Daily Drawing Diary

© Rob Pepper

Rob is known for his "Conscious Reflex Drawing". This is about drawing without judgement. He doesn't look at his hand when the pen touches the paper. His focus is on the object /situation before him. This way of drawing "thereby create images that are truly reflective of that moment, recorded in an open and honest way that avoids the revision of the critical eye."


© Rob Pepper

We met couple of years back in London. Since then we have been talking about working together and looks like finally we are coming closer to that. What he started as a visual artist's response to the growing number of 'text-heavy' blogs has now become an artwork on its own. Check out Rob's Daily drawing diary.

© www.robpepper.co.uk

Recommended by The Guardian, (Visual artist Rob Pepper puts up a picture a day on his blog. Curiously, Rob draws without making eye contact with the paper. The results are rather lovely), BBC and The Times, Rob's Daily drawing diary has slowly grown into a conversational space for collaborative artwork. He has been successfully publishing a -limited edition- compendium- of his daily drawings. Available at Tate Modern, this is an absolute collectors delight!

In the Feb 2006 edition of the compendium, Rob had his version of Nila as well :

Bangalore © GP 2007

Nila on the BBC World

Climate challenge is a program The BBC World has started this quarter as part of the Climate watch season. Looking at various concerns including global warming as part of the climate change, the last episode is looking at issues affecting areas including India like River Nila.

When The BBC World team came, they shot for almost two days continuously. The dead river, dried up catchment areas, paddy fields (with surprisingly good harvests), coastal areas where sea water came rising from the earth!, dried forests areas and places that have touched temperates of more than 40 degree Celsius in March in Kerala. Many interviews were done with farmers, fishermen and women in the paddy fields.

I remember seeing Arun's eyes popping out when the Justin told him that the whole shoot will be edited into a 4 minutes program. Wonder how! Anyways, the program is shown globally on the BBC World Climate challenge program on the 28th of this month.

Climate Watch: Your View
Saturday 28th April at 1430 GMT
Repeated: Saturday 28th at 2130 and Sunday 29th at 0430 and 0930 GMT

Check out your local schedule here.



Hope this program will bring in some attention on to our sadly neglected river. Even though we feel that the global warming and climate changes are some of the reasons for degradation of water sources in the river, we believe that one of the major problems for the death of this once mighty river will remain to be human interventions.

Unless there is a change in attitude in the society!




Bangalore © GP 2007

Slow but steady

Finally, the work we kick started is slowly taking shape. After some hiccups and delays of couple of few months, today we had the first meeting of the working committee on Responsible Tourism for Kerala in the state capital. The 40 member state level working group was divided into smaller groups based on the triple bottom line : Economic, Environmental and Social aspects. Four destinations have been identified to implement the process.

Wayanad (hill station and upcoming destination)
Kumarakom (well known backwater destination)
Kovalam and (well known and old destination
Periyar (well known wildlife destination)

The first meeting in the local destinations will start in Wayanad on the 6th of May, followed by 7th in Kumarakom. The idea is to brief all the stake holders (hoteliers, panchayats, civil society organisations, Government organisations etc) about the initiatives taken so far in the "Better Together" workshop and the working committee meeting of today. It will also explore the definitions of Responsibility according to the stake holders in the local areas. In a broader framework, this should also look at setting up the destination co-ordination committees and local working groups of various stake holders. These meetings should be exploring the dimensions of demand-supply gaps that would come across while creating economic linkages to RT initiative.

I know of some of the foreign consultants who have expressed their concerns about these kind of processes being ineffective and time consuming. In any functional democracy that aims to work towards decentralisation of power, I guess this is the way to go forward. Engagement and participation within a broader frame work. Especially when there are not many models to look at implementation.

Not that there is no scope for improvement!

Thiruvananthapuram © GP 2007

Fog

This is all what we could see on the road because of fog on the high way in Wayanad this morning..

