Just a girl

Heavens No!

2012-02-15T21:44:00.000-08:00

Most people would probably call me a ghost. I am after all,dead. But I don’t think of myself that way. It wasn’t so long ago I was alive,you see. I was only 18. I had my whole life in front of me. Now I suppose youcould say I have eternity before me. I am not sure what that exactly means yet.I’m told everything‘s going to be fine. But I have to wonder what I would havedone with my life, who I might have been. That’s what saddens me most aboutdying – that I’ll never know.

I was quite young, perhaps in my teens or early twenties when I grabbed the book "Remember me' by Christopher Pike. I had really loved the book, it was a mystery novel. The last two lines of the first paragraph struck quite a chord with me. So true, the saddest part about dying would be not knowing how the future would have unfolded. Heavens aren't a good enough consolation!

Book Review - Rhett Butler's people

2012-02-07T00:56:00.001-08:00

Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Immensely hated it! The characters are completely deviant of their original personalities, so well defined in Gone with the Wind. Rhett Butler has none of his reckless charm, confidence and wit and has been reduced to a crying emotional pansy! Scarlett seems to have forgotten how to flirt! Melanie is no longer the beautiful trusting 'lady' we knew...

The book went on and on and on and on about Rhett's sister Rosemary, who has been given the most boring annoying personality possible, they should have just titled the book Rosemary! The book has has less of Rhett Butler and more of other fictional characters in the civil war. The dull narration of the happenings of the civil war dragged in excruciating detail I just skimmed through the paragraphs.

It will spin your head the way subsequent paragraphs are so discontinuous of the story line. The writing is all too shallow, and it won't even evoke the slightest pinch of emotion. There isn't one memorable quote in the entire book!

The subplots were the most laughable. Rhett shot's his best friend in jail without any valiant attempts to set him free of Yankee prison? Rhett stomping out in visible anger everytime Scarlett and he have those banters we all love, while he visited her in Atlanta during the war! Melanie and Rosemary becoming pen pals after meeting once in a party, cribbing about their husbands? Melanie being sex deprived wishing to ask Belle Watling how does it feel to be in the embrace of several different men! Scarlett and Rosemary dressing up pretty and interrupting a gathering to upbraid three villains in public for sympathy??

The author has taken too lighting the finality of "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!" It only took Scarlett one letter sincerely requesting him to come back to her, and he returned with the wind just as soon as he had gone with it.

Its infuriating that this book has been allowed to associate with the original by the Margaret Mitchell estate. Margaret Mitchell would have been furious!

View all my reviews

Honeymoon

2011-01-04T02:53:00.000-08:00

Silently stares the starry night
As the sky dresses in silver moonlight
Love peeps from behind the clouds
Angels sing for these sweethearts found

I gaze up from the ground
The queen of sleep on its midnight round
Blesses me with sleep sound
Stardust in my dreamy eyes
The moon of my dreams I have found.

- Hemali 26-5-97

I think this old poem I had written as a teen goes very well with this artwork I made a few years ago :)

Hearts & Roses

2011-01-04T02:41:00.000-08:00

Are you thinking of me now?
Are you falling in love?

I am thinking of you, I often do
Every time I think of you, I love you more than I used to.

-Hemali

I can't describe my adventure!

2010-12-27T16:25:00.000-08:00

The I’s are rustling as they fly towards me. I love the wind against my C, my e’s are blowing in the wind. The wind grows stronger and it blows my Cl away. I lose heart and bend my O’s to hide into the comforting pleats of my fl’s; when the frilly O’s suddenly start flying towards the sky. I look at the sky in wonder and I sit down in disbelief. I raise my gi to a cloud, and it swims down and makes a pillow to rest my O’s. I then point my gi to another cloud, and it becomes a pillow for my ld. The curvy JElvC lifts off and becomes a flying carpet! I wave my gi as I say bye, and fly in the sky! Up up up I go, lilting in the wind to get my Cl back.

