Friday, January 27, 2012

Proud Moment for Mazaala Chai




Dear Reader, I'm thrilled as I write this.

You've been kind enough to support Mazaala Chai, my labour of love. The blog began in July 2010 as a dedication to Multi-faceted artist Shobana Chandrakumar. Now, three posts old, I took up an opportunity to introduce Mazaala Chai to its inspiration.

My post "Maya Ravan: Form Meets Substance" was printed out in an attractive booklet by my good friend Sri Mahesh Maroli ( who, as an artist deserves as much blogspace on MC, soon...) so that I could gift a copy to Shobana.

On 20th Jan 2012, after watching 'Krishna Chronicles' Live for the third time, the backstage of JTPAC Auditorium in Thripunithura presented me the historic occassion of gifting the booklet to Shobana herself. A brief conversation later, the artiste graciously posed with a copy of the booklet and also wrote me a note. Known to be temperamental and quick to take offence, Shobana was least expected to be so warm and accommodating to a novice like me. She appreciated my paintings of her and also spoke a bit on her revisions of Krishna Chronicles.

Those who've been following me on Facebook might have witnessed snapshots of my previous nano-second long meetings with Shobana. This, my fourth encounter, really put me on cloud nine in its enduring honesty, intensity and magic despite the brevity.

The first time I met Shobana, I told her ( quite truthfully) that I'd watched Manichitrathazhu over 200 times ( I'm sure those who know me well enough would testify to the fact); and Shobana herself wrote me a note addressing it " To the Record- setter of Manichithrathazhu....". That was in October 2010, three months after my post on the movie marked the beginning of Mazaala Chai.

Today, three posts, three Live shows and two paintings later, the inspiration gets to touch, feel and read my year-long work on Maya Ravan.
I rest this space, reveling in the memory of that divine meeting.

Thanks again, Maheshettan, for making it possible... By popular demand- and my own gratitude- here's Maheshettan's pic: