Overdue Updates: New Project & More Family

Before I share updates, just wanted to apologize for not posting for the last 2 weeks! So much has happened though, so enjoy this super long blog post! (and see my next post too!)

A window into art opens doors. It can be a unique opportunity to see something with a new pair of eyes, interpret something in a vivid way, or even paint a picture representative of a beautiful artifact/place.

This past weekend, spending time with one of my 3 aunts became my window into a new passion and a unique world.

When we finally reached Shivaji Nagar, where my aunt lives, I felt warmly welcomed into their household. There is a certain warmness, a certain pleasure, associated with my 3 aunts’ homes that cannot be reproduced, and – as I stated earlier – is related to my magnetic attraction to India. Climbing up the nearly 3 flights of stairs, I removed my shoes, aligning them with the pairs lining the top of the doormat, before entering the home. It's customary to remove shoes before entering homes in India

After some time reacquainting with everyone, they decided that they needed to get out of the house, and show me something, and asked me if I liked/enjoyed bhel, a pretty typical snack food here.

Let me interject this nice descriptive account with a few statements of realization. I’ve probably been eating 10 X what I’m used to over the past month since I’ve been in India. Since it’s rude to refuse food (especially that which individuals offer), and I am very unskilled at showing my satisfaction/ full-ness, I’ve been consuming possibly an unhealthy amount. All for the culture, right? :) 

So, as I was saying… we travelled to a local popular Bhel place. Friday evening may have been the wrong time to visit a fast food place, and as we entered, we saw a line extending to the edge of the wall. I joined, and after 5 minutes,

My cousin ordered for the family:

Cousin: 2 SPDP’s, 1 Bhel ani 1 pani puri dya. (Give us one bhel and one pani puri)

Cashier: Ho, hey ghya (Yes, here you go).  (Handing us white tickets- “receipts”)

When my number was called, I immediately walked to the counter, lifting the bowl. For the first few minutes, I glanced at the overflowing bowl of bhel (goodness) with astonishment. Then, I dug in, realizing that if I didn’t, it would spill. With our bowls of food in hand, we carefully descended the stairs, finding a nice bench for all 4 of us to sit near the entrance.

Nearly half hour later, my cousin was helping me finish the “snack”. When Suhas Kaka offered me some kulfi/ice cream, I wanted to laugh, but thankfully caught myself, realizing I had a mouthful of Bhel still in my mouth. All I can say is, it was a delicious treat, but really, Too. Much. Food.

            The following morning (Sunday) was another unique adventure (You can call it that!), as it was the first time I ventured alone in Pune, navigating through the busy, lively, crazy streets in Shivaji Nagar, Pune. Up till this time, I’ve always had companions while walking through town, or been accompanied on auto/scootie/ car. Where was I going? Actually, the night before, while conversing with my aunt, she began showing me origami creations she had made. Among other decoration pieces, she had prepared a beautiful crane/swan, built out of small folded papers. Since I was amazed (and perplexed!) at this art form, my aunt, with her ambitious, artistic mind, had the brilliant idea to send me to her neighbor, an art teacher, and fellow friend, who gives lessons on how to assemble and fold such intricate figures using 3 simple things: paper, fevicol glue and scissors. I agreed, thinking that it would be a nice pastime and that I would learn a new craft- a lamp to make as gifts for friends and for Diwali decorations.

I successfully navigated the streets and reached the home, greeted by her housekeeper and her mother-in-law (I think). During those two hours, I was amazed by that woman’s artistic capabilities, and her teaching skills, both. In a mere two hours, she demonstrated how to create an origami lamp, and a swan, each requiring nearly 50+ paper folds. For those who are unfamiliar with crafts, this is a difficult task, indeed. It’s incredible how something so simple or bland as a folded piece of paper, when combined with other similar folds, and arranged in a spectacular fashion, builds something so full of life. Art is like that: it never ceases to amaze. I left the teacher’s home with a new appreciation for art, in all its complexity. 

Here's a picture of the swan that I made with her help! 