It spells a magical adventure on a windy day!

And then I wrote the kissing algorithm...

2010-12-15T19:32:00.000-08:00

I love how the algorithm shaped up! It combines video, graphics and animation. I slogged for days and days and days in the making!

Here below is a link to the video! If you loved it, I'd appreciate if you share it with your friends :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUSfvY0hxeU&hd=1

The kissing algorithm

2010-12-09T23:52:00.000-08:00

The inception of this video lies in my crazy urge to grab and kiss Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory, everytime he is smug and silly! Unfortunately he doesn't even know how to give a hug! May be a kissing algorithm can turn him into an expert kisser??

Very much inspired by 'The friendship algorithm' from the same show! I love The Big Bang Theory!!!!!!!!

Love's Romantic Bubbles

2010-07-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

They are little secrets
That escaped my heart
My love's romantic bubbles

They each contain a dream
They each are a world
My love's romantic bubbles

They float in the air
They carry me away
My love's romantic bubbles

Dancing and lilting,
Finding their way to you
My love's romantic bubbles

Blow them with kisses
Send them back to me
My love's romantic bubbles

They are delicate, they are precious

Don't you ever break

My love's romantic bubbles

Wow!!! I finally wrote a song after years!!!!!!!!!!! Love it too... its so girly! :)

Hemali Tanna ...Just a girl

Up above the world so high...

2010-04-14T23:40:00.000-07:00

I wish I had more faith in some sort of afterlife, of the existence of a soul after death. It would be comforting at this moment when I am feeling blue, just having learnt of the sad demise of someone I knew, if I could believe that my heartfelt sentiments are reaching him. How I regret not having met him this time I visited India, I kept putting it off to the next day, and the entire vacation slipped by in procrastination. Ar. Jagdish Shah was such a sweet person, he was a pleasure to work for. He loved architecture with a passion, he used to design to the last detail of the brick and tile joints! I shall miss him...

I wish I had not been so lazy, and had payed him my regards when I had the chance. I will try and remember the next time I am procrastinating something I could do today, that there may be no tomorrow.

Castles in the air

2010-04-06T23:42:00.000-07:00

We can not see the future, but we sure can imagine it....

At times your days may be cast by gloominess, and you may be unsure about life. At such times I just love to think of the best things that could happen to me! I get an artistic vision of clouds drifting away like grand curtains opening, the haze slowly clearing to reveal a world of magic! Life has a promise, and I have faith it will keep it.

It is a world where there are unlikely coincidences, impossible achievements and unbelievable miracles! There might be some magic dust in what life is kicking at you! Build castles in the air with it... you might just land on a cloud that will take you to it!

Fire & Ice

2010-03-13T15:54:00.000-08:00

Well, that's Texas weather! :))

After being frozen in the cold winter for months, I look forward to being thawed in the Texas sun! :p

Wish everyone a fun spring break!!!!!

What do you think I do?

2010-01-22T06:37:00.000-08:00

We had an interesting assignment assigned by an interesting professor to get interesting reactions when you ask the interesting question, " What do I do?"

Here's what my friends said, and well it makes me smile ear to ear :)

My cousin Bijal:

Hemali makes THE most imaginative and very creative graphical ads/ pages.
Her work has a romantic story involved and is always colourful!

Also, she always keeps us updated about herself on Facebook :)

Amit:

Hemali does some crazy stuff with lines and colours. Sometimes on paper, sometimes on a computer. Some seem like photographs, some look like buildings, but not as we know them. All I can say is, it is all crazy stuff.

Lalita:

Hemali talks non-stop on anything irrespective of her audience .. They don’t have a choice but listen .. hahahaa
She works a lot on photoshop and keeps watching several TV shows over and over again .. just to bore you with the dialogues when you visit her.. :)))

Ravish:

She takes weird angle photos of herself, digitally remakes them and makes herself look sexy :-P. On a more serious note, she experiments with her creativity makes cute little things that make most go “awwww….” taking pride and pleasure from her work.

