Kolam ,in Tamilnadu / Sona in Angola

It has been a long time since I wrote a post[it seems so to me,at least].but I have been reading some posts ,visiting friends and also finding that I have lost some links,too.Remember,I had linked to a post/hub on Kolams when I wrote on Tessalations.I could not find Mr.Ramanathan's post on Kolams at that spot anymore.Ramanathan had written extensively and interestingly on Kolams,and had created the various grids used in Kolams ,and had made the Kolams that I do on the doorstep beautifully on the computer using Autocad.He had also written on Srilankan Tamil Weddings,the temples of India,and on the Indus scripts and its similarity to Tamil he had given a lot of links to those who had studied and written about them. I have not yet searched on the google for hi posts,but if any one who reads my blog knows where it has moved,I would be greatful to youif you let me know.I have taken a snap of a kolm I did on the area in front of my frontdoor[doorstep?]It hasbeen refferred as the Threshold by many who has written on Kolams;but I don't agree with that definition.In my understading/in my way of using English,the "threshold"is the line/area which holds the door-frame --the lower side of the rectangle that makes the door.
I had heard somewhere that if you need something-whether information,or help,The Lord [with Whatevername or Whateverform]whom we worship sends it our way;it has always been so with me.So I am hopeful of finding those interesting hubs /blogs again.Meanwhile I will give you something interesting,which had first caused me to believe that the world and its people are the same underneath;and that any difference seen are but superficial--be it music,art or even Kolam.

Sometime in 2004/05 ,I came across a book on Math for Children ,explaining the different folk forms of Math across the world.In it I came across a design from Angola which lookedlike/was same as Kolam but for the execution.In Angola these designs are called the "Sona" or the "Lusona";they were drawn on the sand by the village elders[usually male] as they told stories.The designs were the sameones I draw in front of my doorway ,only they were drawn to illustrate a story ,while I draw it at the start of the day as a prayer and as thanksgiving to the Sun and Mother Lakshmi .
Though this post is dated 23/4 ,I wrote it only on 2/5 as I couldnot get a flow of thoughts and words to express myself --which,incidently,is the topic or a part of the topic for this months TIFC.This is strange,as did not think I would be writing on the Topic of TIFC.The colours for this month are pale /lighter this time which I feel suits our summer and the winter DownUnder.

TIFC-How it Sensitises our Thinking

This,Lagerterra square, was a sample which I had worked just a few months before the Tsunami[sometime in October '04]

It had been inside one of my many sewing bags, covered with the mud that the wave brought into our house.At that time,I thought I could not retrieve it.;it was covered with the red soil and other debris left by the Tsunami .Even now you can see the Reddish brown tint [burnt sienna?]of the red soil that is used for gardening on the unstitched portion of the canvas .This was designed by the Anchor Design Studio,which also publishes the needlework Magazine - Needle'n'Thread .I am yet to start the bigger piece,as the Xerox of the design has got partially damaged,and because of the several uncomfortable,but necessary changes,that was happening on my home front,since the Tsunami ,that does not contribute to making me feel settled.I seem to be in a constant state of flux,which does not help me in anyway.

I noticed a strange coincidence,happening since I joined the TIFC;I don't know if it is the same with others who have joined :- My thoughts and the words that come out of me[I don't feel as if I am in charge],all seem to revolve around the thought that is posted.It is the same with the colours.I seem to notice immediately in the surroundings ,only the colours that are given for the Challenge,especially in their combination.

This only shows that our mind is getting primed by the challenge to take note of the issues presented and the colours chosen for the Challenge.This is the basis of the psychology of Advertising/Marketing ,too-to prime the prospective consumers, by using a multi modal package that would sensitise all our senses , to take notice of their product .

Change,what it means to me/ The Cat's Hold.

