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2016 June 22: Getting Married in India

Wow, its been a while and lots and lots of things have happened - both in my personal life as well as in my art career.

The wedding in India was a roller coaster of emotions. The planning started several months before the ceremony. Getting an Indian visa for Lakshmi's (my wife's Indian name) parents was quite an ordeal. The visa office rejected the application for her parents at the first attempt. They became angry and almost decided not to go. But cooler heads prevailed and the application went through in the second attempt.

Culture shock - lots of it. For my Chinese wife and her parents, that is. Seeing only Indians everywhere. Different language, different weather, different customs. It was quite an ordeal for them. They were looking for hot water, while my relatives were wondering why anyone would drink hot water in such hot weather. They were looking for noodles where none was available. They were looking for meat in a place where meat consumption is very low. They wanted to wear slippers inside the homes, where its culturally not allowed. So, they found the marble floors cold and hard. Different toilets ....

I was stuck in the middle and had my hands full.

The first few days after we landed, was very hectic. We had to travel to numerous nearby towns to distribute wedding invitations. This was also the first time Lakshmi and I had spent so much time together. We found out each others quirks and eccentricities. If Lakshmi does not get food at the right time, she goes crazy. She needs certain kinds of foods. She needs a certain amount of rest. While dating, we had never quarreled. But as soon as we got to India, the quarelling started.

They say traveling for a long time for a new couple is a very stressful situation. They are right.

After the invitations, the prepartions for the wedding started. They installed a tent, called a Pandal in front of our house. Two banana trees were tied on each side of the main door. There were colorful electric lights on the tent. Then the bride had her hand decorated with Henna.



The wedding lasted three days. The first day was the engagement. The second day was the wedding ceremony and the third day was the final wedding feast.

The engagement consisted of the bride and groom clothes being blessed by a Brahmin priest. Then we changed into the clothes and exchanged rings.



Guests then blessed us by applying Thiruneer (white ash) on our foreheads.



Three of my university mates had come from other cities. I was very happy that they could make it and am very grateful to them. Here they are (from left) Ramesh, Arun and Robby.



Photo with the brides parents



About 40 relatives had come from nearby towns and spent all three days with us. Other relatives and friends came mostly for the wedding ceremony.



On the wedding day, the bride and groom's dresses were blessed by a Brahmin priest. I was wearing a traditional silk Vetti and silk shirt with a silk towel thrown over one shoulder. The bride was wearing a traditional silk Sari with her hair decorated with flowers.





Because it was an international wedding, some customs had to modified. This was done mostly under the advice of the Brahmin priest. Traditionally, the groom and the bride each book a marriage hall. Then, during the wedding day the groom's party has a procession that goes to the bride's hall. However, as the bride's side only had 3 people (bride and parents) this was not possible. So, the procession was modified to me going to a nearby temple with some close relatives, praying at the temple and then returning to the marriage hall. Here is a photo of me going to the temple.



The groom is then welcomed at the bride's wedding hall. One of the customs is that a banana is held near the groom. The groom takes a bite. Again, the banana is held. Again, the groom takes a bite. Then, the third time as the groom is about to take a bite, the holder withdraws the banana and everyone has a good laugh. This goes on for about 15 times. The bride is also given a banana, but she is not teased as much :-)



The groom then meets the bride.



The ceremony is done on a low stage. Everyone sits down Indian style. The altar has lots of fruits, flowers and ceremonial lamps and such. There is also a small fire.



The fathers pay their respects to each other by applying Thiruneer (holy ash) to each others foreheads. They then exchange garlands.



Then, the mothers do the same thing.



They all sit down and place their hands together. So, the hands of the groom, bride, brides parents and grooms parents are placed together. Its a squeeze! The Brahmin priest recites his mantras and offers prayers to the gods. Ceremonial water, milk and rice are also poured on the hands.



