Rangoli ("R" in A2Z blogging challenge)

Rangoli is one of the fork arts of India. It is decorative art. Rangoli is done on the courtyards and floors of living rooms. This art is practicing in India from ancient days. Rangoli is done on the special occasions like festivals, marriages, etc. Rangoli is treated as the sacred welcome for the deities. But in south India, the Rangoli is done every day in front of house. Generally the Rangoli is done by the women.

Rangoli patterns consists of geometric shapes, flowers, leaves, butterflies, birds, etc. Rangoli design are done such that, the patterns are suitable to the occasion.

Rangoli with Diyas (Lamps)

Basically, the Rangoli is done using the fine granular rice power or flour. These materials are mixed with Kumkum or Turmeric, etc. Now a days they are mixing with natural or synthetic color.  Some times the people use flowers, leaves, etc. to have good appearance.

Rangoli Made from flowers

An artistic work with Rangoli

Rangoli patterns are done by first keeping  dots on the ground and then they join the dots to form different designs. The number of dots and pattern of dots are depend on the intended Rangoli pattern. Some times, the people do the Rangoli without using dots also. Rangoli is done by single woman or collective women. Now a days, Rangoli competitions are conducting by some charities on special occations. Some colleges, organizations  also conducting competitions during the occasions like annual day celebration, etc.

Rangoli is a symbol of religious and cultural beliefs. But I found one scientific reason in that - The Rangoli done using the Rice power. The birds will come and eat this rice powder. In this way we are feeding the birds. At the same time, the insects like ants etc. also eat this rice power and they will enter in to the house.

The termaric used in Rangoli acts as anticeptic, and repells some king of insects also. Any way, the Rangoli has only advantages and no disadvantages. But only thing is that we have to practice the Rangoli, which is not doing by the now-a-days girls.

My daughter likes very much to do Rangoli, even though, she is not able to do the design, but she can fill the patterns with colors.

My daughter (with Red sweater) fill colors in Rangoli

My daughter's Rangoli

My daughter doing Rangoli with her cousin and Mom

Rangoli Competition in my wife's college:

Rangoli is not only a art work but it indicates the culture, togetherness with the nature, happy and cheer. It is the indication of the smiling colors of our life.

Quill ("Q" in A2Z blogging challenge)

Quill is a pen made from a flight feather of a large bird, most often a goose. Quills were used as instruments for writing with ink before the metal dip pen, the fountain pen, and eventually the ballpoint pen came into use. The shaft of the feather acts as an ink reservoir, and ink flows to the tip by capillary action. Quill pens were used in medieval times to write on parchment or paper.

 

The writing instrument that dominated for the longest period in history (over one-thousand years) was the quill pen. Introduced around 700 A.D., the quill is a pen made from a bird feather. The strongest quills were those taken from living birds in the spring from the five outer left wing feathers. The left wing was favored because the feathers curved outward and away when used by a right-handed writer. Goose feathers were most common; swan feathers were of a premium grade being scarcer and more expensive. For making fine lines, crow feathers were the best, and then came the feathers of the eagle, owl, hawk and turkey.

Quill pens lasted for only a week before it was necessary to replace them. There were other disadvantages associated with their use, including a lengthy preparation time. The early European writing parchments made from animal skins, required much scraping and cleaning. A lead and a ruler made margins. To sharpen the quill, the writer needed a special knife (origins of the term "pen-knife".) Beneath the writer's high-top desk was a coal stove, used to dry the ink as fast as possible.

 

 

Positive Thinking ("P" in A2Z blogging challenge)

Positive thinking is a very powerful and potent force, which we can use to manifest our goals and accomplish difficult tasks. Positive thinking arises from following important aspects of our mind.

• The attitude with which we approach life and view the world in general. 
• Our attitude determines how our mind processes information and how we interpret our perceptions and narrate our experiences to ourself.
• Our self-image, which is how we see ourself and how we think others see us. 
• Our self-image determines our self-confidence, our behavior and our relationship with the world and the people in our life.

Positive thinking is a way of looking at the world with hopeful, cheerful and positive frame of reference. It is how we would like to position ourself in relation to the various aspects of our life and the things we interact with. It is how we make sense of the world, how we interpret our knowledge and experience, how we deal with our problems and manage our actions and reactions. 

When we are positively inclined, we see opportunities instead of problems and open ourself to the immense possibilities life offers us in the form of challenges and obstacles.

We can develop and maintain positive mental attitude by believing in our ability to achieve our goals and dreams. Have the conviction that we will succeed in reaching them or realizing them and in manifesting our destiny. We have to believe in our ability to control our mind and our thoughts and the ability of our mind to manifest our intentions and aspirations.

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity -  Albert Einstein

If negative thinking gives nothing, then why should we think negative?  

Think Positive.  It never harms us.

Positive thinking makes it possible to all impossibilities

Positive Thinking has the key to answer to any problem

Optical Illusions ("O" in A2Z blogging challenge)

An optical illusion is a visually perceived image that is deceptive or misleading.

An optical illusion (visual illusion) is characterized by visually perceived (Visual perception is the ability to interpret information and surroundings from the effects of visible light reaching the eye) images that differ from objective reality. 

The reason is the information gathered by the eye is processed in the brain to give a perception that does not tally with a physical measurement of the stimulus source.

Many scientist are working behind the optical illusions to find exact reason. When light hits the retina, about one-tenth of a second goes by before the brain translates the signal into a visual perception of the world. There is neural delays in present image processing of our brain. The human visual system try to compensate for neural delays, generating images of what will occur one-tenth of a second into the future. This foresight enables human to react to events in the present.

 

Architects, Artists and photographers worked on optical illusion and created great artistic pieces. Even I studies in the ancient Indian epics like Mahabharata, where the Pandavas created a Mayasabha (The palace with Maya). 

Here I am presenting some paintings and photographs based on Optical illusion, including My daughter pic. 

Note: All the Caption to Pics are have two things. If observe the pics, we are able to see both the things in each pic.

Face and Ribbon

Water Fall and Building by MC. Escher - 1961

Birds and Women Face

Kid and River Side

Horse and Frog

Vase and Faces

Snow Mountains and Sea Waves

Parrots and Wooden Frame

Old Women and Yong Princes

Water Fall and Building

Prince and Horse

Relativity by MC Escher - 1953

Deer in Trees and Deer in front of Trees

Drawing Hands by MC Escher - 1948

Snow Mountains and Animal Faces

Crossing Walls

Round and Square pillars

Relativity

Chess boards and Fort

Old Man and pregnant women with lamp

Elephant Legs

Duck - Rabbit

Flower Vase and My Daughters Face