Bangalore © GP

Festivals

Procession of 'Kaala" at the Kizhayoor temple festival along Bharatapuzha (River Nila)

Post harvest, it is festival time on the banks of the river. Once the harvest is over, empty paddy fields all along the three districts of Palakkad, Thrissur and Malappuram transform into festival grounds. An old age system of beating the heat by pumping in adrenalin during summer, these festivals bring together people of various communities and religions. Known for its uniqueness and variety of folk expressions, these festivals are still organised in all its vigour by small temples. Spiced up with legends and folklore, we have been taking some of our guests who are ready to brave the heat to these villages.

After one such festival trails, Jean Francois of UCPA commented, ''Your programs have people at its core. The seven day spent with your team on the banks of river Nila was a seven star experience, especially the cultural interaction and festival trails. I am not sure if I would have seen Kerala this way if I had travelled with some one else."

It is quite unfortunate that changes in life style and occupation of local people, has pushed many of the rituals associated with these festivals into oblivion. Some of these were related to the paddy fields, river, the rain, harvest and to the lives of those who toiled the land. While there were rituals to thank the rain Gods, most of the temple festivals were about seeking blessing for a better crop in the coming year.


With the efforts of some small organisations like Vayali, some of these rituals and festivals are being brought back into life these days. They are working towards the empowerment of folk artists and craftsmen associated with these age-old festivals through sustained community participation.

It is when we meet people who work behind organisations like Vayali that we are filled with hopes for a better tomorrow. Rather than waiting for someone else to take the lead, these youngsters have taken the responsibility for doing what they thought can be done by themselves!

Impressive! All our best wishes to Vinod and his wonderful team.


Jane was one of our lucky guests who saw this impromptu performance © Jane Weston

Bangalore © GP

Vindicated

The following post came to my mail box as a comment on "Survey of surprises" and I am taking the freedom to post the message from Marie Preston of the UK

"Though a resident of the UK, I have been in India for the last four years on and off. Since I work with a local NGO in Pune, I have been constantly coming across articles of sexual abuse and one of my interns pointed out to the discussions going on here. And today I have a newspaper report that might be interesting for you all. A news report by Vineeta Pandey in DNA (Daily News Analysis) of the 10th April 2007 says, "Half India's kids are abused"

"I don't know much about the survey methods and all, but when the Government itself comes out with a report that says 53 percent of the country's children are sexually assaulted, it is a matter of concern. But its also highly commendable that Government of India took the initiative to come out with this report. Quite laudable. BTW, considering some of the comments posted, this could also be interesting for your readers, the report says" Contrary to the belief that boys are safer, the survey established that out of the 69 percent of abused children, 54.68 percent were boys"!!So the concerns I see in the above comments about the "percentages" GP mentions is unfortunately vindicated. It could still be a coincidence, but I doubt."

Yes, it is sad to be vindicated on this, well, unfortunately I share my concerns with Marie. Thanks Marie for the posting.

Bangalore © GP 2007

The Namesake

Sheer Beauty! If you get a chance to see this movie, don't miss it. Check the home page here : Namesake

Bombay © GP 2007

The Escape

Wi-Fi !!
I remembered reading on the flight magazine that the new airport had excellent Wi-Fi facilities. Once I got hold of a map of the airport, I went around looking for Wi-Fi enabled hotspots. With the 20 minutes of battery remaining on my laptop, I had to configure the connection and then see some friends who are online on Skype or IMs and see if there was anyone who could bail me out of this mess! (Basically someone who is willing to pay and get me out of Vienna that night to Paris if possible!)

Every single minute looked so precious. Rebooting and configuring took ages, but I was lucky to see four of my friends online. One in Lausanne, another one in Gent, and two others in Paris, out of which one had the status "away". Ivan started laughing hearing the story commenting, "Oh boy! Only you can make life so exciting and complicated like this!!!" (Back home we say that only true friends can laugh at you when you are in deep trouble! ;)). Cs already pressed the panic button and started trying out all cards and she had no idea if her card would actually work.