Poornima:

Hemali….
She Imagines, Visualises, She dreams… Beyond any ordinary man’s imagination.
Then she shares them with all of us through her creatives….
The most important, she loves herself and what she does.
Love ya loads…

Prateek:

Hemali dances to music. Creates a fantasy world of her own. Gets a seal to kiss her with her charm! :)

Kunjan:

Hemali does pursue her dreams and works hard to make them true. And she does it with determination. She does things in a way that she feels is right. And she does it in style.

Reena:

hemali is a budding artist wid an eye for detailing and that can be seen thru her work. She is talented, multifaceted and is an architect by profession…not only she is good wid art work but she is a good writer too which not many are aware of…if she sets her goal, nothing can change her mind. she is one person who can put many days and nights together to accomplish her goal and still not feel tired

Payal:

hemu never sleeps. she gets rushes of creativity often and always
comes up somethin very innovative.she makes me smile always. she makes
everyone laugh with her witty jokes. she does make me feel proud of
her achievements.

Jay:

“Hemali does what an ordinary girl would think twice before doing”
No pun intended :P by above I mean you are daredevil and daring and do always extra-ordinary things :-)

Ritu:

‘Hemali always makes me smile :)…A hardworking girl, who just amazes me every time with her innovative ideas and creativity..its just amazing :)

Sumod:

Hemali is a creative digital artist who weaves beautiful pieces of art work with a colorful collection of yarn that includes talent, style and composition.

Aneesh:

she does my head in !!!
jkoking she’s a star.. dont change a bit !!

Heavenly Gown

2009-09-02T05:24:00.000-07:00

We were asked in a class to describe what out transhuman or posthuman natures would be like, and what extraordinary sense would you experience as that person. The image above that I had created from a self portrait a few hours ago is the person I would want to be in my transhuman state.I decided 'Touch' would be the sense I would experience in an extraordinaty way in that form.

Here it how, why, where...

I once had a gown, it was almost new,
Oh, the daintiest thing, it was white and blue,
With little stars placed here and there,
When I had it on, oh, I walked on the air!

That's my my trans human life theme song, a touch different from the beautiful original waltz song, My Alice Blue Gown.

A girl's dreaming in her sleep, and her spirit floats to another world, where she's queening the beautiful night sky in her fantasy gown! It has a bodice of stars, and a skirt of a beautiful puffy cloud. The stars glitter in the dark blue night and make her shine like a star, and the cloud makes her fly! The aloof,cold and still silence of the night in the faraway universe is caressed and teased into submission by gentle, urgent, sexual, stimulating strains of music. The girl's dancing effortlessly to the music, in the spotlight of the moon.
Its an extraordinary dream, a touch away from reality.

How extraordinary would it be to lose touch of some senses, and get in touch with others! To break loose of earthly strings to a place where no one can reach to tie you down and try to control you. To escape the clutches of gravity into a world where there is no force to drag you down. Away from the squabbles and clashes of earth where the only friction you may feel is of wind blowing through your hair and caressing your skin as you swirl and dance and glide in space. You are having the time of your life, in touch with extraordinary freedom, lightness, joy and beauty.

I believe in star sign characteresics. Being a Libran, I am influenced by the element of air. Like air I always wanted to escape from restraining confinements and get my own space. I have always longed, yearned freedom. I don't like being told what to do, I love finding my own direction. I cannot help feeling resentment towards people who think they own me and can tell me how to live my life, even if I know they love me. In situations like that I always feel like 'getting away', to lose touch with the real world and get in touch with my true self. But my true self does have apprehensions of being 'alone' when I tell others to 'Leave me alone'. I do realize in my dreamland I would be often haunted by a wrenching touch of longing. A longing to see, hear, touch, feel, hug and kiss the people and things I loved and left behind. There ought to be a perfect space, a perfect relationship, where people understand each others' need of freedom and choice of life. I do believe it is possible to find that perfect balance. Its out there in he world, and you just need to search for it.. Like a cloud kissing mountain tops!

