Chennai Flower Show 2024 at Semmozhi Poonga - A Photo Essay

 

The Chennai Flower Show took place at Semmozhi Poonga. Here are a few clicks from my visit there.

Santa Claus is Here - A Christmas Story

Kevin is eagerly waiting for his gift from Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. What was the gift Santa gave him? 

 To read the story, Santa Claus is Here, click here. 

Interview with Creative Art Classes Founder Meenakshi Gupta

Meenakshi Gupta has been teaching different art forms through her Creative Art Classes organization since 2003. Let us learn about her journey with different art forms and her students who come from as far as Alaska. 

Meenakshi Gupta

 

When did your art journey start?

I have been drawing from my childhood. I did my postgraduation in Fine Arts from Stella Maris College and completed my B.Ed also. In 2001, Malaysian art companies such as Global Art and World of Colours came to India. I was trained by original artists from those companies.

 

When did you start Creative Art Classes?  

I started Creative Art Classes in 2003. We have Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Courses in drawing and colouring. A few of our courses are pencil Shading, colour pencil shading, oil pastels, soft pastels, acrylic Painting, and glass painting. We have 3 levels in colour pencils class. Indian folk-art classes are also available. Art forms like Warli art, Kalamkari Art, Gond art, Pitchwai, Madhubani, Bheenti Chitra, and Chitra art from different states are taught.

We have craft classes such as Clay modelling, Papercraft, M-Seal craft, Bottle painting and designing, Macrame, Crochet, Fridge magnets, Quilling, Tie-dye, and more.  

The students are right from 5-year-olds to teenagers and adults. The courses for kids are well structured to enhance their creative development, their drawing, and colouring skills along with observation skills.

What are the different drawing and colouring techniques you focus on?

I focus on drawing and colouring skills, perspective, shapes, standing lines, sleeping lines, and zig-zag lines. The way we draw a perfect circle with our hands shows how confident we are. We discuss colours from the same family, colours from different family, and primary, secondary, or tertiary colours. We teach the kids to combine shapes to create an object.  

Tell us how your creative drawing class sessions develop wholistic skills in the student.

The student first draws and colours a picture. Then they write a story about the picture. Then they make a colour shade card of the different shades of colours used in the painting. Finally, to improve their public speaking skills, I make them narrate the story. So, it is a complete package that includes drawing, story writing, storytelling, and colour shades awareness.

 

What are the different types of students you have?

I teach around 30 kids now. There are 4 kids in a batch. I have students both in India and abroad. Three or 4 students are from Texas. I have a student in Alaska also. Some children learn slowly, some quickly, and there are ADHD students. One student never follows instructions. If I say draw the Sun’s rays from the top, he says it comes sideways. We have to talk about overlapping, composition, and line of horizon.

There may be accents and a bit of vocabulary changes in different parts of the world. But, children are the same all over. I conduct both online and offline classes. I use a laptop and a phone for my online classes. The software used is Google meet or Zoom. Then I use a stand, pen, and paper for drawing.  

Have you conducted any online workshops and real-time exhibitions?

I have conducted online workshops on pencil shading for online groups Coto and TapArtist using Zoom. Have launched many exhibitions with the paintings of students at the Ambassador Pallava Hotel. Have conducted many offline workshops also.

Clay Modelling

What advice would you like to give to women who want to start art classes?

Go ahead and start. The advantage of being an entrepreneur is you decide when and how much to work. The disadvantage is you have to do all the admin work apart from teaching.

Tribal Art from Madhya Pradesh

 Tell us about your family.

My husband has a florist shop and we are involved in wedding decorations and other events. I have a son and a daughter. My daughter is an advocate in Chennai High Court.

 We wish Meenakshi Gupta and her Creative Art Classes astounding success!

