Sketchbook 9: Bangalore Days

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The Art of Living (and Sketching)

My new company had an unusual orientation requirement: three days at Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's meditation center. While the Art of Living teachings weren't necessarily my cup of tea, the people there were fascinating subjects for my sketchbook. Something beautiful happens when you draw people who are seeking something - their faces carry stories that your pencil somehow finds.

The contrast was striking - most participants were there by choice, seeking enlightenment. We were there by corporate mandate. Yet this tension created interesting moments worth capturing. Each sketch holds not just a likeness, but a story of someone's journey toward whatever they were looking for.

Waiting at the Ganpati Mandir

Sometimes the best sketches come from waiting. While anticipating Alister (whose lateness I've grown to appreciate - he's living a life worth being late for), I found myself drawing the Ganpati mandir near our office. There's something about sacred spaces that demands slower, more deliberate strokes.

Meeting Shilo: A Silent Collaboration

Meeting your heroes can be paralyzing. When I finally met Shilo through Kaveri, I found myself in an unusual state - speechless. While helping with her graffiti project in Bangalore, I became the quiet observer, painting as directed, while internally rehearsing all the things I could have said about her work. Every time a fan approached her, I thought, "I could have said that!" But sometimes silence and observation teach us more than conversation.

The experience culminated in an unexpected invitation to create a poster for 'fearless' - a testament to how showing up and doing the work, even silently, can lead to opportunities.

An Unlikely Friendship with Singham

I never considered myself a cat person - still don't, really. But my roommate's cat, officially named 'Singham' (though my roommate simply called him 'Cat'), had other plans. Despite my relentless teasing and what I'd call gentle torture, he'd invariably end up curled in my lap at day's end. My sketchbook filled with his various poses - sleeping, stretching, judging me with those inscrutable eyes. Perhaps some of the best art comes from subjects that challenge our preconceptions.

Train Tales

There's something about train journeys that brings out the sketcher in me. On my way to the capital, the gentle sway of the compartment became the rhythm for my pencil strokes. Fellow passengers turned into unwitting models, landscapes blurred into abstract forms, and time measured itself in filled pages rather than hours.

  

These railway sketches remind me that art doesn't always need a formal setting - sometimes the best studio is a moving train, and the best inspiration is the temporary community of travelers sharing your journey.

Birthday Sketches and Bua Stories

Some people you can just "hang" with - Bua is one of those rare souls. From Ahmedabad to Mumbai to Bangalore, our friendship has been marked by moments captured in my sketchbook. There's a funny story from Mumbai where I was so absorbed in sketching that I completely missed her growing frustration with my antisocial behavior. In her words: "harami saale, I remember kaise tu udhar bait ke sketching kar raha tha aur mein bore ho rahi thi."

Yet she, along with Prateek, Alister, and others, made Bangalore feel like home. Sometimes the best friends are those who forgive your artistic obsessions.

Full Metal Alchemist: Visual Poetry

Watching Full Metal Alchemist for the third time, I found myself filling pages with moments that still give me goosebumps. Each quote became a visual challenge:

• "Water 35L, carbon 20kg..." - The clinical poetry of human composition
• "Think about yourself stand up and walk forward" - Finding strength in simple truths
• "We just wanted to see our mother's smile again" - The heart of every quest

 #2'Think about yourself stand up and walk forward. you have legs' - edward elric  

#3 ' we just wanted to see our mother's smile again' - alphonso elric

#4 'it cannot be helped those two have made there decision' - pinako rockabell

 

 #5 'aren't you glad that i put you on the train?' - roy mustang 

 #6 -' although we are alchemists we could not do anything, aren't mothers amazing ? 

  

#7 'the great god who created everything, Please welcome this pitiful soul with open arms ' - Scar

#8 - ' I thought to highly of myself & thought that I could save someone.'

#9 though i'm in the military, I never sold my soul.'

• "Water 35L, carbon 20kg..." - The clinical poetry of human composition
• "Think about yourself stand up and walk forward" - Finding strength in simple truths
• "We just wanted to see our mother's smile again" - The heart of every quest
  
  
  

These sketches remind me that sometimes we kill our curiosity by claiming there's "nothing out there worth knowing." But beauty often reveals itself to be deeper than we initially perceived. Every sketch teaches me that everything is worth knowing, worth observing, worth capturing.

Notes from the Field

• My pages are filled with people seeking something - whether enlightenment at the meditation center or a moment of peace at the Ganpati mandir
• Sometimes the best sketches come from moments of waiting
• Meeting heroes can silence you, but your pencil can still speak
• Friends who forgive your obsessive sketching are friends worth keeping
• Every rewatch of something you love can reveal new details worth capturing

Until next time, keep your pencils sharp and your plates ready for seconds! Let's get in touch on Insta and X !