STARTmagazine

DECEMBER 2010

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ISSUE 3

6. EDITORIALPriya Prakash

10. MYSTICDEWSNikhil Tailang

18. DESIGNGEEKMenaka Chandrasekhar

26. WARLI ARTSurabhi Ramachandra

CONT

34. WEEVIL GIRLShriparna Sarkar

42. DANDELIAkshay Gururaj

48. LONGINGSwati Bhatnagar

54. BOOK REVIEWVishesh Unni R

56. FEEDBACK

ENTS

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Dear Readers,I am enthusiastically looking forward to what 2011 has instore for us. Of course, depending completely on the forceswould be a silly thing to do. It is time to raise the bar forourselves, and get better at what we do.

I am extremely happy with the third issue of START! Manycomments and suggestions are coming in, with the readersasking for more diversity and content in the magazine. Thatis exactly what we’ve tried to achieve in this edition. It takestime, yes, but we are getting there – one step at a time.

I hope START gets bigger and better in the following years.We will make this happen, together.

Here’s wishing you all a wonderful new year! Let this be ayear where many more dreams are realized .

Priya PrakashEDITOR

editor@startmagazine.in

We live in the world

when we love it.

- Rabindranath Tagore

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Nikhil Tailang23 // MCA student // Mumbaihttp://www.flickr.com/photos/mysticdews/

MYSTICDEWS

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How and when did you get into photography?

My interest in photography beganright from my childhood. I had ahorizontal brick shaped filmcamera back then. My dad wouldlet me handle it on our familytrips. That’s how I startedexperimenting in photography. Igot serious about it when I got mycamera-phone.My pictures impressed my parentsand I soon got a point and shootcamera which I used for threeyears until recently, when I got aDSLR.

What inspires you?There is a picture from my childhood where I am splashing water at a beach.My smile in that photo inspires me. I keep it on my desk to remind myself toenjoy everything that comes my way.For photography, the very idea of capturing what I see and feel, and keepingthat moment forever with me, is inspiring. Life is constantly changing. What Isee today might not happen again tomorrow. There are moments in myeveryday life that enchants me. The thought of preserving them in aphotograph is inspiring. It is like preserving a state of my mind.

A STATE TRANSPORT BUS AT THE ROHA ST BUS STAND

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Which is the best picture you have taken so far?An old couple capturing the Mumbai's skyline on their camera-phone. They hadtravelled to Mumbai from a small town in Maharashtra with a phone gifted to them bytheir son. After clicking some shots, they came to me and asked if I could help themview the images which they had captured. I taught them how to do it and theythanked me for it. I like this picture because it shows the love between the two thatencouraged them to undertake such a trip with each other. It also portrays theiropenness in adapting tools of the newer times.

If you take a picture of a street at the exact same time

of the day, for ten days, you'll appreciate the dynamism

there. No two of those ten pictures will have the exact

same feel. It is this agility of life that makes photography

interesting to me.

”

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We are always taught to concentrate on what we are doing and filter out

everything else. There are many beautiful things around us that get ignored.

Photography to me is a medium to present interesting stories to people. Anappealing thing ‘bout it is that it doesn't necessarily bind your viewers to oneparticular feeling. Everyone sees a picture differently and is free to interpret itsmeaning many number of times. It's a free form tool that encourages not onlyyou, but also your viewers to be imaginative. Although I take pictures of prettymuch everything, photographing people fascinates me the most.

People are never the same.

I photograph to

discover the beauty

of such overlooked

dimensions of life.

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DESIGNGEEKhttp://designgeek.viewbook.com

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Why did you choose art over other fields?I don't think I chose art. Art chose me. I've always been creatively inclinedas a child, learning oil painting, calligraphy, pottery, embroidery and othercrafts, growing up. I have my parents to thank me for pushing me intothat! After my 12th board exams, I wasn't sure what career path I shouldhead on, but I was sure that it needed to be something fun that wouldchallenge my mind! After contemplating different design courses, I endedup choosing Advertising and Graphic design. 5 years later, here I am -enjoying every love/hate moment of creativity.

HIGH HEELS Vector Illustration

the competition and analyzing brand positioning etc. For a more illustrativeproject, let's say a bag design, I usually research along the lines of an overalltheme. This research is mostly visual.The next stage is Ideation. This involves mind-mapping/sketching and manycups of coffee! The more ideas I can think of the better. I try to get them alldown on paper before narrowing in on the one that works best. Finally, itcomes down to execution. This again depends entirely on the project. I usetraditional illustration methods (drawing/painting etc.) when required, mixedwith several design programs (Illustrator/ Photoshop etc.) or sometimes drawentirely on the computer.