Insta handle - @creativeartclass2003

E-mail - meenakshigupta2470@gmail.com

Phone - 9941951515 

 

ChatGPT Writes a Poem on Environmental Pollution

Was exploring ChatGPT yesterday. As most of you know, ChatGPT is a text-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool. If you ask it a question or supply a prompt, it gives you an answer. It creates new content. Using Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT) you can write a code in any language like C, create a marketing campaign, plan your travel itinerary, write a children’s book and more.  

This was the poem ChatGPT wrote about environmental pollution when I gave the prompt as, “Write a poem about environment pollution”. Was really impressed by the poem which covered almost all aspects of environment pollution. 

 

In a world of industry and progress, we stand,

Yet heedless of nature, we scar the land.

A tale of woe, a story of despair,

Of environment pollution, we must be aware.

 

The skies once blue, now tainted gray,

As pollutants rise, they steal our day.

The air we breathe, once fresh and pure,

Now carries toxins we can't endure.

 

In rivers and oceans, our garbage swirls,

As plastic waste in endless spirals.

Marine life suffers, their home besieged,

By our negligence, they're left aggrieved.

 

Forests once lush, now razed to the ground,

As greed and ignorance abound.

With each tree lost, a creature's plea,

For a world in balance, for you and me.

 

The climate changes, it's plain to see,

Extreme weather strikes with no decree.

The warming Earth, a dire call,

To mend our ways, or surely fall.

 

But hope remains in every heart,

To heal the world, to do our part.

Reduce, reuse, and recycle too,

For a cleaner planet, for me and you.

 

Let's cherish the Earth, our precious home,

Before we reap what we have sown.

In unity, let's stand and fight,

To save our world with all our might.

 

For in our hands, the power lies,

To clear the smog and clear the skies.

In this poem's plea, let it be known,

That a pollution-free world can be our own.

The above image was created using MidJourney, a graphic generating AI tool. The prompt given was, A polluted city with hazy dark cloudy skies. Smoke comes out of factory chimneys. Automobiles are on the streets.

Click here to access ChatGPT.

Click here to access MidJourney. 

The School of Life by Alain De Botton - A Book Review

The School of Life is a beautiful book written by Alain De Botton with wonderful insights on each page. The book has five sections Self, Others, Relationships, Work, and Culture. Sharing a few of the snippets from the book here.

The School of Life by Alain De Botton

Alain maps many of our life habits and reactions to our childhood upbringing. He says, “Children can’t go anywhere. They have no extended social network. Even when things are going right, childhood is a gentle open prison.” A volatile parent may be the reason for our current meekness. A continually busy, inattentive parent was the catalyst for someone to be an exhausting attention seeker.

The markers of emotional health are self-love, candour, and communication. A few signs of self-love are not pleasing others indiscriminately and being willing to leave an abusive union. Candour is the ability to accept negative feedback about ourselves because valuable lessons come in painful guises. Communication is not to think that others can read our minds and thoughts. One needs to know how to formulate one’s complaints into a convincing, perhaps humorously framed point that has a chance of winning over its target.

Alain beautifully talks about fame and its invariable negative impacts in four pages. He says, “One wants to be famous out of a desire for kindness. But the world isn’t generally kind to the famous for long. This is because the celebrity of a few people will always contrast painfully with the obscurity of the many. So, soon enough the world will comment negatively on their appearance, it will pore over their setbacks, it will judge their relationships, and it will mock their new ventures. The assessments will flood in from people who will express from the safety of the newspaper office or screen.”

As a cure, Alain says that appreciation and understanding are only available through individuals one knows and cares about, not via groups of thousands or millions of strangers. There is no shortcut to friendship – which is what the famous person is in effect seeking. A famous person can market and advocate for their products in public but ignore the good and bad comments of strangers in the wider world.

In a debate between materialism and virtue, he talks about The Fable of the Bees written by Bernard Mandeville. In the book, Bernard mentions that shopping for pleasure and vanities helped the economy to grow. It was the consumption of Mandeville called “fripperies” – hats, bonnets, gloves, butter dishes, soup tureens, shoehorns, and hair clips – that provided the engine for national prosperity and made a genuine difference to the lives of the weak and the poor.