Since the battery was fading away, I logged off hoping one of them might be able to do the magic for me and send me the e-ticket to my email id. Either I had to find a power socket to continue browsing or I had to log in again to try my luck. While I was setting up my "bed" where I saw a power socket in one of the corners, the angel came in front of me. Maya! She saw the message left by Nick on her msn and had driven all the way to come and pick me up. We went home, I logged in again to check if I had a ticket. Cs had bought a ticket already with help from her mother and I was in the airport first thing in the morning.

It will be a long story if I go on sharing how I ended up in Paris after few hours with just another one Euro and fifty Cents in my pocket. May be some other time. In less than one year, we also had to witness Cs almost going away from us when she visited us in Bangalore. All for later.

Stay tuned! (You can see that I have been listening to too much of crap of FM these days on my mobile! ;))

Bangalore © GP 2007

Evening in the airport

Continued from Unsuspecting travellers of...

The airport looked empty. Almost all the flights for that evening had left or was just about to leave. Even though I knew there was no way I can afford to purchase a ticket to Paris, (or any place for that matter!) I went to the Air Berlin counter. The cheapest fare they had was of 320 Euros almost as high as what the Air France or Austrian was charging as the last minute fares.

Now I had to crack how I was going to get out of this place. My only option to stay put in a place in Vienna that night was Maya. May be I could also borrow some money to purchase the flight ticket to Paris. It was the first time we met in five years or so and I wasn't comfortable at all at this idea. In any case, I decided to give her a call and let her know my status.

Once I went to the phone booth, I realised to my horror that the paper on which I had scribbled her number was in her living room and that my mobile phone was out of battery to retrieve any numbers to call my friends in Europe!! So I dialled (the only number I could remember by-heart,)Nick's number in Brighton only to hear "Hi this is Nick, Sorry I can't take your call, please leave your message, Cheers!" The meter was ticking away and I left my message as brief as I can and even gave him Maya's MSN id to drop in a message.

Just before the post office was closed, I managed to reach Nick on his mobile and I heard from the other side, "Shit". I had few more coins remaining and the miracle had to happen before I ran out of those. He had managed to leave a message on Maya's msn to which we had no idea when she would respond. She was supposed to be going out that evening and I had to be extremely lucky for her to change that plan!

My other concern was to let FP know somehow that I haven't boarded the flight and am not going to land in Paris that evening. Knowing her, I am sure she might be fuming waiting for me in the airport since evening!!

I walked around the empty airport thinking of various plans. When you don't have any money in your pocket, all your have is your guts.

With the remaining coins in my pocket (which I have to save for probably one or two last calls!),I had a chance of accessing internet in a cafe for probably 15 minutes. This was a time when most of my friends are online and I could probably take that 'suicidal risk' of spending whatever was remaining and wait for the divine intervention!

It was then the idea came!

Bangalore © GP 2007

Perceptions of a River

Abe asked me what images do I carry in my mind about the river. I didn't have to think much about it. It was always the slow flowing river and its golden sand bank that lit up in the moon. The river for us was also the cradle of culture and rich traditions and rituals.

Next day morning Abe send me the above image. This was the river he thought that was so much part of us. No one believed when I told them that Abe had never seen the river in his whole life before he worked on this. All he had seen was the performances of Poothan and Thara (thira) as part of Near the River initiative in Bangalore

This was the same image we later used as the cover page of The Blue Yonder brochure on Nila, titled "RIVER NILA : A river of thousand tales", along with Wayanad and Alleppey

Bangalore © GP 2007

When rivers run dry

"It would be wrong to say that I have been obsessed with rivers all my life. But, much as when taking a drive down a long river valley, I can't see to avoid coming back to them. They have a hold"...