I am Just a Libran Girl! :)

Edit: Here's the final project video!

All the stars have fallen...

2009-08-29T23:45:00.000-07:00

When your beautiful dream shatters, there should be a beautiful pattern hidden in the broken peices. Life ought to have meaning, everything should fit...

Art and Reserach

2009-06-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

“Paintings are but research and experiment. I never do a painting as a work of art. All of them are researches. I search constantly and there is a logical sequence in all this research.”

- Pablo Picasso

That quote from one of the most famous artists the world has known certainly makes someone like me who always considered art and research as unrelated entities, ponder the relationship between art and research. One would be surprised at how alike both fields could be.

Artists and researchers are creative thinkers. They have an imagination and can visualize what others do not see. The germination of their ideas and works relies on elements of choice, inspiration and serendipity. They are driven and passionate people and they spend their life in earnest pursuit of their quest. They collect stimulus, focus, and find out as much as they can. They stimulate themselves. Their life paths are often guided by a cause, and it is often the uplifting of the human race and the betterment of life. They often have a philosophical outlook towards life. Their personality traits overlap so significantly, and perhaps that is why there are many scientists who are artists as well; and also artists who have made a significant contribution to science. Albert Einstein, the discoverer of the Theory of Relativity was also an expert violin and piano player. "My discovery (Relativity / E=mc²) was due to my musical intuition", Einstein quoted. How beautifully does that show that art could aid research! Leonardo da Vinci, the painter of one of the most well known smiling face in history, Mona Lisa; has also made far reaching contributions in the field of sciences of anatomy, civil engineering, optics, hydrodynamics and neurosciences. Michaelangelo, primarily known as a painter and sculptor was also an architect, poet and engineer. I would like to end my list by mentioning Dr. Gregory House, an unconventional medical genius of our times, who is also a wonderful musician and who has mastered the art of juggling balls whilst handling his differential diagnoses; my favorite fictional character! :)

Artists and scientists are full of curiosity. Art and research are both born of thought. They are to seek answers, they are to question. Art and research are both the progressive uncovering of detail. They could be used to nurture each other. Art in many forms is quite soothing, and it may aid research by relaxing the mind and lifting meditation to higher planes. Intangible ideas and concepts could be visualized by an artist to help better understanding of concepts for research. Similarly research could create new tools and techniques to facilitate artists to visualize their art in different realms and dimensions. Think chemical paints, computers, wacom tablets, digital art software, immersive visualization, interactive installations and computer aided generative art! Both fields have brought significant leaps of progress in each other, and will continue to do so.

If we were to look for differences between art and research, we could cite some too. While artists a can make things up, researchers must rely on facts. Research needs to be practical. A validated research should yield the expected result whenever it is conducted; it is not a necessary condition to validate a piece of art. The parameters to judge a research are very definite, whereas the definition of art is vague. Scientists strive for commonality, artists tend to be unique. Outdated research may lose its commercial value, whereas it’s common for the value of art to rise as the art/artifact gets older in age. Often art is guided by emotion, whereas research is guided by reason. Art could be created without knowledge of the previous work done in the field; research may require specific and detailed knowledge of the subject before further advancement.

I would like to conclude my essay stating that art and research are a legacy passed over eras that keeps growing as each era adds its own contribution to it. It is a legacy to be treasured, as it adds infinitely to the richness of human existence.

- Hemali Tanna

At His Mercy

2009-05-26T03:43:00.000-07:00

She is at the Spider's mercy. He wants to marry her against her will. He has woven a wedding veil for her....! She was unraveling the wedding veil in desperation but he caught her on time! He now has her roped and bounded in spider silk! The trapped flies knew she was going to be punished.

I am crazy... :-O

This is one of my coolest concepts!

