Shoonya, A Timeless Wisdom

There is no reason as to why the rivers flow or the mountains remain stationary. There is no rationale as to why only birds fly and humans do not. There is no purpose as to why there is a universe in itself under the sea... thus the book 'Shoonya: An Abyss of Absolute Timelessness' is introduced to the readers.
No, this is not a science book which answers queries regarding the workings of the universe but is of a higher realm and goes into the workings of God, life and its myriad emotions and the ways to deal with them.
The author of the book, Sreesha Belakvaadi, tries in his simple English to find answers to these and many other questions regarding existence, meditation, faith, destiny, consciousness, silence, security, ego, love...
His chapters, which he discloses in the Preface to be e-mails of mere thoughts and experiences shared with his friends, start with quotes and reflections which are elaborated and explained with examples and stories in some cases. Each chapter opens up unwritten answers to questions which most of us would have wondered briefly at some point of our lives. Some answers are predictable while others manage to surprise the rea-ders with the author's deep insight. Sreesha Belakvaadi has coalesced each topic so well that the reader gets the gist of the topic.
As one goes on reading the book, however, it seems familiar. Then you recognise it — the flow, the words and the way a topic is presented is similar to that of Osho Rajneesh, who seems to have influenced the author to a certain extent, as acknowledged by the author himself.
"Intellectuality must stem from humility. The moment the mind acknowledges that you are an intellectual, the very purpose of it is defeated," says Sreesha Belakvaadi in the chapter 'A true intellectual is unaware he is one,' expatiating that an intellectual is always in a state of folded hands and bowed head to the wonder life throws at him. This chapter makes us realise that the very purpose of intellect has been defeated in modern 'intellectuals.'
The write-up 'Children are the closest reflection of Godhood' seems a cliche and gets repeated in another chapter 'Being childlike is the greatest human trait' where he says as we grow, we start losing our innocence, our childlike attitude towards life.
Two more thoughts of Sreesha Belakvaadi which are worthy of mentioning here are — 'Women & existence mirror each other,' which speaks about male and female psyche and 'Silence is an absolute symbol of the divine' where he says that wisdom dawns in the silence between myriad thoughts which flow in and out of human mind, which is akin to a continuous chatter-box — a delight to the reader.
The tranquil thoughts that flow from one brief piece to the next makes the reader easily nod with agreement.
However, for those of us mere mortals living in this practical world where each decision taken every minute necessitates a dependence on practicality, some of Sreesha Belakvaadi's philosophical thoughts seem utopian and unachievable.
The book is a must read for those philosophically-inclined, meditative beings who wish to find their own thoughts reflected in the pleasantly designed book of 54 chapters. The author sees Godliness in simple things around us and the reader may expect to see the same once they finish the collection of reflections.

Guru of Mysore Traditional Art teaches painting

He is an exemplary Guru, akin to the keystone to Mysore traditional style of painting. Though frail and ripe with age, Ramanarasaiah, who was the Palace artist, enthusiastically carries on with the guru-shishya tradition.
About 35 enthusiasts, mostly women, are learning the indigenous art of Mysore traditional painting under the 91-year-old artist and his daughter-in-law Suma Krishna at the painting workshop being held at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS), Wellington House on Irwin Road in city.
The workshop, which will conclude on Apr. 24, is being conducted under the 'Do & Learn' series programme of IGRMS.
Some of the participants expressed their happiness with Star of Mysore about being taught by the maestro and said that they came to the workshop after coming to know that they will be taught Mysore painting by Ramanarasaiah.
The finer nuances of painting taught by Ramanarasaiah never fail to astonish those present. Even in old age, his memory has the clarity to recall the compositions of each colour, their Kann-ada names which most of the present generation are unaware of and the mixing of colours to get another colour etc. He says in earlier days, they used only natural colours extracted from fruits, vegetables, leaves, barks, minerals and other natural substances. Brushes were made of different materials like squirrel, camel and goat hair. Grass blades were also used to draw sharp lines.
The artist recalls that earlier, people who were enthusiastic about art but had no materials to practise on, used even newspapers after painting them white.
Mysore style of painting evolved under the patronage of the rulers of Mysore. The traditional artists prepared all materials required for painting like brushes, paints, board, gold foil etc., unlike the present day artists who get them readymade from shops. Then they painstakingly prepared their sketch and painted on them. Mostly religious topics like Rama Pattabhisheka, or Gods and Goddesses like Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Krishna, Eshwara, Gayatri etc., were the subjects of paintings, with the favourite being Lakshmi, according to the participants of the workshop Asharani, Poornima Jaga-dish and Hemalatha Raju.
Ramanarasaiah's paintings are exhibited in Jaganmohan Palace, of which he was the curator, and at Amba Vilas Palace. He is famous for his portrayal of Wadiyar family members of late 18th and 9th centuries.
He says he learnt Mysore school painting under his Guru Keshavaiah, who was also the Palace artist. The Wadiyar family painting in Jaganmohan Palace took him nearly two years to complete. So far, he has spread the fragrance of Mysore paintings everywhere in the land through about 500 disciples. His three children out of eight took up the task of propagating the renowned art in various places — daughters Sudha Venkatesh in Bangalore & Chandrika Pa-manabhan in Mysore, son S.N. Simha in Coimbatore and daughter-in-law Suma Krishna in Mysore. The nonagenarian has been honoured with many awards, the recent being the M.T.V. Acharya award. Suma Krishna may be contacted on Mob: 9739548643.