A snap from the Sultanate of Muweilah.
“Wandering clouds—
Short spells of rain,
Ah Poetry!”
― Meeta Ahluwalia
Author: Ajmal
stories unpacked
Sara Sheridan once wrote, “To me, reading through old letters and journals is like treasure hunting. Somewhere in those faded, handwritten lines, there is a story that has been packed away in a dusty old box for years.” All of us bump into these kinds of packed memories in the form of old letters, artifacts, photographs, and other archives. In 2014, while cleaning some old rusty corners in the house, I had unearthed an old photo album. It contains some priceless photographs of my parents and grandparents before my birth. I was showing each picture to my grandmother to know the story behind it. Senior family members of mine may get some very interesting snaps of them in 70s trendy bell-bottom pants and 80s signature costumes. Those were film photographs on or before 1985ish times. Some of these photographs were damaged, yet some are intact. Even though some of the photographs have lines of chemical damages visible, they just dissipate when we are able to see smiling faces of family at some corner of that damaged aged photograph, a beautiful moment of frozen time. Memories like these never leave the premise of our minds. Through books and archives, they bounce back on you! These are treasure troves that are keys to many of our memory locks.
seeds sown.
“I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow.”
— David Hobson
I have been longing to make a b’roll on the indoor vertical garden for quite some time now. Since I’m mostly indoors lately, I thought to give it a shot.
mind streets.
A street from Istanbul photographed in 2014. The building seen in the backdrop is a part of the famous Sultan Ahmet Mosque, also known as the “Blue Mosque”. Built somewhere between 1609 and 1616, it is adorned with hand-painted blue tiles. The upper area is decorated with approximately 20,000 hand-painted glazed ceramic in 60 different tulip patterns. The lower stories are illuminated by 200 stained glass windows. It’s filled with majestic Byzantine art elements.
“When you wander in an empty silent street, you wander within the mind of wisdom!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
stories & tea.
We’re holistically themed on rediscovering the extraordinary in the ordinary by vision. Let’s compliment with a little poster from an afternoon tea with Netta.
“Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?”
― Zen and Japanese Culture
to be the eyes of a dove.
The title of this post is inspired by a beautiful poem written by the Serbian poet Dejan Stojanovic. Saw this lonely bird on the office gates after a day from work.
To try to understand the imperceptible Power pervading the world;
To fly and find pure ethereal substances That are not of matter
But of that invisible soul pervading reality.
To hear another soul and to whisper to another soul;
To be a lantern in the darkness Or an umbrella in a stormy day;
To feel much more than know. To be the eyes of an eagle,
the slope of a mountain;
To be a wave understanding the influence of the moon;
To be a tree and read the memory of the leaves;
To be an insignificant pedestrian on the streets
Of crazy cities watching, watching, and watching.
To be a smile on the face of a woman And shine in her memory
As a moment saved without planning.”
―
The woodland.
Here is a video update to the tank. The ferns have spread across the woods and the Hydrocotyle has really grown well with its deep roots. Probably, I would have to give it a trim after a certain height. Repositioned some ferns that were preventing the Hydrocotyle from steadily growing up. Removed some white algae and did some overall cleaning for what it is, a dense and thick aqua forest 🙂
Read: Story de’aquatics.
flower seller.
This is a photograph from 2014. While we were hanging out at a coffee shop in Istanbul, there came this ethereal little flower-seller selling flower bouquets to the cafe market. There are many experiences in this world to gift you a smile. It can be a cafe or a shore or aids of the sun or the wind or moments of bliss or the love of the season of sunset. This dream of the day does not last. Memories are fickling as seasons change. Poetry is oozing in 🙂 I’m always overwhelmed by the power of images. I’m delighted to preconize that I’ve discovered a treasure trove of some of the old photographs that I have carefully preserved and I’d like to share it with the lovely people here. Sign up for emails subscriptions so that you won’t miss them, and keep exploring 🙂
innocence
When I put forward my vision for The Border of a Mind Studios, I had written:
“Au fond, this is my vision of a virtual studio of arts, ideas and minds built on the idea of embellishment of childish curiosity that we’re born with and to manifest it through fine writings, arts, visuals, and moving images. It’s to articulate that novelty visually in the best way possible without any slack of any form.”
This new video is a perfect manifestation of this very intent true to its core. Albeit short, I am trying to convey the nuances of childish innocence that gets lost in us. We get buried in our daily lives and often completely disband the child in us. Patrick Rothfuss writes in ‘The Name of the Wind‘: “When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” May we be nurtured in our souls to cultivate this benign childlike profundity in thought. God bless and don’t take things too heavy today 🙂
Music: Madrona by David Lanz.
mosaic lamp eloquence
All of us who have traveled through the wider Middle East in all probability would have stumbled across one of these beautiful lights. These are Turkish mosaic lamps. Turkish lamps have a long history, the technique of producing these lamps started 5,000 years ago in its earlier forms. They had their early debut during the Ottoman era. Until the 19th century, candles and oil lamps were predominantly used for illuminating palaces and mansions. Before the spread of electric lamps, these lights were important symbols of rich heritage and civilization. Oil lamps were produced in the form of glass bottles or cup-shaped jars suspended from a chain. Bathhouses, mosques, and arenas of Istanbul were lit with these oil lamps. Over time, colored glass panes were used artistically with these lamps and they turned out to be even more beautiful. These are usually handmade and are an important element of Turkish and Anatolian roots and culture. We’d find variants of these types in other cultures as well. It’s an art and a skill to prepare hand blown glass which is cut from large sheets of different sizes and colors. A transparent, permanent but slow drying adhesive is applied to a small section of the base with a noticeable pattern through the adhesive to direct the artisan’s hand and there are several other steps to completion. Each one carefully crafted is a piece of art and expertise. I picked one from a journey to Istanbul in 2014.