Row Row Row Your Boat

2009-04-21T03:26:00.000-07:00

My idea of the nursey rhyme! I had animated this last semester! I am so happy with it!! I love my Lily and Turtle babies! And I love the lighting and the colors! The character design of the Lily and the idea that the boat is a lily pad is what makes me most proud! :)
The lily is inspired from one of my old digital graphics, 'Sweet Angel' that I had made for my friend Reena using one of her childhood pics! Here it is!

Sweetheart

2009-04-21T03:07:00.000-07:00

Make Love...
Spread love...
Seduce Sweetly...
Stick to your Lovers...
That's a Sweetheart!

I hope you liked my new Hemalism!

I made this video for one of my classes... we were assigned a task to create something that cannot be copied!

I had a frustrating time making this! I waited almost all afternoon to seduce some ants! I saw one large Texan ant and was hopeful she will call her friends, but she was a selfish one and wanted all the pancake syrup for herself! I then scattered sweethearts all around town, and then plopped to sleep feeling pretty hopeless! When I woke up at night I had gotten lucky ;)

So many ants sticking around a heart... it was gorgeous! I couldn't shoot a video as it was really dark! I took pictures with a flash! And it makes it look like the ants are lying dead around the heart! Love is a seductress, and she kills! The ants around the heart makes it look like its a broken heart... Beautiful! :)

Now be a sweetheart and watch my video! :D

Steps to Love

2009-04-21T03:01:00.000-07:00

Love is simple! Really...! Just a few steps to get there! :)

I am so proud of this concept of mine, I am gonna redo it all over again with a better model and better animation and lighting! I completed this one in two days, and it was funny how I recorded my sound! I sent myself a voicemail in gmail to another of my email accounts, and downloaded the voicemail as an mp3! :D

I am really eager to work on this idea more and turn this into something really mindblowing! :)

Rashomon- In the woods

2009-02-11T01:57:00.001-08:00

Rashomon- In the woods, originally uploaded by hemali.

We had an assignment to write our version of what happened in the movie Rashomon- as if we were present and witnessed the scene. Here's my version.

Life is but a dream among the wilderness....

I often imagine we are all lost forever in the forest called life. The more we try to find our way out, the deeper we are lost. We don’t know what’s around the bend. What is beautiful could also be dangerous… like a thicket of beautiful vines that could entangle you or like a delicious looking fruit that is poisonous .We tread cautiously, ridden with fear of the unknown. Fears that are real, and fears that are imaginary. We all witness the dance of bright beautiful sunlight and deep and dark shadows; birth and death, happiness and sadness, fortune and misfortune. If you explore you might unravel deep hidden secrets. Or you may keep seeking forever and never find an answer. Life Robert Frost says, “The woods are lovely and dark and deep”.

My art is mostly inspired by life, and hence I often go to the woods for inspiration. There is something very soothing and magical to be away from the world for a while and listen to your thoughts. But on that fateful afternoon I didn’t hear my thoughts; nor did I hear the soft rustle of the leaves or the enchanting ripples of the lake. Instead I heard the high pitched screams of a woman being raped that made me shudder without control. I couldn’t get up; I couldn’t even move… it was like my entire being was frozen. I was sitting by the jetty, and had a beautiful view of the lake and a stretch of forest with lovely pines. But what happened there turned the lake into a river of blood, the pines into swaying looming ghosts and the blue sky turned into a muddy gray and purple under which souls are crushed. I am not saying that to sound rhetoric. That is how the landscape actually turned in my head, like my mind started hallucinating just so I could watch the woman being raped by a bandit as her husband lied helplessly tied to a tree, like it was unreal.