Then, the bride lights a traditional oil lamp. By custom, before the advent of electricity, it was the lady of the house who would light the lamps in the evenings. The ceremony symbolizes this. Perhaps, a modern adaption could be the bride turning on the light switch :-)



Traditional south Indian music is played in the background by musicians. Then the groom ties the gold Thali (necklace) around the bride's neck. This symbolizes the actual wedding. Thali, is the most important symbol for south Indian weddings. Most women never remove it for the rest of their lives.



The bride and groom, then exchange garlands several times.



One of the close relatives from the grooms side then puts Vitti (toe rings) on the bride's feet. I was told that many years ago, even men used to wear them.



Then an end of the groom's dress is tied to the end of the bride's Sari and the couple circle the holy fire a few times. This concludes the ceremony.

Then, its time for the group photos.



The gentleman on the right is one of our close relatives, who did a large amount of legwork. There are a few people who are social leaders and can make things happen. He is one of them. He worked tirelessly. A big thanks to him!



The third day was the wedding feast. Before the wedding, for almost two weeks, we could not eat any meat at home. So, my wife and her parents, who eat meat regularly really missed it. The wedding feast was heavily non-vegetarian.



The wedding news was published in the local papers along with a photo. Being such a small town, anytime we went for a walk after that, many people on the streets recognized us :-)



Writing this after 5 months of the wedding brings back memories. I now realize that things were so hectic, that I was in a trance. It was very intense. It was also a great occasion to meet relatives that I had not met in over 30 years. Meeting them brought to memory the deaths, births and wedings that have occured over the years. How time flows!!

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Jan 7, 2016: An Indo-Chinese wedding and new artwork

Our wedding is set for Jan 19 to 21 in Arupukottai, India. It will be a traditional Tamil wedding. Here is the wedding invitation card. Friends who are interested in attending, please contact me.





The card has an image of a celestial wedding – the wedding of God Shiva to Goddess Parvati in the Meenakshi avataar. Per Indian tradition, Gods and Godesses come to the world every once a while, in the form of human beings. These are avataars. One such avataar of Goddess Parvati was Meenakshi, who was the Queen of the Madurai kingdom (where we are located now). Per tradition, the brides uncle has to give the bride away at the wedding. God Vishnu performed this role. In the photo, Vishnu is on the left, as the uncle. Meenakshi is in the middle as the bride and Shiva is on the right.

Most invitations in Arupukottai are in Tamil. We modified one page to create an English version. After the weddings were printed, they were taken to our family temple. There it was blessed by the priest.

New artwork. I am in the mood for dumplings.

This artwork uses a traditional board used for making dumplings as the base. It is found in most Chinese kitchens. Dumplings have a long tradition in China and are used to welcome new guests.













This artwork is at the intersection of four roads.

One road runs from the past to the present. The dumpling board has a long history. However, the other materials used in this artwork are modern. It uses plastics, computers and CNC routers.

The second road runs from the left brain to the right brain. From the creative side to the logical, engineering side. It is artwork that has a lot of engineering influence.

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Dec 19, 2015: Artwork using plastics and screws – yes metal screws.

Consciousness ebbs and flows. It meanders. It searches. It seeks out the unknown much like the small child. With faltering steps it steps out ...

First it was all engineering, for many years. Then it was all art, for many years. And now its blending. Synthesizing. Digesting and taking ownership.

The earlier paintings of about 10 years ago and the recent paintings are similar and different. The shapes and flowing lines are still there. The person is still a collection of simple circles, triangles and rectangles. But the materials have changed. The past two months have been bits of plastics assembled with screws – much like a bridge – one can see the bridge but also the bolts that hold it all together.

With newness comes uncertainty and the thrill. Two sides of the same coin. Adventure and danger versus safe and boring. Its very exciting. Awake early in the mornings and ready to try out a new idea. But.... Is it good? Is it beautiful? Is it too beautiful? Remember, the upper echelons of the artworld looks down upon anything beautiful. Is it complete? Looking at the artwork – add more color? Add more texture? Dont know. One will never know.