The Topic of this month's TIFC is change .Sharon has mentioned in her post how she viewed a change she wanted and how her friend viewed the same.
Change is a fact of life that is a constant.No matter who you are or ,what you do ,you are faced with it.
Some people resist change;others embrace it with both hands.I find that fortune favours those who embrace change. Change is like a wave and those know how to ride it are successful.
For some ,change happens;others make it happen.
Some have constant encounters with change -ranging from the drastic but sudden variety,like natural disasters etc., through the moderate but sudden kind [of falling ill to Chikungunya ], and the milder,but still sudden, everyday variety :- "the auto -to -take -your -child- to -school -is -not -coming-today" kind. Also,the momentary kind as when the electricity goes off just when you want to Blog,sew,or put clothes in the wash.
It is these sudden kinds that cause feelings ranging from mild irritation to frustration to anger,sadness and Rage. Most stress and stress related illnesses like Hypertension,Type 2 Diabetes etc. are due to the after effects of these unresolved emotions .
Those who make Change happen for them are more prepared for the uncertainties that follow it ,like its pet dog .They are the ones who land on their feet;not fall flat on their face , because they were not prepared for it.
Well,I think I fall on my my seat and not my feet , usually. So, I suppose I am slightly better off,than those who fall on their faces , who I think , are better off than those who refuse to get up however way they fall.
I know that we can't cover for every possible liability;that we could not anticipate every fall or setback.There comes a time when you should just put your trust in the Supreme Being .and believe that He /She will never make you face something that you can't handle;or,at least not without resources to help you surmount the Change. For,what is Change if not an exam set to test whether you have picked up the necessary skills to survive it and also His/Her test to teach you to think less of yourself and more of others.,especially,Him/Her . In Indian [Hindu Philosophy] ,this kind of surrender is likened to the way the kitten lets its mother take care of him.

I am in the midst of a period of Change,myself. We will shortly be moving into our own apartment.It is under construction,now.We have to plan for the change we want there -like planning for storage in the Kitchen,the Bedroom,utility,hall etc.I am getting all sort of advice on that.--"have more storage"--"don't have a lot of storage ;you would invite clutter" and so on.

Another Change I am facing is that of entering the world of being employed(being paid for my work). I got an offer to head a school that is growing into its "Primary Years".They are starting First Grade /Std in June.
Managing change is about making Decisions that would help us grow.We feel anxiety when we are not certain of this ,that the change we are seeking is good for us. This is where Belief in ourselves,or in in the One above us ( "oopparwalaa"-they call Him in Hindi) that would help us.
I pray that everyone is able to make such Transitions without undue distress;that they are able to choose wisely and without feeling guilt or fear;that they have the necessary resources to make the Change happen the way they planned it.

Tessalations And Kolams-I

Today I read Sharon's Post of 17/March titled Tessellation toy online.She has given very helpful links to sites on Tessallations.Tessallations are practised in India as a tradition called Kolam in Tamil.It is a Pan-Indian artform where the ground/floor is decorated with designs drawn with white rice powder or paste(diluted)or stone powder.Sometimes coloured powders are also used.It is one of the 64 artforms an educated person should know (atleast in the medieval times ie.c.I BC.E. to 10 B.C.E.)Both men and women were adept in this art.For the past few centuries it has been reserved exclusively for the Woman of the house ie.the Grihini;but she is expected to learn it before she is married,so that she would be an accomplished Kolam artist by the time she was married.Infact ,it was considered as a mark of her Intelligence to be adept in Kolam Drawing!Nowadays a man would not know anything about this art.He considers it surprising that there is anything of note in the humble Kolam which is noticed only in its absence.It is one of the details only burglers notice.(b'cos a house whose residents are away wont have a fresh Kolam drawn in front of the entrance.)All the inmates of a house(with the exception of the woman who drew it)do not notice the Kolam.But if the "artist"were to mess her work,it will immediately be noticed,commented upon ,criticised,ridiculed etc.,leaving the person concerned quite in tears!?! These days not all girls are willing to learn this art form from her elders.Doing Kolams is looked down upon(very slightly) and is considered as being"too girly"by the present generation of Jeans-wearing Teenagers.
Kolam-The Traditional Floor Drawing of South India gives a fairly good overview of this Tradition of ours.I wish I knew how to create those computer generated Kolams!Nowadys,some Men are also showing a lot of interest in the way Kolam deals with Mathematical subjects/problems.One is ,as mentioned above,Tessallations;other areas are fractals,progressions,Spiral geometry[(?)i'm not sure of the correct terms,as i'm not into Math]and computing, too.This site gives further informative links on kolams.
Beyond Mathematics,Kolams touch on the subjects of Art, Religious Rituals,Spirituality,Anthropology,Sociology and Psychology.I will deal with them in subsequent posts.

Finally, A picture.

