River walk and Urban Sketchers

Took part in a River walk last week conducted by Jeevitnadi, and it was good that I did it. I mean, it's been almost five decades since I have been in Pune but knew very little about the rivers of Pune. So it took some time for me to digest the fact that the river Mutha was a crore years old.  Madam Shailaja (who conducted the walk) casually pointed to a rock next to the river and said that those rocks were about 6.5 crore years old, the age of Sahyadris. (Basalt formation period)

Talking about Mutha, it is supposed to be older than the rivers originating from the Himalayas, as Sahyadiri is older than the Himalaya. Another fact that I did not know was that the Mutha joins Krishna river and finally flows into the Bay of Bengal (due to the topography of India)

For those who want to know the origin, the Mutha starts from a small village named Vegare (not far from Lavasa)

While the river walk was going on, some of the members of the Urban sketchers joined in and were listening as well as sketching.

While others were sketching the Siddheshwar temple which happened to be the point of common interest for both.

Above sketch by Shirish Deshpande Fossils of elephants and Aurochs were found on the banks of Mutha. Auroch is a type of large wild cattle (now extinct)  and was the ancestor of the present domestic cattle.

The mandatory group picture

Coming back to the river walk, while we were moving around I could get a very bad stench and the water was looking really black while I tried to click some pictures of the birds.

Madam Shailaja mentioned that this river had been once rich with flora and fauna. For example, the Pied Kingfisher (कवड्या in Marathi) is known to hover over the water and with a quick dive catch its fish. But with the present state of water being murky and turbid the pied kingfisher is no longer seen on this river

The same is the case with the River Turn ( नदी सूरय  in Marathi) This species has been uplisted to Near Threatened on the basis that increasing human disturbance and dam construction projects are expected to drive a moderately rapid population decline over the next three generations.

To quote one more example is the Pheasant tailed Jacana (कमलपक्षी in Marathi). They are seen on floating vegetation and the nest is usually on a leaf which floats, (mostly lotus leaf).  In the absence of such vegetation, this bird is no more seen on the Mutha banks.

The River Tern creating a figure of '7' "Always a treat watching these hunt over the Panshet Dam in Pune" says Anupam who painted this.

The rivers were well taken care of during the previous era. The Kumbharves dam built during the Peshwe era marked the boundary of the then Pune. Later rebuilt by the British, it still stands under the Dengale bridge at Kumbharvada

One way to create awareness is to encourage others to attend these river walks. I have made a short one minute video of the walk I had. There are some proposals in the pipeline, like this present state near the Shivaji bridge to be transformed into an activity area without disturbing the ecological balance.

Like the saying goes, "we have not inherited this world from our parents, we have borrowed it from our children" ..

Urban Sketchers

Its been more than four decades that I have been in Pune and I found this gate at Koregaon Park always locked with a board outside saying “Botanical Survey of India” 

I took it to be one of those government offices where getting in won’t be easy as you have to obtain the “permission” from the right quarter.  Well, yesterday I did get a chance to get in, as the Urban Sketchers of Pune were visiting the place to sketch the Heritage building Moti Mansion which happens to be in the premises.

Moti Mansion was the home for some renowned elites of the first half of the twentieth century.  More on the heritage part later. 
I was fortunate enough to be in the midst of so many artists and to see them produce wonderful sketches and paintings with ease in a short time. 

Each one had their own comfort zone for painting, like some were comfortable standing and painting while others had an easel stand. 

Some had low slung chairs while others just squatted on the floor. 

Many used the brush directly (without any preliminary  sketches) I found sketches being made by fountain pen, sketch pen, charcoal and finger, marker pens which goes to prove that creativity is in your hands and you can create it by using any medium. 

You can see some of them in action in the ten minute video I created.

I was worried about this lady as her water colour bowl was perched at an impossible angle always threatening to tip off and ruin her creation.  

It was good to see that people from all age groups took part in the sketching. 

Coming back to the historical background, this piece of land belonged to Sir Shapoorji  Bharucha of Bombay. It was jointly inherited by his family members after his death in 1920. One of the owners , A Nanjee built this large house here and named it Moti Mansion. 

 You can see the etching AN (A Nanjee) on the glass of the doors and windows.

Moti Mansion was leased out for some years to Mir of Khairpur, who lived in the Mansion. (Khairpur was in Upper Sind and was forcefully annexed to Pakistan by the British) Thereafter the property was looked after by the Shapoorji Bharucha Charity Trust till 1977 when it was bought by the Government of India for the Botanical Survey of India.  

After having a look at all the paintings, I am tempted to dabble with the paint and brush.

On second thoughts, I think I will stick to telling stories with my camera.
One version goes to say that it was known as the Poona Willingdon Soldiers Club and this is how it looked in 1900

Getting together for the mandatory group photo after the session.  

Chuck Morris and his caricatures

Casa Bonita is a Mexican Restaurant in Denver, Colorado. Our hosts had already told us that the food over there was not all that great, but the ambience was something worth experiencing.

I am sure that all the guests to this place had themselves clicked in front of the fountain which was just at the entrance.

The place is colourfully decorated and the seating arrangements are at different levels.

Entertainment, especially for the kids was the order of the day (or rather night) with some one or the other jumping into this pool of water.

There was a small booth in which you could get yourself clicked with the full regalia for a small fee.

I found this girl making funny faces every time the cameraman said “ready”

There were musicians serenading and going around every table keeping the mood buoyant.  

But the best that I liked was the caricatures done by Mr Chuck Morris.

He talked to his customers and made them feel at ease while he sketched them. Transforming from a simple pencil sketch to an almost live colourful portrait is an art that he has mastered. You can see the transformation in the three minute video.

I noticed that whenever he drew, his left hand always went under the board. Could be a habit from the time he started sketching. His rates too were reasonable.

I had half a mind to get myself drawn but when the restaurant closed for the day, I found that Chuck still had customers waiting in line. So I had to forgo my aspiration of “looking funny”

Maybe next time Chuck J