My design processinvolves 3 stages. I startoff with researching thesubject. The amount oftime spent doing this ofcourse varies with eachproject. If it is a branding/ identity project, thisstage involves studying

How do you go about

creating a new concept or a design?

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Which has been your best work so far?

I want to risk sounding clichéd andsay that the best is yet to come! Butif I had to choose from all the work Ihave created so far, I had the mostfun working on my second year finalproject at design school - Formulate.

The brief was to explore Swisstypography and come up witha book and find ways tomarket it. I ended up creatingseveral versions of the coversduring ideation and evenwrote most of the bookcontent myself even thoughthe brief didn't require this. Inthe end it was satisfying toput up the work for mylecturers to grade andreceiving positive feedbackabout it. I even entered it inthe 2008 Crowbar Awards,editorial category, where Iwas one of the 15 finalists.

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How do you consider yourself unique from everyone else?I don't believe in having only one style of designing. While this works forsome designers, I feel my ability to experiment and adapt mystyle/sensibilities to a project's needs makes my point of view comeacross in my work. Also, I am not afraid of color and I tend to use a lot ofit in my projects. Black and white may be classic but I findcreating colorful stuff more engaging.

SELF CORPORATE IDENTITY DESIGN

What inspires you? I am inspired by great design. By great - I mean functional / witty /colourful / humorous / exciting design. This could be any principle ofdesign really. I love architecture, art history (Pop art is my favorite genre),typography, print design and photography. I'm a very visual person. Ialways tend to see pictures of the scene/object in my head whensomeone is describing something to me. I guess this leads to ideas whichin turn lead me to realize them in my own artistic style.

Art to me..

…is a means of expression. I honestly believe that thereis a very fine boundary between artist anddesigner. When you are creating for yourself or for theworld to see what YOU are thinking/feeling, you can bean 'artist', but when you create art that communicatesa message, for someone other than yourself, you arenow the 'designer'. The thing I love most about graphicdesign is that it often crosses that line between art anddesign. It lets you redefine through everyday objectswhat 'art' could mean to a common person versussomeone from the creative field. I'd like to end withone of my favorite quotes by Scott Adams,

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.

Art is knowing which ones to keep.

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WARLI ART

by Surabhi Ramachandra

On 14′th November ‘10,I got the opportunity tointerview Surabhi, an 18 yearsyoung artist from Bangalore,currently pursuing a degree inAyurvedic Medicine.I was awe-struck when I firstsaw her house – with Warli arton the compound walls!, andher other work inside. It wasinteresting to learn about herjourney so far and on how shegot into creating this ancientIndian art, while living in anadvanced world racing withfast paced digital designers.

Warli Painting is a tribal art that originated in Maharashtra around 400*

years back. This simple 2-dimensional art form is created using just circles,triangles and squares! Warli art portrays the simple and Eco-friendlylifestyle of the Warli tribe, by depicting their customs and their interactionwith nature. The images of their daily life (harvesting, drawing water fromwell, festivals, dancing, etc) are created in a rhythmic pattern.

The shapes used are not meaningless. Each geometrical pattern symbolizessomething with respect to the environment. Circle – represents the sunand the moon; Triangle – is derived from the mountains and pointed trees;and Square – indicates sacred enclosure, or a piece of land.

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Frustration inspires me.

The urge to come out of a frustration inspires me. I seek out for a newcreation in art in that moment of disturbance. My art is created in aboundary beyond any expectations; in complete freedom. I want to dosomething by myself, something that I can totally own, something thatgives me inspiration and something that represents me.

I have had a great experience with Warli art. It is amazing torepresent different customs and believes in the form of justtriangles and circles! It is fascinating to know that people of thosedays were more attached to society and environment. Being anAyurvedic medical student, “Nature within life and life within

nature" is relatable.

“

Before starting, I first decide whether it is a modern art or folk art oran intricate design. Next, I make a sketch of the same. I decide onthe choice of colors as and when I’m working on the sketch. Thedesigns are created once the background is done.My strong belief is that the best time to paint is at the time ofexams!! Once I start, the thoughts just flow continuously.

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OTHER WORK

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Though some of my paintings are complicated, I am a simple person wholikes simple food! and a simple living..I like kids around while I ampainting. I hesitate to paint in the presence of grown ups.

