There are certain hobbies of mine which I considered to be not-my-cup-of-tea when I was back in college. I considered them to be too docile for my tom-boy nature. But as I grew up, I realized that there are better reasons to do them than to shrug them off. Kolam* is one such thing. I was absolutely disinterested in this art when I was growing up and was thinking I’d paint a permanent kolam in front of my house and be done with it, like many people in Bangalore. But things changed when there was a sudden interest in trying a few simple kolams which led my house owner to appreciate it and ask for my help during the Pongal* season. That was when I realized that my kolam was good enough for people to give a second look.
From then on, I started taking more interest. I am still no pro, the main reason being my shaky hands. I cannot draw a straight line without a scale and that has been the case ever since I remember. And the uneven ground in front of our house does not help either. So doing this is kind of out of my comfort zone but I am trying. Here are some kolams that I felt came out rather well for my attempts.
This is the Pongal kolam that started off the whole thing:
These are some of the daily designs I try out:
There are many more better works but I couldn’t capture them as I was rushing to office in the morning after spending a good deal of time in their making. Anyway, this is one hobby that I thought I’d never take up but it made me eat my words. Now I am cribbing that once I move into our flat next month, I wouldn’t have enough space to experiment bigger designs as there is only so much lobby space in front of the flat. 🙁
A couple more unconvincing hobbies are making their way up my ladder but slowly – Cooking and Crafts. Cooking is something I try to enjoy but end up not sustaining the interest. It’s like an on and off relationship. But what I do sustain is making interesting by-products out of ordinary and sometimes boring dishes. Like Dosa and Sambar is very common for us, but I make a Dosa Lasangna out of it by layering them and adding the Sambar like a sauce and then adding some toppings like coriander, nuts or tomatoes. Here’s a click, it is not very clear that it is a lasagna because the dosas were very thin and were only 3 layers. Needless to mention, my photography skills are still scraping the bottom of the pan.
I have just started taking clicks of such things I do, so I don’t have more, But I have tried this Greek Yoghurt Sandwich and I also make a variety of sandwiches with common items like mint leaves chutney and tomato chutney. I make an Indian Pulav with Carrot, Coriander, Peas and so on. I am planning to do more of this.
Again, Crafts was something I never thought I’d venture into. In fact, I thought I didn’t have a single crafty bone in my body for so long. But after seeing GB’s artworks, I was overwhelmed with desire to make something that beautiful. She also cooks so many awesome recipes that she posts on her blog and her food blog. Some dishes have made me crave that I had an ounce of her talent and interest in cooking. Anyway, on seeing her art works, I started researching on some easy to do craft works and stumbled upon paper quilling. It is relatively easy for a beginner to try and so I did. I made a couple of cards for my friends for their birthdays and it turned out that I did have some craft sense in me.
As I am trying out these new hobbies, the only thing I am running short of is time. And I don’t know how I am gonna indulge in gardening too when I move to our flat. I am planning to have a few plants in the balcony for sure. But I must say, amidst all the crafts, cooking, blogging, work, attempting new kolams and packing and planning to move into our own place, life is pretty awesome 🙂
Until later 🙂
*Kolam– It is the rangoli that we make with dots. Some call this as Rangoli, but I was taught that free hand designs and coloring was rangoli.
*Pongal- It is the festival that we celebrate for the harvest season by offering it to the Sun god.
Wow! A lasagna with Dosa? I had never dreamt of that 😀 I could try that some day. But I don’t think I’ll eat it. I like to eat Dosas hot right from the pan. A moment’s lag and I feel bad 😛
Since we live in apartments, I haven’t tried Kolam much. I did try a huge one once. It was the wet kolam and I turned white after all the erasing and trial & error. But it turned out to be good. So I was filled with pride and tried a bigger one the next time. The lines and dots all got messed up, I turned white again and ended up erasing everything that time.
Those quillings are so cuuute 🙂 I do quilling very very rarely. partly because of lack of time and partly because Im lazy 😛
Ha ha, I too like dosas hot hot, but often I end up making them for myself and it’d be cold by the time I sit down for eating. So I came up with such stuff to make them more interesting 😛
The feeling of achievement when you have drawn a perfectly fine kolam is something, ain’t it? 😀
Bleddy pro you are :O:O:O just look at those kolams :O:O
Wait till I send you some pictures of my kolams, you can feel better about yourself then 😛
Thanks PeeVee, that’d actually help a lot 😛
These Kolams look really nice and there is something very auspicious and positive about them 🙂
I just <3 dosas but can't prepare them 😛
The cards look really cool!
Hobbies must be cultivated for they help in keeping mind fresh and active 🙂
Thanks Ankita, making dosas is pretty easy once you give it a couple of tries.
Ah…kolams…sweet bangalore 🙂 well i went the other way…i used to have all those hobbies and more earlier. Now? Well now i have kids…lol. Thats it…cant do much other than rickety parenting now 😉
Parenting is a herculean task that it doesn’t give much scope for hobbies, but I hope you are having as much or even more fun with being a mom 🙂