Life and art

Art.

You know it when you see it. You could "do" it too, if all it meant was splashing paint on a canvas that you called "untitled number 12."

Hard to teach. In fact, not teachable. It's only possible to send the artists down a path, or suggest one to them.

Life, experience, practice, repetition, experience (again) define the rest.

So, now that I am in art school classes for Web Design, I am at the beginning of art with people who could be my grandchildren.

After a long day (of noncreative activity) at work, another three hours of crowded class, here is my definition of art.

Sitting on the front porch. Watching the trees, black silhouettes against a deep grey sky. Listening to the sounds of the night. Crickets. A wind bringing rain. Breathing in and remembering that I have the control and the power (both such wrong words) to make my day(s) more creative and less reactive.

The trick is to remember that it is you, not the job, that, who, has value.

Delhi, weekend recovery, April 4 and 5

After our long short trip to Jaipur, I took Saturday off. Kim had an Easter egg hunt and reading for kids in Lodi garden and was up at 8:30 a.m. I slept in, updated the blog and in the evening we went to a gathering hosted by some of her friends whom I had met previously. Nadia, who is Moroccan, served a couscous that was one of the best meals I have eaten.

Sunday after brunch we went shopping in Kahn Market, near Kim's house, at a place called fabIndia. Purses, pillowcases, a vase. I am determined to only carry back my suitcase, so this will be a lesson in packing tight!

I am going to leave this as a short entry. This has been a brief trip and I want to sit back and reflect and write a bit more about my sense of the experience, rather than just transcribe a day-to-day recap of activities.

I have seen just a tiny bit of this country: There is a lot that is sad and repulsive and a lot that is beautiful. The thing that is important to me is that I have met so many people from all walks of life, people who live in all over the world and consider it as normal as any American citizen would consider moving from place to place in the States. So even a short trip truly broadens your perspective on the world. In India, what's news is what happens here, what happens in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the States and then the rest of the world. It makes you realize that the American perspective on the world is by far not the only one.

One of the sad things you see everywhere is people begging; sadder still is some do it for a living and appear to be perfectly healthy. This woman does not look like she has missed many meals and the child may not even be hers.