I have finally got the pictures of my work taken and also got it uploaded thanks to my husband's and childrens help.It was a total joint effort.As for me,I was feeling pretty bewildered by the wholething.My husband had to find the most appropriate setting-with flash or without flash.He also had to find the correct setting for focus.The Camera is something we bought recently to replace our previous manual one.I have to learn how to use it so that I could take pictures myself.
The work pictured here was designed By the Anchor Design Studio.I had done it in the Summer before the Tsunami.I had wanted to make it into a bag or something instead of the small cushion it was supposed to become.The threads and the stitches to be used were as per the design.But i executed the work with a variation to the straight stich recomended.[I used the economy verstion.I am feeling very sleepy so I'll sign off now.I 'll comeback tomorrow with more to share.

A little bit of Detail

I want to tell the story of why I named my blog Tangled Web.
About Twelve Years ago when my firstborn was a little girl of three,I had gone to a Lifestyle/Home-Life Exhibition to spend the coupons I had got from Madura Coats for buying their threads and other needlework supplies.They had given them as I subscribed(& still do)to their needlework magazine Anchor Needle'n'Thread.I had wanted to try the beautiful designs featured in their eye-candy of a mag.{I had gone berserk buying a lot of things-emb.skeins,crochet threads,knitting cotton,pearl cotton etc.}.My very-curious-and-couldn't-take-no daughter was fascinated by those threads.I saw her interest and told her that it was a no-no and she should play with something else.Was there ever a child who can keep their curiosity under control?!Mine didn't/couldn't.So she waited for when I was engaged doing something else,so I couldn't dissuade/distract her;she got her friend Sai to help her take the small closed bucket where I kept those "fascinating"threads and made off to the shade of casuarina trees that grew just beyond our compound ,to a corner where I could not spot her easily[behind a tree].They both must have had such fun separating the numbertags from the skeins [30-40 nos.] and entangling the crochet and knitting cottons[5-6 balls]and skeins as thoroughly as only two three year olds could.What an amount of time and effort it took me to unravell the whole thing! I was not in a position to throw away the whole lot after going to all the trouble of assembling my resources for the eyecandy stuff that was published in the Magazine. Infact it was a nightmare.After that event ,I packed away all my supplies so that all my attention does not go any where else but in engaging my daughter.It took me almost a month to remove the sand[beach variety]and dried casuarina needles from this Mass;another six -nine months to separate the skeins from each other; and it was three years before I cold go back to the thread supplies shop in Madras/Chennai to help me match the number tags to the appropriate coloured skiens.I thought that was that,until I found ,recently,a ball of fine deep blue tatting /crochet cotton amongst my precious hoard with the tangles still intact.So, I decided that there was /is some ununderstandable connectionbetween me and Tangled Threads that is difficult to explain. This became the name of the blog I had first created.Why did it become Tangled Web?I was always fascinated with a spider spinning her web so diligently and expertly without any formal training of any kind ,but with instinct alone. That's why!

So many Details-Exam Blues

The past week has been crazy.My daughter is having her Board exams(6 exams spread over Four weeks).She had finished her Social Science Exam on the 3rd.She had her Math Exam on the 11th.We are not very comfortable with maths,not because it is difficult but because we cannot be bothered by the many details like the steps involved in the solution of the problems.Actually,she has come a long way-from being gutwrenching scared of the M word to saying "Amma,I love the challenge in doing Maths".So whats the problem,you might ask.The same matter of noticing DETAILS-on her part as well as mine,I feel.She forgot to take her Hall Ticket(so necessary to be allowed to write one's exams).The Teacher had to yet come to her desk when she had realised what she had done.The Invigilator was very kind and understanding,infact very empathetic.She asked the class if they knew my daughter and confirmed her Number and then allowed her to write the exam.She only asked her not to repeat her foolishness.I was feeling agast to know that my dear daughter had not taken my advice to keep her HT safely in her bag and not to take it out until her exams got over;that I did not check /ask her if she had got all that was required.I felt miserable and very incompetent.It took me a week to be able to even think about the incident without feeling mortified.Meanwhile,my younger son who is 10 years old and is in the IVth grade had started his exams too.He needed help with his Hindi which is a subject I dont know much about except to read and write!EVS,English or Math-no problem at all.But Hindi-Written is difficult as he has difficulties with writting ie.Dyspraxia and Dysgraphia with ADHD.
It feels much better now that the worst is over and I am able to put them into words.