Alain talks about the 12 ingredients of wisdom. In that, he says the following about Regret. In our ambitious age, it is common to begin with dreams of being able to pull off an unblemished life, where one can hope to get the major decisions, in love and work, right. But the wise realize that it is impossible to fashion a spotless life. We will make some extremely large and utterly uncorrectable errors in a number of areas. Perfectionism is a wicked illusion. Regret is unavoidable. The errors in life are not coincidental but structural.

The book has 295 pages. Apart from the book, the YouTube channel by the same name, The School of Life, @theschooloflifetv has wonderful videos. The videos have so many animations and graphics and are well presented. I have been handing out copies of School of Life book to my family and friends and I’m sure you will too once you read the book. Go for it! 

Interview with Read 'n' Rejoice Library Founder Sasikala

Sasikala started the Read ‘n’ Rejoice library on 19th Feb 2016. Let us hear about her entrepreneurial journey of establishing and running a library and how she overcomes challenges. 

When did you decide that you wanted to start a lending library?

I couldn’t find a suitable job after a career break of 4 years. So, I contemplated the idea of a startup. But I was firm that it should be helpful to society. As books were my passion, I decided to start a library and a Kids’ Activity Club.

What are the different steps you took to start the library?

We did a survey of our apartment residents to check their interest level. I spoke to a couple of other libraries to understand the feasibility. After I decided to start the Read ‘n’ Rejoice library, I found a suitable location in Medavakkam. I got the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) registration done. I procured books from different sources. Then we did website development and hosting, marketing, and more. 

We now have 1400+ members registered with the library and around 430 active members.  We have 9500 books. We cover the books with lamination sheets and our staff are trained to clean and arrange them properly at regular intervals.

What was the first set of books you bought for the library? What are the fast-moving books now in English and Tamil?

The first set of books we bought were Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and Secret Seven series followed by Kalki novels. Geronimo Stilton, Percy Jackson, and Wimpy Kid are fast-moving children’s books. In Tamil, Kalki, Balakumaran, and Sandilyan novels are fast-moving.

How did your reading habit help you in making the library flourish?

Many members who join the library have no idea about books. They need suggestions that suits their interest. As I read books from different genres, I am able to guide them. I also send regular book suggestions to members, and conduct books clubs that help them to choose the books.

What are the advantages of being a member of Read ‘n’ Rejoice library?

Read ‘n’ Rejoice members get regular updates on the latest books that are added to the library and book suggestions. Books are delivered to their home if they opt for it. They can participate in the activities and contests conducted by us.  

We conduct phonics, cursive writing, and robotics classes at the library. We also conduct story sessions, science workshops, book clubs, public speaking, storytelling and quiz contests.

What are the hurdles you face from online memberships?

The main hurdle is getting delivery boys, who keep changing. The next challenge is that at least 25% of the overall librarian’s effort is spent on packing the books, preparing the list for delivery, and arranging the returned books. It involves cost and effort.

What inputs do you get from the readers and how do you change your work or purchase based on those?

We get book suggestions from members. We read the Goodreads website reviews for the suggested books. Then we check the availability. If the books are available at a reasonable price, we procure them immediately.

How does your family help in running the library?

My husband helps me in website updates and books procurement. My mother-in-law takes care of the family when I am busy with library activities.

What are other challenges you face in running the library and how do you overcome them?

As there's floating population in Medavakkam, members are moving out quite often. The number of adult readers is less. So, whenever children are busy with academic activities, members don't continue with the library. I keep suggesting books for adults through messages and motivate them to read. This is because family reading is best to create interest for children to read.

What criteria you plan to follow for selecting franchise partners for Read ‘n’ Rejoice?

Location should be within 10 kms from our current library location. He/She should have interest in books. 