It was impossible to register in my mind that I was witnessing a rape and murder. I was feeling like it just couldn’t happen to me, it just can’t be true. And yet the truth is there is a victim of rape every minute in the world and a victim of murder every thirty two minutes. Just take a minute and imagine. If imagining it can be shuddering, just imagine how horrid it would be if you had to experience it for real. Besides the victim, even their near and dear ones are left with scars on their memories that would never erase. That is why the woman’s husband must have killed himself. The bandit fled with the Samurai’s horse after he raped his wife. The Samurai’s wife just lied on the ground sobbing uncontrollably and then she limped to the tree to untie her husband. She must have wanted him to hold her, to embrace and reassure her, but all he did was walk past her. His behavior was very stone like. May be that’s how one becomes when faced with pain beyond endurance; you become numb. How painful it would have been for the Samurai to stay alive and remember every single moment of his life how mercilessly his wife was abused right in front of his eyes and he could do nothing to rescue her. I just blinked my eyes shut as I watched the samurai lift his wife’s dagger and motioned to shove it into his chest. I just closed my eyes and sat there never wanting to open them again. The world felt so ugly I didn’t want to see it again. And then I opened my eyes to the soft sobs of the woman as she moaned over her husband’s body. Eventually she stopped sobbing and the forest was engulfed in a deafening silence.

And then I was jolted to a state of panic and madness as my mind screamed to me, “Just run! Get away from here… This is not beautiful…Run from it all… Go away! Run! What if the bandit is still lurking around… What if he sees you? What if there is a whole gang of bandits in the forest?? Is there a safe place anywhere n earth? I just want to run to some place where no one can get me! What am I running from? Where do I want to go? Is there anyone I could rust to protect me? I need assurance, I wish I had a man to hold and comfort me! I am scared… I want to get out of the woods… which way do I go? I am lost…….”

And I just fled away from there… I didn’t walk to the woman and help her. I didn’t go and comfort her. For some reason I was afraid of her. I don’t think I can face her. I somehow feel guilty. I wish I had done something. I wish I could forget this whole incident. I wish I could go to the woods again….

I often wonder why the woman denies being raped. Why does she say she was lost in passion for the bandit? May be it is easier to blame someone else for your suffering. May be being angry and starting to hate someone you used to love helps erase pain. Yes, that must be so… She must have actually started to believe her story and blot the ugly memory of her rape. I wish she can get rid of all her ghosts…

As for me, I am still living with my ghosts. They are questions about life, about truth… They are why, and what if, and how, and why? And why… Why? Why??? Why????
I wish I could find the answers to my questions. I wonder if I could ever find my answers and make that ringing stop.
I wish I knew much more about life, but a lifetime is too short for that…..

Hemali Tanna

Why art?

2008-07-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

Some questions weave a chain of thoughts. I had once to answer the question in an essay, and here's what I wrote.

Why Art?

Whatever that is beautiful, touches the heart, and makes me experience emotion that is so tangible it moves me deep within; becomes a passion to me. Be it fine arts, architecture, literature, poetry, movies or music. I have always been drawn towards art for the richness it brings to my life, invoking thought and emotion and wonder; adding a quality to life that makes me feel the world is beautiful! To add to the beauty of my world, I have spent all of my life in artistic pursuit. From my toddler days when I doodled graffiti on the walls of my house with my first set of crayons, to taking music lessons, to studying architecture, to this day as I apply to one of the finest art institutes of the world to pursue my masters.

I feel lucky I am an artist, life is to create! I love daydreaming, and my work demands I do it! :).. Life is to imagine, to observe, to feel, to transcend into fantasy worlds, to bring beauty, to touch hearts, to feel contentment and joy in your creations… I love nothing more than expressing my thoughts in the most beautiful way I can. I feel nice when people take an interest in my work. It reminds me of a quote from the movie Shall We Dance, which goes, “"We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean?” Art helps me connect to others; it is a language of expression that everyone can understand. When people notice my creations, compliment and acknowledge my work, I feel someone has witnessed my life.

I cherish the gift that life has given me and constantly strive to improve as an artist. And I thoroughly enjoy the process. Studying art is like studying philosophy. It is about understanding life, understanding people, relationships, principles of the universe, and emotions. Because it involves emotions, art has been valued since life itself; because life means to feel. Art is a reflection of life, and that is why every civilization, every era has had some legacy of art to pass on to the next generation. I deeply wish to contribute to this legacy by creating beautiful and memorable work. It is my dream to attain that level of beauty in my art that would make it timeless, and what would inspire and touch people in any era of time. It would be like someone is witnessing my life, even after I am gone.