This is how Fred Pearce starts his introduction to his wonderful travel book titled, 'When the rivers run dry'. A passionate but composed journey to different parts of the world looks at the question on 'What happens when our water runs out?". Ever since I heard about this book, I have been wanting to read it and finally the day before yesterday it ended up in my hand!

His writing reveals the personal stories behind failing rivers, barren fields, desertification, floods, water wars, and even the death of cultures. Whether he writes about the farmers fight against the Coca Cola factory in Plachimada in Kerala or the war for water from the glaciers of Himalayan Kashmir (one of my favourite conspiracy theories about the war between India and Pakistan) or the toxic cess pool of Aral sea, he is pointing towards the responsibility of each of us for the water we use -"before all our rivers dry".

Fred says "Nothing perhaps not even climate change, will matter more to humanity's future on this planet over the next century than the fate of our rivers. Plenty of explorers have sought the source of the world's great rivers. This is a journey to chart their deaths. But it is a hopeful journey nonethless.I am an optimist. Water, after all, is the ultimate renewable resource."

Irrespective of the deadlines for project submissions and business proposals, I just couldn't keep this book down. Really a must read for those who are concerned about the rivers in the world!

Will be soon available in India through Sankars

Bangalore © GP 2007

Unsuspecting travellers of the world unite!

The young Austrian police man was kind enough to drive me to the nearest bus station and let me sit with him in his Police jeep to keep myself warm until the bus came. The bus ticket back to Vienna was 8 Euros and I had just 20 pounds remaining in my pocket for my entire trip that should take me through France and Belgium.

Since I had friends kind enough to accommodate me, all I had to take care was the flight tickets. These were also taken care off by the institutions that invited me. This was the kind of risks that I have been taking until then and never did it occur to me that I might end up eating dust (or snow!) like this. Not that I had many options to travel in leisure at that time.

There was no one to alight the bus in that God forsaken bus stand (Believe me, it was such a place!). The driver came out of the bus all smiling and welcomed me with extended arms as if he was the all encompassing Jesus Christ. The Police man explained to him that I have a problem and that I need to be taken back to Vienna. The driver smiled again and told us,"Ha ha, Passport problems? I see this all the time" and winked at me. May be he also thought that I was another desperate South Asian trying to sneak into Europe (irrespective of the fact that I was already in Austria!)

After I thanked the policeman enormously(after my experience earlier in Munich, this guy was an angel!), I turned to the driver who was waiting to load my luggage into the bus.

"Hello ! I have no more Euros with me, so I can pay you only with pounds"
"Oh, I speak no good English"
" Hmm..Sorry No Euro. only English Pounds"
"Oh! No problem, pounds ok"

I wasn't sure what I should make out when he grabbed the twenty pounds and said, "Thank you very much!"

The bus was almost empty. All I had in my mind was how I was going to reach Paris that night or even next day and most of all, whether I was going to get back the change from this driver.
As soon as we arrived in Vienna airport, the driver came down to help me take my luggage and kept on thanking me and wished me Bon voyage!

Uh, now I understood the plot.

"I need my money back"
"Money?"
"Yes, my 20 pounds"
"You pay no ticket"
"Sorry, I gave you my money, charge me for tickets, give me the balance"

This man knew English for sure, but was once again fooling me, similar to some of my country men who pretend to know only local languages ("SoRRy MaaADam, ENglish, .I no understand, but DOUble meter!;))

This really made me think what an unsuspecting foreign tourist might be regularly facing back home! In a role reversal, this guy could be any one of the auto drivers in Chennai or Bangalore who thrive and survive on looting and cheating tourists!

The dialogue went on:

" I beg you, please give my money back, this is all I have"
"Sorry no Euro"
"Well, then give the pounds to me, I will go inside the airport and change it into Euros"
"Ok, you go, I keep your bag!"

Smart ass!

Losing out all money of currency exchange, I went back and give him the bus fare and I was back into my uncertainty again! I just didn't have any idea how I was going to get out of this place as I have missed my flight already!

