Application form
I had to fill out an application form for my yoga class. Thankfully it looked short and simple. So I began.
Name….Age…Gender…Address…Telephone number (brain on auto-pilot for all of these)
then the specifics
Food habits….health problems, if any…..(nothing new to report)
and this short section in the end took me entirely by surprise…how do the cricket-maniacs put it? A total googly? Something like that (pardon this cricket-o-phobic)
What do you like doing?
*Brows furrowed, chewing pen* I wrote “Reading, writing, music, painting”
And the last question was:
How many hours do you spend doing what you like doing:
- Per day
- Per week
- Per month
I was floored. And it has been on my mind ever since.
What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand or stare?
Sometimes the simplest cues can lead you to some major discoveries. I forgot that a life without fun and pleasure is no life at all; it is a godamn business organizer with no room for smudges or spontaneity.
I love painting. There is a certain sense of freedom, creative and spiritual that I experience from giving in to the magic of colours. It is a powerful experience…not caring about paint smudges or water on the floor or colouring outside the lines. It is a wonderous realization that order can create perfection but beauty comes from the unfettered, the unplanned, the spontaneous…the free spirit.
I think I’ve found a way out of the dungeon. Here’s one result:
For anyone who is interested, this is fabric paint on a cotton blouse. Painting this gave me more satisfaction than seeing the bonus on my paycheck.
Prolific Dyslexic on 
Radha on 
IdeaSmith on 
Parth on 
anand on 
le on 
Ruvy on 
umashankar on 
1shub
wrote on 2 March 2006 at 20:41
whoa lady!! that is some painting!:)
2ligne
wrote on 2 March 2006 at 21:31
lovely painting. makes sense that you do the stuff you like
cause you are good at it..
3Born a Libran
wrote on 2 March 2006 at 22:02
Great work… Hats off to you… Wish I could be half as creative…
4littlecow
wrote on 3 March 2006 at 12:03
painting provides a high that is not oft found in anything else… it may be the utter focus that painting elicits – the immersion of the brain and soul into the confines of a few lines, without any heed to the world around. whatever it is, it is a superior feeling.
could not help but notice the coincidence: the previous two fellers that have left their comments and littlecow used to live next door to each other and now, we leave 3 comments one after the other sitting in three time zones and a thousand miles apart… it could either point to a cosmic miracle or to the utter joblessness of 3 people.
5iyer education
wrote on 3 March 2006 at 15:34
now ideasmith can paint t-shirts too haan? so do you paint 5 t-shirts all at the same time (just like blogging) or is it one at a time…
and what happened to your “anti-south-indian” theme… this one is so mallu… and it is zimbly fandastic… fabouloussss & superrrrrrrp…
i will give u a tee and can u paint sameera reddy for me? it will be a ‘win-win’ deal
6Dreamcatcher
wrote on 3 March 2006 at 19:53
WOW.
7Teens to Toons
wrote on 3 March 2006 at 21:27
sorry… but that was not as it sounds like… it just isn’t…
my first attempt with plagiarism… and i get caught with my pants down…
that does not sound cool..
sorry again
8Teens to Toons
wrote on 4 March 2006 at 0:58
Now thats a bit brutal…
on second thoughts… “hope you remain standing” was not that bad…
Anywayz I apologized… what else can be done…
9Valhalla
wrote on 4 March 2006 at 5:29
Brilliant! Congratulatios on creating another work of art, and your bonus
.
10someone out there
wrote on 4 March 2006 at 19:00
hey thats a pretty cool painting.
11Teens to Toons
wrote on 4 March 2006 at 22:29
Was wondering how do you manage blogs at this scale… I have not been able to keep one in shape…
and about being brutal… written words have a impact different from verbal ones.. in the sense that they can be read again…
And I believe the apology was proper and should have been accepted…
12Teens to Toons
wrote on 4 March 2006 at 23:51
Hey, I am becoming an ideasmithy-addict..lol.. anywayz there was this reference to a dialogue..or shud i say monologue in castaway.. and though I must have watched it a coupla times.. I missed it completely.. mebbe bcos i just love helen hunt..
but I agree its profound in a way… nothing complex.. only simple things can be…
13littlecow
wrote on 5 March 2006 at 6:34
your painting galvanized me into finishing my sketch!
… check my blog out…
14AJ
wrote on 5 March 2006 at 13:21
*sigh* good ol kerala…me home state… say wats the mallu connection with ze smithy??? gorgeous paintin btw…
15The Soul Doctor
wrote on 5 March 2006 at 16:57
Excellent painting ideasmithy! Good work. Keep it up:)
karthik
16Struck Traveler
wrote on 26 May 2006 at 11:19
Any further progress on time spent on what you like doin’ ?–>
17name
wrote on 27 July 2008 at 18:54
best of the best it is,