Read 'n' Rejoice website: https://readnrejoice.in/

Instagram Handle: ReadnRejoice

Sasikala - Founder of Read 'n' Rejoice Library

We wish Sasikala outstanding success with her library Read 'n' Rejoice and her noble thought of spreading knowledge through books. 

Participated as Translator in the Asian Festival of Children's Content AFCC - Build Your Book Hackathon 2023

Got an opportunity to participate as a translator in the Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC), Build Your Book Hackathon 2023. The hackathon was organized by Pratham Books and the Singapore Book Council. The event happened on the 13^th and 14^th of May.

Pratham Books initially sent us guidelines and articles about translation. I was supposed to translate the children’s picture books in the hackathon into Tamil.

On the 13^th, the organizers, author-illustrators, and translators joined a Zoom Event. After introducing ourselves and talking about our favourite authors, the author-illustrators and translators went into separate online rooms to discuss their roles. Then the author-illustrators had to build their storyboards and the text of the story. The translators were asked to join again on the 14^th.

On the 14^th, we translated the stories. One translator each for Chinese, Malay, Vietnamese, Hindi, and Tamil participated. The MS Word manuscripts of the six stories by the author-illustrators were shared with us. And all the people involved could edit and review the documents.

We wrote the translation of each line of the picture book below the original language line. One original book was in Chinese. For the story Snooze, it was funny to invent sounds in Tamil made by sleeping animals. For the story Owen the Wise, it was a challenge to find a Tamil word for the term Ignorts (meaning ignorant people). For the story Father's Hobby, for some fruits, we retained the English names and for other fruits, we wrote the Tamil words. For the story Tara and the Magic Glass, we had to give a gender for the magic glass as the original story was written that way. I gave a male gender to the Magic Glass. We had to translate the blurbs also. After, we completed the translation, a reviewer in Pratham Books reviewed our documents.

I learned a lot from the review comments. While translating, at least in the first version, we tend to stay close to the original. This makes us bring in few literary or poetic words. The reviewer used simple words and did not use an exact match for the original words. The output was really lucid and good for children. I also made some changes based on suggestions from the reviewer.

The translators were asked to verify the final drafts of the picture books. After making a few suggestions, the translations were good to go online on the Storyweaver website.  

Here are my verified/official translations in Tamil and the links to the picture books on the Pratham Books Storyweaver website.

1. https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/577822-puthisaali-owen

2.  https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/577818-appavin-pozhuthupokku

3.  https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/577826-thoongalaam-vaanga

4.  https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/577837-tharavum-mandira-kannadiyum

5. https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/577825-valarum-natchathirangal

6.  https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/577824-panju-mittai-megam

Visit the AFCC website here: https://afcc.com.sg/    

Interview with Pioneer Music Gym Founder - Pioneer Suresh

Pioneer Suresh has conducted 6500 live orchestra shows worldwide and has worked with stalwarts like Shri. Dr. K.J.Yesudas, Ms. K.S.Chithra, and Ms. Vani Jairam. Pioneer Suresh has been in the music industry for more than 30 years. He is a professional drummer and also sings occasionally. Let us hear from him about his Pioneer Music Gym – a gym to sing and exercise your musical vocal cords with like-minded music friends.

Pioneer Music Gym Founder - Pioneer Suresh 

How did you get the idea to start the Pioneer Music Gym?

Many times, we have gone abroad for music shows. Usually, after the shows, there is a night party. During these parties, I have seen many doctors, entrepreneurs, and chartered accountants sing very well. Seeing such very good amateur singers, I thought of bringing out such talent to the world. So, I did the research for a few years and later conceived the idea of the Pioneer Music Gym. We started the Pioneer Music Gym (PMG) in 2016 at the Sun Plaza in T. Nagar, Chennai. Singer Vani Jairam inaugurated it.

At PMG, non-professionals who are good singers gather every week. They sing songs with karaoke music. The singing is also recorded and uploaded on YouTube.

A karaoke session in progress at PMG

How do singers become members of your gym and sing?