I started this (below) with no interest in colour; with just a black paintbottle and the thinnest possible brush. I decided to do something which issimple, yet complicated - just like the thoughts running haphazardly in mymind. I started with a line and a circle and went on building on it, similarto the way cells multiply in our body..

I don't create for publicity or for marketing. If someone likes to buy myart, they are welcome. But I am totally attached to all my paintings.

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WEEVIL G♀RL

Shriparna Sarkar

19, and mostly always studying stones and faces, but has officially enrolled in a design school to study communication design.

http://weevilgirl.deviantart.com/

MY CITIES TURN BLUE

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“I don't really 'go about creating' much, and when I try, I wind up in

bed curled into a ball of failure and rat poop; so I take a walk, pickpebbles and listen to music, some distant human sounds and someuncomfortably close ones and eat a lot of tamarind and throw up onpaper. If it winds up looking like it could mean something I try to trickyou into believing ITS A HEART ITS A CASTLE ITS THE STORY OF YOURLONG LOST TRENCH COAT and sometimes it works and sometimes its abad story and no one's clapping, so I take a nap until I'm ready for awalk again.

Poetry inspires me,

and misery.

The way there is no right reactionto anything and all the wrongreactions trigger more of thesame. Kaleidoscopic images andmadwomen on street corners andruins. I am inspired when I look ata stranger's photograph with alittle grain, shoulders falling like asound. I take the image, stuff itinto a ventricle and it exitsanother as an infant or dead treeand the pumping of my ticker hasdone what it had to, its the closestto 'create' that I've been.

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MACKERELLA

„MY MANIAC AND I‟

I love my calligraphy pen because it's wood between my fingers is a thickblock of comfort. It makes me draw trees and one such day, these treesstart growing lines of age and music on them. I listen Laura Marling in myhead and my curly haired manic takes form on paper. He is sickened, myturban is blue. It gets heavier with grief with every line under my eye.(Mytone grows more pretentious, my metaphorical beard growing longer.)The birds spurt words while I just get paler despite my attire of desire.I put the picture on my knees, give it a finger, whisper to it saying ‘shhh itsalright - the sun's afloat, here's your dinner and

the birds are singing to calm us down'.

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I like the word EVISCERATE. I like blankets, collarbones and a highsternum, like my mom's. I like dead skin, scabs and MINT. I hate strandsof human hair ON THE FLOOR, or the bed, or taped to the wall oranywhere they aren't being egged on by follicles, it makes me want toshut my eyes and imagine a world with cotton-wool growing on headsand underarms etcetera and I like saying etcetera. I LIKE CAPS LOCKsometimes. And I like taking pictures and drawing spirals, I likethunderstorms, the internet, food and free things YEAH.

SURRENDER

I don't watch myself against

„everyone else' as a backdrop.

I cannot tell if I'm monochrome against colour or an afro or a bald patchagainst a wave of pixie haircuts, but I like to think I'm looking at thingsfrom under a table or over a rooftop and what I'm throwing at youmight hit you odd but its really just where I may be standing, lost andphased out.

Art means a lot to me. Art is almost perfect. Art once stole me a ring andsaid 'marry me, I got you a ring'. Art wears a red cape sometimes, makescoffee every morning, and wipes out the rest of the mornings. Art mightbe cheating on me, and I can never fall asleep. For a bit I had to be onsteroids. Art likes to hold me by my waist. That solves everything.

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DANDELIby Akshay Gururaj

I was walking down the main block of Christ University and happened to seethis board which had the words – nature conservation, trekking, and allmeals included, Dandeli and Rs. 2600. I signed up for this, not knowing whatto expect and there we were, 21 people, in the railway station on the 9th

April 2010.

This was exactly how one of the best trips I’ve done so far began. I mean, itwas something that supported what I believed in, that you know you’retravelling and you don’t know what to expect as an end result.

We reached the Dandeli - Anshi Tiger Resort in the same named Reserve,situated along the River Kali, which flows into the Arabian Sea. It is a good10-12 hour drive from Bangalore and about the same by train. The closestairport is Panaji, Goa, about 2-3 hours from the Reserve. It is 100 kms fromthe nearest coastal town of Karwar. The Resort is owned by the ForestDepartment, so you will need to contact the department for permission tostay there. The main animals that are spotted most frequently are birds likeHornbills, Shikaras, Kingfishers, among others. There are very high chancesof spotting leopards in summer as they exist in plenty. Tigers are spottedtoo, but only the lucky ones do. [A tiger was spotted behind one of the tentsjust three days before we arrived!]

