observation, patience, wonder and clarity, than consciously observing nature .

Since Rutvid and I are travelling for a few days, I thought it would be a good idea to meet the 2 new art students and intiate our planned bird-watching trip . Else I would keep postponing it , thinking I didn't know enough - It might be enough to start somewhere , and take my lessons .

So there we were, on our cycles at 6 30 am , meeting with the children , all of us with our binoculars , excited and a little shy since we have only had classes online thus far.

Thank you for listening, asking, observing, and sharing guys, I particularly enjoyed the laughs , the sounds of amazement and excitement- the 'ooooohhs !! Ma'am voh bird idhar aa rahi hai !' Ma'am usne kuch beak mein liya ! Ma'am voh kidhar gayi ?

I confirmed later , it was indeed children's day - a great day to have started bird -watching with children; seems like a start to yet another adventure !

Happy children's day !

May the innocence as well as purity of thought , love and actions of a child , as well as curiosity to learn and a sense of wonder , remain with all of us .

A wonderful children's day morning :-)

A new Summer Blossoms chapter begins with this Shoonyakala workshop !

Art work from last few months to follow soon .