Singers have to attend an audition. Once they are selected, they have to pay a monthly subscription. They are organized into teams named Harmony, Symphony, Euphony, Rhapsody, and Bollywood. The teams perform for a 3-hour slot each fixed on either Thursdays ( 5-8 pm), Fridays (5-8 pm) , or Sundays (10 am - 1 pm, 2-5 pm, 5-8 pm). 

The singers in one team become a part of a Whatsapp group. There they discuss the songs they will sing as solo or duet with others. We have a database of close to 4000 karaoke mp3 songs and their lyrics. Singers can also send karaoke versions of songs that are not in the database. In the karaoke, the BGMs are trimmed without disturbing the singing part. This is to ensure that the fast tempo is maintained and everyone gets a chance to sing all their songs. 

A music session at PMG, Sun Plaza. 

What are the basic facilities you have at the music gym?

We have a professional audio mixer, a 50 inches TV, 1000 watts speakers, internationally branded microphones, and disco lights. The karaoke lyrics are displayed on the big TV screen and the singers can look at them and sing. We hired a professional sound engineer to do the acoustics of the gym for the best sound effects. The beautiful wallpapers have images of Ilaiyaraaja, MS Viswanathan, and other singers and musical instruments. 

Why did you name it a gym?

At the music gym, we do workouts on vocal cords by changing the pitch and tempo of the tracks. Our logo also shows headphones like a gym barbell and has a mouthpiece of a headset microphone.

PMG Logo

What type of members is in the Pioneer Music Gym?

We have all categories of singers. We have Bankers, CEOs, CFOs, entrepreneurs, housewives, and school and college students. We also have husband and wife, mother and daughter, and father and daughter combinations who are members. Mothers sometimes bring along their children when they sing. 

Photos of PMG members:

What are the other advantages of being a Pioneer Music Gym member?

With my vast experience in music, I personally coach the singers. I help them improve their rhythm sense, pitch perfection, and sing with expressions and good modulations.

We have holistic fun. We dance. We pull each other’s legs and maintain good camaraderie. Members get a good break from their monotonous stress-filled lives. They become good friends with other members.

We also do a charity show once a year in places like Music Academy and Lady Andal Hall. And perform for underprivileged homes. This gives the members the satisfaction of contributing back to society. 

At a charity show Crescendo:

Can you tell us about the Pioneer Music Gym App?

The App enables the members to hear the edited versions of the tracks before they come for the session. The app also has pitch and tempo changing facilities.

How many branches of PMG are in operation now? What are your future plans?

We have branches at Sun Plaza, OMR, and Valasarawakkam in Chennai and one in Mumbai. There are around 70 members now and we plan to take the concept nationwide and globally, if possible, with franchise options.  

PMG Members

How did you overcome the corona wave in 2020-2021?

People were hesitant to come and sing during those days. I was blessed as my owner waived off rent for 2 years and waited for better days to come up. We had online singing sessions during Covid times.

Do you have any programs for non-members?

We do have but not in the name of PMG. We call them non-pmgians or private groups. On Saturdays, we conduct events in which non-members can also participate. Recently, we had programs for Shreya Ghosal Birthday, Magalir Mattum for Women’s Day, and TMS 100^th Birthday celebrations.  

Tell us about the current PMG admin Durai.

Durai is from Andaman and has done his BBA. He came to Chennai with a vision to participate in the Airtel Super Singer contest. He is dedicated and loyal. We are happy and proud to have him with us. He is a good dancer too. 

Tell us about your family.

My wife is a social activist and was a Banyan NGO employee. My daughter has specialized in Speech Therapy and plans to go to Canada for her higher studies.

Pioneer Suresh with his Family

Pioneer Suresh: 9841035835

Admin Durai: 9840153036

Insta: @pioneermusicgym

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pioneermusicgym5019

Pioneer Music Gym Website: https://pioneermusicgym.com/

Pioneer Suresh talks about the story behind PMG: