Have you ever done a double take after realising something in life?
'Realise' as in 'cause to happen,' I mean here, not 'have understanding.' Do you remember the wishes you had made as a schoolkid? You would, if you have just passed out of college, but someone like me doing his half-century, or golden jubilee, has a memory like a sieve.
I had wanted to be an artist, but as I grew up and became 'mature,' I realised, ('realise' as in 'have understanding,' I mean, this time, not 'cause to happen,') that I would have to become an engineer like my father. Not unhappily, but was just being older and wiser.
I remember sitting in the school library, my favourite room in the school, with my friend Vijay Anand, who, leafing through my drawing book, said, "Ashok, you will be an artist."
"No, Vijay, I have to become an engineer."
One of my childhood dreams was to write and illustrate a book or a comic, but that dream went the way of all dreams. I studied engineering and drew pictures of lathes and milling machines.
But lo! I am an artist today, and have been that for 25 years. And 'Gajapati Kulapati' a picture book written and illustrated by that immature schoolboy, the boy who managed to thrive inside me in spite of the 'real' world, was published by Tulika Publishers. The book came out in August 2010, and shy me even did a book reading. I don't know about the kids who came to the launch, but I had a great time.
You know, that story was written not by worldly-wise me but that dreamy boy inside. Gajapati Kulapati lives in an idyllic village, where everybody is a friend and people only inadvertently hurt each other, if at all. That is the world I would like to live in.
Well, I have just finished illustrating the second book in the series, 'Kalabaloosh!' Tulika's bringing it out this year.
And what I had originally wanted to say here was, just 'Thanks.' I thank God, the Tulika gang, Vijay Anand the prophet, and that boy who sat beside him. I thank myself too, you know.
Gajapati Kulapati is available here, and here, and many other places.
'Realise' as in 'cause to happen,' I mean here, not 'have understanding.' Do you remember the wishes you had made as a schoolkid? You would, if you have just passed out of college, but someone like me doing his half-century, or golden jubilee, has a memory like a sieve.
I had wanted to be an artist, but as I grew up and became 'mature,' I realised, ('realise' as in 'have understanding,' I mean, this time, not 'cause to happen,') that I would have to become an engineer like my father. Not unhappily, but was just being older and wiser.
I remember sitting in the school library, my favourite room in the school, with my friend Vijay Anand, who, leafing through my drawing book, said, "Ashok, you will be an artist."
"No, Vijay, I have to become an engineer."
One of my childhood dreams was to write and illustrate a book or a comic, but that dream went the way of all dreams. I studied engineering and drew pictures of lathes and milling machines.But lo! I am an artist today, and have been that for 25 years. And 'Gajapati Kulapati' a picture book written and illustrated by that immature schoolboy, the boy who managed to thrive inside me in spite of the 'real' world, was published by Tulika Publishers. The book came out in August 2010, and shy me even did a book reading. I don't know about the kids who came to the launch, but I had a great time.
You know, that story was written not by worldly-wise me but that dreamy boy inside. Gajapati Kulapati lives in an idyllic village, where everybody is a friend and people only inadvertently hurt each other, if at all. That is the world I would like to live in.
Well, I have just finished illustrating the second book in the series, 'Kalabaloosh!' Tulika's bringing it out this year.And what I had originally wanted to say here was, just 'Thanks.' I thank God, the Tulika gang, Vijay Anand the prophet, and that boy who sat beside him. I thank myself too, you know.
Gajapati Kulapati is available here, and here, and many other places.
"You know, that story was written not by worldly-wise me but that dreamy boy inside. Gajapati Kulapati lives in an idyllic village, where everybody is a friend and people only inadvertently hurt each other, if at all. That is the world I would like to live in."
ReplyDelete“Wodehouse knew not to take the world, and indeed himself, too seriously, and he teaches us how to look upon it with the same glint of humour in our eyes. And his timeless writing allows us to leave this world briefly and enjoy another, more gentle, world of butlers, aunts, incalcitrant gardeners, befuddled Lords, love-sick sons, frightening sisters, single women looking to marry, single men looking to remain that way, constables, curates and boy scouts, where the worst thing that can happen to a man is that he finds himself engaged to two women at the same time and where everything turns out for the best in this best of all possible worlds.”
:)))
It is not just about dreaming; you make it sound magical, but you did whatever it took to make that dream come true. :)
The release of Gajapati Kulapati -- Kalabaloosh is eagerly awaited!
Thank you, Kavitha! As you said, nothing to add on my part. Wodehouse's world is an Eden, the garden we were thrown out of when we left childhood behind. Cruelly. I'm just a brat who refuses to leave the place. :)))
Delete"As you said. Nothing to add on my part," was what I meant. Apologies. :D
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