Zentangles (DDC - Day 9)

Thane Pune Thane (DDC - Day 8)

Meraki (DDC - Day 7)

 

It is Day 7 of the Daily Doodle challenge and was lucky to attend event Meraki at my daughter's school.

 

The logo above is also unique. It reads Meraki even if you read it upside down.

Until today I was under the impression that it would be a small event restricted to the auditorium or school ground. I was proved wrong. It was a grand event and almost every classroom in the school was utilized for it. Ranging from Life skills, robotics, cubotics, social causes, hobbies and so much more. I was there for over 3 hours and did not realize the passage of time. Even after spending so much time, I could not visit every section. My doodle of the day captures just limited things I observed and experienced through the presentations. 

One section was about realizing that you are not a limited being like the caterpillar but someone who has the potential to be a beautiful butterfly.

There was one classroom highlighting the importance of me time. Time for self and how it is helpful in ensuring self development. 

 

One stall was focused on informing how spending time will family helps. It had ideas around different games that family can play together and also how having atleast one meal of the day together with family helps in bonding.

Then there was this bell kept hanging outside with a message asking visitors to ring it if 

happy. 

One message on the entrance of the classroom had this message that stood out: 

"Don't worry about whether or not the Sun will rise, be prepared to enjoy it."

 All in all it was a wonderful experience for me as a visitor. The best thing that I liked about the event is that the kids were presenting and explaining about life skills. To be able to be in that position they must have learnt and understood it. Then presenting it to strangers must have done wonders to their confidence. I am sure the experience they had will help them in future. 

My daughter was one of the presenters too explaining about pebble art.

I leave you with some more pictures I had taken at the event.

Thank God It's Friday (DDC - Day 6)

Tried my hand at Sketch Noting (DDC - Day 5)

Today is Day 5 of the Daily Doodle Challenge and as part of that I tried my hand at sketch noting. Sketch noting typically is used to write visual notes for capturing important points from a meeting or presentation. It is also used to capture one's experience. It could be a vacation or it could be a learning experience. It is said that sketch noting can actually help one to retain more information that plain notes. The reason being that our brain tends to love images more and remembers it better.

Since I did not have much time to think through an experience or a meeting to come up with sketch notes, I chose to create a timeline of the poems I wrote on this blog instead.
I will try to come up with more sketch notes in the near future. That's it for today. I will be back again tomorrow.

Tenga Kola Manga Tholi (DDC - Day 4)

 

Tenga Kola Manga Tholi as a title would be a tricky one for non malayalees, but any malayalee (People born in Kerala or having roots in Kerala, who speak the malayalam language) would definitely had a smile on their face immediately after reading the title of this blog post. For non malayalees I will definitely explain it. Before that I would like to say thank you to everyone who visited my blog yesterday to check out my Day 3 Doodle. Few of you have appreciated it by replying to my Whatsapp status and some of you have liked my tweet with the blog post. I hope it did inspire you to think about trying out something that you have been putting on the back burner due to your false belief that it is difficult or too late to try. 

Now coming back to the blog title. Tenga Kola Manga Tholi literally translates to bunch of coconut and peel of mango. However, actually it is a malayalee way to ridicule someone who is uttering some nonsense. Now why would this make it as a doodle on my blog is what you would be wondering. The reason is that I happened to tell my wife that I do not know what should be the doodle to try for Day 4. She instantly replied stating Tenga Kola Manga Tholi. Now, one cannot ignore wife's suggestion, isn't it? :-) 

Some of you may think that I was being ridiculed here. In reality it was karma, pay back time. It is typical of me to utter Tenga Kola Manga Tholi at home just to make fun of either my wife or my daughter. This time though I was at the receiving end.

It is too late now and I am winding up for the day. I will be back tomorrow with Day 5 doodle. Until then good bye and good night.

AnyBody Can Draw (DDC - Day 3)

Day 2 of the Daily Doodle Challenge, I had mentioned about changing the way one goes about life and that if you continue to take familiar paths, you will end up at familiar places. 

It is such a great coincidence that day 3's blog post is an apt continuation to that point. I had no clue until evening as to what would be my doodle for the day. I was just going through some youtube videos about doodles and drawing when I ended up watching Graham Shaw's youtube video about "Why people believe they can't draw - and how to prove they can | Graham Shaw | TedxHull". Today's doodle is something I learnt from this youtube video. I recommend watching this video and try for yourself. It is truly inspiring.