Bangalore © GP 2007

Back to Vienna

By the time the bus had stopped at the border check post, I was figuring out all possible ways of getting out of this mess. I didn't see many options, but for some weird reasons, I was all charged up to face the situation and knew I would come out safe. If only I knew what was in store for me!.

A young Austrian policeman walked into the bus, started checking every one's ID to whom I handed over my Indian passport that didn't have a visa stamp that he was looking for. I saw disbelief in his eyes first, then he looked at me. Since there was just one empty page remaining in my passport, he started flipping through every single page with patience. Finally he came and very politely requested me to get down from the bus as 'he needed' to talk to me.

All the co-passengers who were very friendly with me until then turned their head to the other side as if they were disowning me. They definitely didn't want to be seen knowing me if this was an attempt of a desperate South Asian to get into Europe! It doesn't matter that I was coming from Austria.

In fluent English, the Austrian police officer said,

"Hi, I speak English, looks like we have a problem here!"

And our dialogue went on like this for some time.

"Well, yes, I can see it,anything we can do now"?
"How come you don't have a visa?"
"Hmm, This was a flight ticket booked by someone else, who presumed that I had a visa for Slovakia?"
"As a passenger, isn't your responsibility to attain a visa before travelling?"
"Yes, of course! But I had no idea that I was flying out of Bratislava which happened to be in Slovakia and not Austria! (I only knew that i was supposed to fly out from an airport not that far from Vienna"),Somehow I need to be in Paris tonight? Can you please help me?"

He didn't ask me any more questions but promised that he will see if he can help me out. So with all my luggage and all,we both walked to the small cubicle ( really wonder how these guys manage to be working in that open space in such an extreme climate!) where the Slovakian guys were stay put.

He was talking to the Slovakian border police explaining my situation in a language that I didn't understand at all. So that had to be Slovakian :) Not that I speak or understand German, but at least I had a feel of the language after having quite a good number of German friends in my Bangalore apartment. I was stupidly asking them if it was possible to get a visa stamped at the airport as I am only on a transit.

I was buying time to get some ideas work in my favour, but there was actually none other than going back to Vienna!

Bangalore © GP 2007

Welcome to Slovakia!

Snow was almost a metre high, temperature was minus 12 degree Celsius and it was just white white and white all over. I was thoroughly enjoying the bus ride, the landscape was so stunningly beautiful and I was already planning for my next days meeting in Paris. Soon after, I saw couple of bill boards welcoming us to Slovakia!.

I didn't give any special attention to those until I noticed that display signs were in increasing numbers as the Euro Lines went by. First I thought that it was only a tourism campaign of newly formed Slovakia in Austria similar to what many developing tourism destinations do in originating markets. I remember having seen plenty of ads for Greece and Turkey closer to many European airports and there was nothing that prompted me to think otherwise.

In another twenty minutes I realised what I was up to this time. Amongst many misadventures in the last three years, probably this was the most hilarious.

When couple of private schools invited me for a talk in Europe, they had asked me whether I would mind if they book my tickets on one of the 'no frills' airlines. They had also mentioned that the flights are not from Vienna International Airport, but from another smaller airport which is an hour away from the former. Since this was the case with most of the cheap flights like Easy Jet and Ryan Air flying out of the UK airports of London City Airport, Gatwick or Stansted, I told them it is fine.

When I was certain that I was about to cross the border from Austria into Sloavakia, I went through my printouts and saw the airport name mentioned as 'Bratislava'. My knowledge about capitals of the new world wasn't any helpful at that time to realise that Bratislava was the capital of new break away Sloavakia! Even though sometimes I used to jokingly tell my friends when I make some 'cultural mistakes' that I am an ignorant foreigner, this was the peak of my ignorance and carelessness.

I was just about to enter a country to which I didn't have a VISA!!!

Cochin © GP 2007