Modern Art [wink] [wink]

It has been going on since long... All walls of the house by now are sketched, colored and signed off by two tiny tots that roam around their territory like a pair of majestic lions inspect their kingdom. Vasu is four and Darsh is less than two. Their artistic outbursts, however irritating and frustrating, must be relished. Therefore, I have captured all their renderings on this page one by one, explicating for you what it looks like to me and justifying myself why I think so... Bear with me! :D Over here are a pair of dancing peacocks sketched by none other than Vasu... Peacocks are his favorite creatures and whenever he tries his hands at drawing, a dancing one is what he sincerely attempts.. the third creature that looks like some sleeping ant form is actually a peacock too.. its just that it barely looks like one. And the last figure at the left hand side I would like to believe is a tree to make the picture look complete and meaningful. Next here is an imprint of Darsh's hand, which he made very innocently after dirtying himself to the hilt to leave an impression on the wall for good... Next artwork reflects Vasu's latest past time - to draw a rectangle and divide it leisurely with horizontal and vertical lines. The smiley he has given to himself to laud his work... he has learnt this from the school that a smiley around means 'job well done'. Take a look with another angle.. at the right hand side. Now here are few art pieces out of casual pencil strokes.... I purposely chose purple background to suit the mountains that Vasu drew... he likes the gable structures... He still does not know the difference between a mountain, a hill, a cliff and a massive mound of dump... all for him are mountains. The second one looks marvelously aesthetic to me, as it for me is purely an expression of a mood of Vasu by his hands, in sheer coordination and oneness thereof. The third one looks like a top view of a golfer to me who is trying to strike hard. The circles and spiral appear due to quick movement of his head bent downwards. If you are not able to see through my eyes, I can also help visualize a stunned cartoon of a parrot in this very picture. If you have different ideas.. please let me know. And then this is another stunning potrayal of a street match to me... a bush at the left, a well-dressed girl in the right with her her arm held high to throw the ball in her hand in the air... And of course, this one cannot be neglected at all... here Vasu has written his name on the wall .... V, A, S, U and somehow a R may be easily spotted in this picture on the wall.. Intriguing..isn't it? The following mindless pencil strokes (by Vasu) have some how given shape to a womanly figure clinging to the tree as if, reminiscing of the caveman's time for me... You do not agree? Look carefully. Now this indeed is scribbling without a thought by Vasu, but such scribbling is also a must for variety's sake. I can distinctly see five objects in this drawing... There is a chair at the left hand, a spoon or a broom thereafter, a crescent moon, followed by number '2' and at last a buttefly buzzing over a broken piano.. This one in bright blue looks to me like whale swimming over the deep sea floor. Precisely for this reason, I chose blue for tinting this mischief of my son Vasu... Take another look at the whale... If original colors are exaggerted..it looks like a big balloon in the air amidst a festive gathering ... Am I making sense? Doesn't it look like an atlas map, though understandably this is incomprehnsible... ? This drawing by who knows who has accidently imbibed a smiling face within.. you can see it hopefully.. :) Smile please.

Here... doesn't this red figure in the left looks like a rocket in the space and the other figure looks like a girl standing right in front of the roket on the verge of panic?

And this to me seems like a fairy god mother swaying her wand to realize innocent wishes of young children... The next drawing is simply good because of the outcome of colors, I feel. These 'shaitaans' (naughty boys) did not even spare the wood. This drawing of the ant-like alien from Lilo & Stitch invited my wrath on Vasu the day he sneaked the permanent marker from my purse without permission.

Who's the copy cat???

The tuning between my young ones often leaves me wondering who is learning from whom and who is copying the other... At a glance, anyone would concede that it is Darsh who follows Vasu like Lakshmana pursued Shri Ram... When Vasu says 'Wow!', Darsh has to say the word with equal excitment and emphasis... When Vasu declines to taste something, Darsh does not bother to touch it either... The other day Vasu was relishing his tomato soup and asked me,

"Mama...Is tomato soup healthy?" Darsh sitting beside him immediately looked around in my direction for my response...

"Yes, it is healthy.", I said.

Then Vasu succeeded the query, "Are chips healthy?" This time Darsh looked around at me and spoke, "Mama..Chis?"...

"No, they are not healthy.", I replied. Vasu asked yet again, "Is Maggi healthy?". Darsh immediately looked around to snap, "Aggi?" "No", I replied. "Ummnn... Choclate?" "Chocate?" "No..!"

"Horlicks?"

"Hollic?"

"Yes."

"Kurkure?"

"Kudku?" "No."

Each time Darsh who sat facing Vasu wheeled his neck around in my direction to pose me the same question as Vasu... A fine instance of how Darsh tends to copy Vasu and idolizes him. But what would we call it when Vasu learns a few tricks and tips from Darsh... There are many instances to this effect. For one, Vasu has learnt from Darsh to be more open and casual with people and enjoy his surroundings light-heartedly. Vasu had this hitch that has gradually diluted significantly eversince he has been having Darsh's company in a proper way. Recently at the New Delhi railway station on our way to Sonagirji, Bhanu instructed the two of them to stay behind the yellow line on the platform, lest they would be left at the station as a punishment. While Vasu instinctively stayed well behind the yellow line in strict obedience of Bhanu's instruction, Darsh went ahead to stand on the outer end of the yellow line such that barely touching it, yet could not be termed as violating the direction. Of course, Vasu learnt the tactic instantaneously and followed Darsh. Isn't it a fine instance of Darsh stepping outside the shadow of his elder brother and proving that he is not a typical mindless copycat?

Well for me this was one of those few occasions when Darsh illustrated that he does not always copy Vasu, and knows when to follow and when to lead.