A bench, a stick and some rest

I chose sleep over cycling today. I could make excuses like sleep chose me and so on but it would be a waste of time.

When we left in the afternoon, the colourless day was gradually turning invisible too. Another dust storm had kicked up. We took a stroll by the lake near Haus Khas Village to watch some ducks, some deer, peacock and so on. It was our reply to the weather. In the vast park all was quiet and peaceful. By the time the sun set, it started raining mud.

We were in a part of Delhi lined with quaint antique shops, art galleries and the like. S and I had no real plans to get something but there was one particular painting by a North American artist called Brent Heighton which struck us both. It felt so alive. It had impressionistic touches that added a surreal feeling to it. It felt like poetry and reminded me of how beautiful parts of an artist's life can be. To be able to create a work that isn't quantifiable, that seeks to achieve no predetermined goal and instead attempts to express what lies deep in the artist's heart, that transcends the barriers of regular forms of expression and attempts to give shape to what is essentially abstract adds a whole new meaning to what we understand by living. A true artist is led by the beauty of the path and not what lies at the end of it. But often the choices we make along the way, adding so many little things to our everyday, that we run the risk of never becoming aware of the kind of depth artists work from. I believe, from what I understand and little experience I have, that the kind of satisfaction an artist might experience at the simple act of creating art is unparalleled.

We went ahead and bought the painting.

We stopped by at a famous "Bengali sweets" shop cum restaurant for dinner. Ironically, everything except Bengali dishes were present. There were exotic dishes from various parts of the country. One of the items even began with "The All-American....!" Quite conspicuously there was one item on the list called "Bengali Chinese noodles." I couldn't decide what to make of it and decided to steer myself away! But what we ordered turned out to be most delicious. Food in Delhi is good indeed.

The brief shower has cooled things down. The tap water feels pleasant. Even the air-conditioning might remain switched off tonight.