"Active" Retreat at the Lodi Gardens

Continuing with my expedition of the beautiful historic places in Delhi , my recent trip was to the "Lodi Gardens "
It was an enjoyable experience but was a little dampened by the arrival of an entire school ( or rather 4 to 6th Standards ) .. for picnic . The children drove me a little mad , but they were cute all the same . Enough of that . The Gardens provide a whole myriad of monuments for one to sketch , I found myself totally confused on which one to choose first , it was a child who came to my rescue .He says " Paint anyone bhaiya , you can come and paint the rest the next time you come " . Cute ain't he ?Hehehe.. Anyways I ended up with two things a oil sketch of Sheesh Gumbad and a warning - either come and sit at the gardens at 4am or check the schedule of all the schools around for picnic .

Sketching At Safdarjung's Tomb - Invigorating

Today, I had a revelation , I experienced something so awesome that I find myself short of words  it hard to describe it in words. On a whim I went to Safdarjung tomb and Lodi Gardens to sketch , little did I know that I would enjoy it as much as I did . The place was so epic , the peace and creativity that i felt in that historic place is beyond words . I went there with just a sketch book and some charcoal . The Safdarjung's tomb is a delight for anyone looking for some solitude , photography , painting and the combination of all of these . With the birds chirping in typical bollywood fashion , beautiful trees , freshly cut grass , and the scent of old walls , simply terrific . I intend to go to Lodi Gardens next . I will write more about the entire visit i.e I will elaborate later , but for now have a look at my sketch . Though I try to be modest the final product was much more often than the amateur photo of the sketch that I have taken ... .

Dont let go of what you have

I have noticed that many a times we run after the things we don't have , there is nothing wrong in it so long as you do not forget what you have . I for instance have been neglecting my art work for some while so as to be in the upper ranks of the social heirachy that exists even between friends ( unfortunate as it is ) . And so I truly did understand this entire thing . It is human tendency to look in the neighbor's garden always assuming that the grass is greener on the other side , in this process of ogling the other's garden , one forgets the weeds that have started to grow and so, ruins what one had without gaining anything that can be called substantial. So what is the solution ? what can we do to keep ourselves grounded to what we have ? Well a pessimist and idealist might say that if you are not automatically grounded then your passion was never enough , i as always have different opinions on the matter .
 I am thinking of making this article more of a discussion , so that instead of writing a bulk of my own views .. we can have an interactive session , I would appreciate .. it if my readers comment and give their own views for the same