This video is not just about making people realize that anybody can draw but also about how we tend to limit ourselves due to false beliefs. In order to do any task which seems unfamiliar or difficult, the willingness to learn and try something different is more important than having some innate ability. Some skills like drawing this doodle are surprisingly easy to learn. It was just a matter of few minutes following the instructor in the youtube video and try out these cartoon figures. Also note that I used my non-writing hand (left hand) to draw them. Something I had mentioned in Day 1 of Daily Doodle Challenge.

There may be some other tasks that you must have dreamed of doing in your life but chose to give up just because you thought it is too late to try or it was hard to do. Here is the evidence to prove that there will be some simple techniques to try and do the seemingly difficult task. So, why not give it a shot?

Courtesy: Why people believe they can’t draw - and how to prove they can | Graham Shaw | TEDxHull

Great things never come from comfort zone (DDC - Day 2)

Today is the second day of the Daily Doodle Challenge. I started my day talking to Lord Shiva, the three eyed one. I offered my prayers and sought guidance. In the course of the day, events that happened helped me realize that great things never come from comfort zone. One has to let go the shore and not get bogged down. 

When life doesn't happen the way you want, you need to change the way you go about life. If you continue to take familiar paths, you will end up at familiar places. 

The waves of uncertainty I will tide, I am not the one to hide. 
To think you are a loser is a sin, when you are actually born to win.

A month away from taking the leap into the Leap Year (DDC - Day1)

Today I decided to take the Daily Doodle Challenge (DDC) to capture my thoughts through a doodle. I plan to doodle about that thought of the day that sticks out prominently in my mind. I will also aim to ensure that like my attempts to stay positive through my blog post, my doodles will also be about bringing out the positive thoughts of the day. I will also attempt to see the funny side of things through my doodle.

Day 1 of my blog it was about the thought that we are just a month away from taking the leap into the leap year. I also plan to doodle using my left hand (though I am left handed, I have been trained to write using my right hand). So, the whole idea is to try something different. When nothing goes right, go left. :-)

It is also an attempt to hit two targets with one arrow. I have been struggling for quite some time to  come up with blog topics to write about. Doodling will help me achieve two things. One, help me to improve my drawing skills. Two, trigger me to write about the doodle and thus help me get content for my blog post.  

I hope to stick to this ritual on a daily basis. Let me see how far I can take it. I also aspire to improve the doodles with each passing day.

Politics cannot get funnier than this

Today was one of the most dramatic day in Indian politics. Uncertainty of who will be Chief Minister of Maharashtra came to an end with Devendra Fadnavis taking oath. However, looking at the headlines of all newspapers, it is but natural to think that I might have told a lie here. 

Events until yesterday night gave an impression that Shivsena, Congress and Ncp will form the government. The twist seems to be  a game plan of Amit Shah wherein Devendra Fadnavis along with support of some faction of Ncp Mlas led by Ajit Pawar ended up staking claim for government formation. There maybe more twists in store on the floor of the house. No matter what happens next, the biggest loser has been Shivsena. They did not behave maturely and the over confidence shown by them led to their downfall. They ditched a pre-poll Alliance for which they will suffer at the hands of voters in next election. 

I as a voter am not happy with the turn of events. Shivsena's attitude and what has turned out finally by BJP allying with Ncp mlas is something I am not pleased to witness. At the same time I see the fun angle. 

I think India should shift to a two party democracy so that mandate is not divided like this making way to uncertainty. This though cannot happen in the near future. Regional parties getting dominant is never going to help get a stable and strong government at the Centre or in state.  Something more practical is to treat a pre-poll alliance as one single unit till they break free before the next election. This can prevent parties in an alliance to change stand after elections like the way Shivsena did. 

We as voters feel cheated when things like this happen. Some of my friends were getting frustrated and emotional. I feel we should instead see the fun part. The memes being shared on whatsapp is the right thing to do. The politicians are giving us entertainment without us needing to pay entertainment tax. Let us only hope that we do not have to pay the price of the unholy alliances and dirty politics.