Origami Creation :)

That afternoon, I also had the opportunity to visit my aunt's art studio, which she created nearly 8 years ago as a “an art school”/tutoring center for children, mostly under the age of 12. My aunt and one of her previous art students have jointly invested in this venture, holding weekly sessions for local young art students in the area. I hadn’t expected to be as blown away by the students’ art as I was at the end of one of these tutoring sessions. That Sunday morning, four kids were present- two pairs of siblings, preparing for various art exams and competitions. At first glance, they would appear normal elementary and high school students, but in reality, they were all brilliant little artists. As the clock struck 1:00, the first pair of students arrived- a girl of 9 and her older brother, who appeared about 12. They assumed their seats on the floor cushions, while my aunt turned to the boy to assign him the first lesson. Carefully, she etched a few template-like designs, including a fish, circle, squiggly line and straight line on a sheet of paper. Then, she proceeded to explain to the boy what the concept of space division (or something like that) was. She proceeded to draw a rectangle on the white sheet. Basically, his assignment was to use a certain number of each of the given shapes as tools to divide the rectangle space into as many distinct, overlapping “pieces” or spaces, as possible.

By this time, the other two girls, sisters, had also arrived. my aunt disappeared behind the doorway to the kitchen. Minutes later, she returned with a flower pot, half filled with clear liquid. A silver spoon glistened in the water. Upon placing the simple art piece on a stool, she instructed the girl (probably the younger of the two) to draw what she saw, and create a free-hand sketch, specifically including as many intricate details as possible. The challenge was to mirror the real objects as accurately as possible, recreating them, as if they could literally leap off of the page and materialize. 

Finally, she turned to the youngest student. This particular lesson was quite meaningful to  me, because it demonstrated to me how personal and unique art can be, and its significance in sparking individual thought and creativity. First, she took a short interview, asking the young girl what her favorite place was, who she admired, and where she would go for vacation. The young artist was to recreate her favorite, ideal world, behind the window drawn before her on the page. Her vivid creation would have no bounds- only her imagination would guide her.

Thinking back, I think that this is what art is- a personal window into one’s own  thoughts/beliefs. When someone paints a portrait- let’s say of Niagara Falls- he is adding his own ingredients. In this way, although two paintings may seem alike in their form and creation, they are really different. No two art forms are alike (not even those that are “mass produced”. This is because the artist always adds his/her own special ingredient, or touch, to the piece. This is what personalizes a piece. A single brush, streak or aspect can be significant.

The window into art exercise made me think about art hours after the class was over. I realized that art can be a powerful tool to understand one’s thoughts- especially that of children. My aunt's student ended up illustrating her home, showing her favorite family members- perhaps her uncle, mother, and brother. In the background, she had also inserted an image of her school. Though we didn’t get much time to hear her reasons for designing her window as she did, just seeing what she had envisioned provided a snapshot of her thoughts and hopes. A window into art can become quite valuable way of understanding an individual- indeed, I would never have thought that it could. 

On the work front, research is also going well. I finally got my ID Card, so I can officially go to the IISER library!

Another pretty big update is that I've changed research projects. I ultimately stumbled upon a new project that I found quite fascinating last Thursday. I think, would supplement my career interests better than my earlier project. Although exploring Raman Spectroscopy and the HGPRT protein was a unique topic, I’m really looking forward to this new project. For the remainder of my seven weeks here (I can’t believe that that’s all that’s left!) I’ll be joining Professor Ranjan, a new professor at IISER who focuses his study on the neural basis of mechanistic behavior, using songbirds. Basically, this research uses Zebra Finches, a type of songbird, to study the significance of introductory notes (IN’s) to prepare a bird to sing his learned song. In turn, a parallel can be drawn to Parkinson’s patients, in which the brain struggles to “prepare” to initiate behaviors in affected individuals. My particular project will examine the differences between the introductory notes of songbirds with normal hearing, and those who have been deafened. We will use MatLab to analyze and “mark” the sonograms of Zebra Finch songs. We will then compare/contrast the sonograms of deafened and normal birds. Ultimately, this will shed light on the link between IN’s and hearing ability (if having the ability to distinguish sounds will influence whether a young bird will prepare for the song. In the coming weeks, I’ll be sure to learn more about the implications and future of this research, but in the mean time, I’ll also become more familiar with MatLab!  

Besides research and family, I also got to meet up with fellow Khorana Scholars last week, which was fun! On Thursday, we saw a bit of the NCCS (National Center for Cell Science) campus (which is ~ 5 minutes from IISER) and ate at McDonalds nearby (I was craving American food!). On Friday, I joined some other fellow exchange students at IISER to the "downtown" Pune area, where we ate dosa (and other delicious South Indian food). My meal consisted of one butter masala dosa (YUM!), some dahi vada which we all shared, and to top it off, lassi! Later, we all couldn't help enjoying some mango ice cream. It was the perfect ending to the week. 

See my next post for details on my trip to Sinhagad this past weekend! 

Until Later :)-