We were not exactly in the middle of nowhere, but it was a good distanceaway from ‘human settlements’ (I won’t say civilization). It was pretty hotwhen we reached. After breakfast, we were guided into a hall where wewere given caps and T-shirts for the trip.

“Swalpa stamina,

Full vegetarian,

Super maja!”

Just when we thought that the rest of the day would be free and to ourselvesto explore the place, the organizing committee dropped the bomb. “We’regoing for a small trek, just about 3 kms”. Of course it sounded awesome, butnot when most of us hadn’t even got our bit of sleep in the train the previousnight. We followed their instructions and left for the trek, panting and puffing,already! The trek was not bad, except for the timing (11 am in mid-summer at38ºC). It was strenuous because it was more of climbing up and down well laidout concrete staircases. (Wait a sec! This was not my idea of trekking in ajungle).

We finished the ‘trek’ in about 2 hours where we visited Sintheri Rocks andthen headed for the river where all of us just jumped in. Some of us had tobe pulled out of the river by force (it was that refreshing!). Since I wasadamant enough not to carry extra clothes, a couple of them joined me insettling on top of the jeep and we headed for our allotted tents.

Excited as we all were, the tents turned out to be perfect, with three of us ina single tent although in ours we managed with four. We freshened up forsome more presentations about tigers and other animals that could be foundin the vicinity in the evening. Most of us switched off early to compensate forthe previous night. Also, for what was coming the next day - the 6 km trek.

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We were slated to leave at 0630 but by the time everyone got out of theirtents, filled our water bottles and left, it was almost 0700. We left in our jeeps,feeling the cool breeze in the morning. It was good as we started out early; wecouldn’t feel the heat of the sun, even if it was up by about 9, completelyblazing. The jeeps dropped us off at a certain point and we walked from there.It was a nice place with a small cave inside, which contained stalactites andstalagmites and also a naturally made statue of the ‘linga’. After touring thecaves, we climbed down little more and finally reached the river where wewere going to swim again. After what felt like heaven, we readied ourselves tocontinue the journey, now upwards. We walked for 2 kms to find the jeepswaiting for us. We jumped in and most of us passed out for about an hour untilwe reached the Resort.

In the evening, an environmentalist- Mr. Bhatt came to visit us. We had a littlechat with him and then we were informed that they had scheduled a nightwalk. Yes, a walk in the jungle at night! It would be pitch dark and we wouldwalk, one behind another, not knowing what would be lying in front of us.When the time arrived, we equipped ourselves with torches only to learn thatthe leader alone was allowed to use the torch, not the 20 of us walking behind.

We were given instructions to remain as quiet as possible as it would increasethe chances of catching a wild animal. So we walked for about 10 minutes andthen we heard something running. When the person flashed the torch, we sawnothing. It was supposedly just a small animal, according to Mr. Bhatt and thelocals. After the futile search, we were made to sit down in our paths in threerows. We sat there for another 15 mins observing the sounds of crickets, otherinsects and a few birds. We spent just half an hour but it has to be one of thebest experiences of my life.

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Just when we thought that our trip was coming to end, we were informed thatwe would be going for another trek the following morning. This was going to bethe toughest trek of the tour. Now the path that we were walking in inspired meas it was the ‘real’ trekking type; hard, slippery and narrow. We walked acrossdry rivers, even ones that were tributaries of River Kali.

We trekked for almost 2 hours, some girls already crying out of fear. Then wereached the point that struck us all by surprise, making it worse for morewomen. A hill next to the waterfall!! We were going to trek on the mountain,without any support or safety measures. We helped each other and I managedto get a small scratch on my camera lens as it accidentally hit something whileclimbing (Carrying a camera around your neck and climbing, not a good idea atall!). It was a mind-blowing experience no doubt, but tested our stamina. Beinga sportsperson, I did not feel the pinch, except on the first day (because of lackof sleep and tiredness of the train journey!).

We got back to the hostel, had lunch and we were instructed to pack our bagsas we were leaving that evening. We packed and assembled to discuss aboutthe entire trip, how all of us enjoyed and what we all learned from the trip. (Ilearned to bond with nature and I’d definitely do more to give back to them, inwhatever way I can). It was one of the best nature conservation camps that Ihad attended, not that I have attended many, but I know it wouldn’t be of thisquality.

This trip is strongly recommended. The best time to go has to be before Mayand after the rains. Winter is great but it would be cold so stack up some warmclothes. But in case you plan to do the trip, please carry cargo pants and do nottrek in jeans or in shorts. 3/4 pants should be okay as long as your socks cancover the rest of your leg.