Here are three pieces using the new materials. They are all PVC screwed together over another plastic sheet. There is color using acrylic paints and spray paint. Spray paint gives a modern, bright, even finish. Acrylic gives it a human, uneven finish. There is also glitter paper.

The first piece is Froggie swimming towards the light. It is 50x40cm. The frog is a new design that has not appeared before. It was an inspiration on a trip to Mongolia. Somewhat autobiographical in that the artist is also searching for the light visually.






The second piece is Engineering Deer. Also 50x40cm. The deer is poised as it is doing something – what, one wonders. Popular on Saatchi online gallery.







The third piece is She was happy when here sister arrived. The design is borrowed heavily from a ten year old painting. But modified and rendered in plastics. Here are both the original and the newer version. Do you see the transition? The process? What do you think is occuring? Drop a note.

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October 30, 2015: Old Jewish bastard shouting at yellow man:

Westerners have an automatic sense of superiority when dealing with others. This was evident in an online conversation recently. Which was an inspiration for this painting. Its poliyart.

This one is: She jumped into the rocket and escaped all her troubles. This one was inspired by a dear friend who recently died of a drug overdose.

Here is another one: Couple arguing over jackfruit slice. Really enjoyed making this one. Very playful and funky.

And here: Dreaming of Indian mangoes. I will be visiting India soon and miss Indian mangoes. I have not been to India during summer in over 27 years. Mangoes are a summer fruit, so will miss it this time too.

I have also been painting more traditional paintings.

First one: They play music at harvest time.

Second one: Dont eat too much, or you will become fat. I have been losing weight and excercising regularly for the past 6 months or so. Hence the inspiration. This one was extremely popular on Wechat.

Third one: Laozi should have said sometimes a sailor lives on coconuts. The recent art market is so weak that most artists are having to find other means of support. Hence the inspiration for this one.

Everything begins from the heart - a lecture by Sridhar Ramasami: Two weekends ago, the local bookstore FengMi organized a lecture by me with this title. I talked mostly about how my life changed after my ten month long hike in the USA. Here are some photos.

Exhibition: Two of my poliyart were exhibited in Songzhuang at Yexue culture center, along with work by 23 other artists. It was a lively affair and my first exhibition of my poliyart. Photos here.

Wechat friends: If you are on wechat, and want to add me, I am 18801052785. Please introduce yourself. Thanks.

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Oct 9, 2016: Paintings in a forest?

Songzhuang, an artist village on the outskirts of Beijing is home to about 3000 artists. Its a special place. It has the vibrancy of creativity. It has a very social atmosphere. It has its eccentricities. It has its unique architecture in the form of houses, studios, galleries and museums. Every year we have an art fair, that is usually quite exciting and bustling.

There were several openings, notably ShangShang museum and Songzhuang Art museum. ShangShang museum is considered to be be the biggest and most prestigious in Songzhuang. This year they had paintings by local commercial artists. There were numerous landscapes. There was also an interesteing exhibtion by a group of 18 artists, most of whom painted in an impressionistic style. They were quite good. Here are some photos.

Songzhuang Art museum had artwork by 7 artists. The theme is mostly copied from the west, where modern art museums are mostly showing sensationalistic installation art devoid of any meaning. There was one large piece of cloth that hung on the wall and overflowed on to the floor. So, if its raining and you need a large piece of cloth to make a quick roof, head on to the Songzhuang art museum :-)

One of the most interesting exhibitions was an open air exhibition in a little forest. Two of my paintings were also exhibited. Its just a small park with a forest like atmosphere with paintings hung from trees. It lasted for four days and was very lively. The artists and friends hung out in the forest for all four days, painting, eating, drinking and playing music. I am sure they had more visitors and had a more lively atmosphere than the large museums in Songzhuang. I enjoyed it very much. Photos here.

Some other photos from this years art fair.

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