The year started with a beautiful sunrise from the mountains of Jebel Hafeet, situated in the environs of the city of Al Ain in Eastern Arabia. Let visual illustrations tell the story.
Author: Ajmal
Possession
“You only truly possess that which you cannot lose in a shipwreck.”
― أبو حامد الغزالي
23.12.2018
How often do you get a nice little hot tea in a mud cup sprinkled lavishly with saffron. Not too often ; )
Wonders of Staying Alive
“Footsteps are the wonders of staying alive to move forward”
―
“The Song of Sparrows”
I admire the beautiful Persian films by Majid Majidi. They’re so full of life with vivid moving visuals. The Song of Sparrows is such a gem. I saw this in 2008. Happened to recollect it today. The warmth of relationships and the subtleties in this film is absolutely nothing but sheer brilliance.
Theme:
Karim works at an ostrich farm outside of Tehran, Iran. He leads a simple and contented life with his family in his small house, until one day when one of the ostriches runs away. Karim is blamed for the loss and is fired from the farm. Soon after, he travels to the city in order to repair his elder daughters hearing aid but finds himself mistaken for a motorcycle taxi driver. Thus begins his new profession: ferrying people and goods through heavy traffic. But the people and material goods that he deals with daily start to transform Karim’s generous and honest nature, much to the distress of his wife and daughters. It is up to those closest to him to restore the values that he had once cherished. Grammy-nominated composer and musician Hossein Alizadeh, a master tar and setar player, provides the haunting score.
Perceptions
I’m glad to start the “ ponder “ series with this beautiful theme. What is illustrated below is something that we don’t think deeply normally in our routines.
When I’m looking at this tree, it might seem as if I’m seeing the tree directly. The scientific consensus is truly breathtaking and worth pondering. The scenario is completely different than we directly perceive it to be. Light entering the eye would trigger chemical reactions in the retina and these would produce electro-chemical impulses which travel along nerve fibers to the brain. The brain then analyzes the data it just received and then would create its own picture of what is out there. Then I would have the “experience” of seeing a tree, in this case. What is deep and exciting is that I’m actually experiencing not the tree itself so to speak, what is experienced is only the image that appears in the mind. This can be extended to anything and everything we experience. We only experience the form appearing in the mind for everything we know, perceive, imagine for every color, sound, sensations, thoughts, feelings. It’s all and in-forming of consciousness. Think about it : )
“Ponder” Series
22 Dec 2018,
Today I’m laying the groundwork for “ponder” series, which is a pilot project of Border of a Mind Studios arm and is aligned with the vision of this page. Often in the rush of our routines, we fail to appreciate certain hidden subtleties and nuances of living in this universe, which we can only admire if we consciously make an effort to think deeply with profundity. We have to pause for a moment and ponder, and hence the name of the series. I shall endeavour to share my reflections based on what I’ve read and pondered, and I’m more than delighted to start this journey of exploring in the realm of mind with you. God bless you friends!
Resonating with the vision of Border of a Mind Studios, I’m delighted to begin this series and I’d like to put in a lot of effort to bring in more illustrations and themes in this series. The above theme header page is from my old website which I had in 2005, back in college days which I prepared by sewing in different illustrations from different pages. Makes me very nostalgic to put in a revamped version of it.
21.12.2018
This illustration is inspired by a photograph I took in 2013 from a beach at Fujairah.
Richer
” If you’ve a family that loves you, a few good friends, food on your table and a roof over your head, you’re richer than you think”
– Unknown author
Original photograph by Mervin Harif.
Camels on the Horizon
This illustration is inspired by a visual that I photographed couple of years back on an afternoon in the outskirts of a desert area in Sharjah wherein I found some camels ambling through the desert boundaries and the sun decided to set in the background in the evening. The shadows and the colors along with the warmth of sun rays blended into a visual ecstasy. Sunlight is indeed painting : )