Akshay, 20, is currently a student at Swansea University, UK,

pursuing a degree in Media Studies. He loves travelling and

photography. His blog - http://akshaygururaj.wordpress.com/

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LONGINGSeries by Swati Bhatnagar

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My constant endeavor when I take a picture is to tell a story. So when Itake a picture I ask myself - does this picture tell a story? How different isit from the millions of other pictures out there? What sets it apart?

So I love to learn, I love to get better..

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I was born in Delhi and I grew up here. Majoring in Philosophy fromDelhi University made me realize how much I hated Philosophy andloved photography. Its only been a couple of months that I've beenshooting. I also feel that a university like Delhi University, which isarguably, one of the best universities in the world should providemore options for students who love photography. We need morecolleges, better infrastructure!I'd love to take this up professionally. But I've just started. And I amwilling to learn as much as I possibly can.

”

Simple things fascinate me.

Telling a story out of them fascinates me more.

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Simple, funny and entertaining!When someone says ‘Indian Authors’, the writers who come to my mindare Ghosh, Rushdie, Seth and the like. But this book is somethingcompletely new (at least to me) and what’s more, I really liked it!

A simple story - Bala is a Chennai boy with an engineering degree,working in the US. He gets lonely and wants to get married (thus ‘takesthe plunge’). The first part of the book is about Bala’s childhood, familyand the way he was brought up. The second part is about his love forAmerica (his dog) and the search for a bride.

The Indian characters are the easily recognizable stereotypes who areomnipresent and the ending is predictable. Yet, what makes the bookworth reading, is the wit- humour and word play. The book gets youchuckling and yes, the ‘mokais’ (PJs or Blunt jokes) are well timed(considering it caught me off guard at a few places).

Book: Bala Takes The Plunge Author: Melvin Durai

Book Reviewby Vishesh Unni R

Today, sexual jokes are invariable form any part of literature, plays,movies, etc that categorize under the ‘humour’ tag. But the author isconfident enough to stray away from this beaten path (except maybe in afew innuendos, which depend upon your perception). This makes thebook refreshing and enjoyable. I love the way he tries to define howpeople classify others based on their intellect (like scrabble being onelevel below Chess; and if you happen to play chess, you are seen as aclever person).

Overall, a very simple & enjoyable book. Something which you could readwhile travelling. Of course, I’m tempted to put this under TamBramliterature, but I don’t think there is something called TamBram literature.

Vishesh, 19, is an avid reader and writer from Chennai. He has

been blogging since the dinosaurs disappeared and hasrecently started to grow a moustache. His other interests include

music, poetry and football.His blog - http://blog.visheshunni.com/

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FEEDBAC

KThere is no end to Art. The reason for your creativity to

have ‘stopped’ is *you* and nobody else. I honestly wish that every artist who gets featured in START takes

it in a positive direction to make something worthwhile of all the recognition. This is an

opportunity that needs to be caught and we are all working really hard to make it happen.

I wish you all the best.

Hello,

I have never written a letter to a magazine before, but now I am doing it, because the greatness of the magazine has to be acknowledged. 1500 hits for an inaugural issue is excellent!!

Talking about firsts, this is where my first story got published by a platform that was not mine. Which given my immense talent and astronomical amounts of finesse is a shocker.

But, personal tragedies of life aside, I've a very important observation to make. Ever since I was featured in stART, my writing has come to a stOP! All I have written is a few blog posts, and such literary gems as this letter itself. My life too, seems to have drifted away from the life required for an artist to blossom.

The writers and the photographers of this magazine are great. The editor is also great. The publisher issuu is also very nice. Please read it. And tell it to your friends too.

Sameer Jha.

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FEEDBAC

KHey,

The second issue was very good.However I would like to see a more diverse contentfor the mag. Featuring the artists is the core of themag and there is no meddling with that... but I wouldlike to see more stuff on the side-lines, like a regularcolumn, which you can write...Or, say a photo andyour view on it or some contribution from yourreaders... or some really cool website/blog related toyour mag's theme. The theme of art still remainsexcept that it is not now wholly concentrated onthose featured artists alone.

Cheers,Rahul V

These are some great ideas. Thanks for the suggestions, Rahul! Will definitely try to implement some of it in the coming issues.

Got something to say to the artists or the editor?

Send us your ideas and feedback!

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Direct your feedback and suggestions to

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Cover image by: Shriparna Sarkar