Art brings happiness and spreads joy. Art is alleviation to pain. Even art that depicts sadness heals as it hurts. Art touches lives and inspires. I try to do my bit for improving lives of the unfortunate through motivational posters. I try to give my friends and loved ones presents they would cherish forever, with a piece of art I specially make for them with their pictures. It makes me so happy to see the look of surprise and the smiles on their faces. Art helps me express my love, and it brings me love in return.

Art, because I have never known any other way of life.

99 Red Balloons

2008-07-24T15:51:00.001-07:00

99 Red Balloons
Originally uploaded by hemali

As 99 red balloons go by
99 dreams I have had
In every one a red balloon
It's all over and I'm standin' pretty
In this dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenier
Just to prove the world was here
And here it is a red balloon
I think of you and let it go

Sometimes life feels so beautiful, it almost seems surreal!
There is a certain sadness to reminiscing of beauty, and yet your heart goes back to those memories ever so often; because you don't want to forget the feeling that made you so impossibly happy, you wanna hold on to it!
Its hard to let go....

But then you must break free of what ties you down, make your peace and say your goodbyes as you watch the last balloon disappear.

Lo Lo Lo Lo Lonely

2008-03-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

Ever had a crush on someone that made you go head over heels?
You must watch this Video I edited on the song "I feel Lonely' by Sasha! Took me 4 days to do so, but it was a Labor of Love :p
I had a BLAST making it!! I was shooting these two toys dolls all around the town in Lovey Dovey poses, and basking in the attention I got from strangers who thought I was nuts!! :))

I hope you enjoy the video! :)

O C T O P U S

2008-02-15T13:17:00.001-08:00

Octopus Birthday Cake
Originally uploaded by PinkCakeBox

Can you believe it is a cake?

I feel dizzy with amazement at this chef's art! She is Anne, and she has a bakery called Pine Cake Box pastries. I am so glad I found her photostream on Flickr! I can drool for hours not just at these delicious mind blowing works of art, but over Anne's creativity and imagination too!

A puppy popping its head out of an engine, a ladies bag with lipsticks and pearls, a wedding dress look alike tiered cake, a dresser cake that could be confused for a real picture of a one.., an octopus taken by surprise :'), you'll find the most unique cakes here!! And I love Anne's color sense, such gay vibrant mouth watering colors, and such skilled detailing and craft!!!

I just could never cut any of Pine Cake Box cakes!!!

You should visit her stream here!

And I am in LOVE with this Octopus!! Actually! :))
Made a lil personal profile for it too :))

Ideal Match: A handsome Octopus, who;ll take me out in the moonlight, surprise me with 8 diamond rings, and ask, "Shell we?"

First thing you'll notice about me: How cutely I walk!

Looks: Beauty Contest Winner

Best Feature: Arms

My idea of a perfect first date: Walking on the seashore, holding all hands!

From my past relationships I learned: Male Octopuses die after sex!

Five things I can't live without: 8 Actually

In my bedroom you'll find: That I need to see a psychiatrist as I often get into a shell...

Prickly memories

2007-11-07T12:31:00.001-08:00

Prickly memories
Originally uploaded by hemali

An empty life, and an empty heart
The body so numb,
As the mind drifts afar…
Thinking nothing
The eyes staring nowhere
There is vacuum now
Where emotions were there
The heart beating somewhere
Rhythm less,
And monotonous as ever
For an empty heart,
Every beat is heavy.

I sound like an old woman here, but I was just a tired 20 year old when I had written this! :)
Sometimes relationships end, and all beautiful memories wither away like petals of a flower... what remains are the thorns of prickly memories of what went wrong.
Like a gust of wind blew everything beautiful away...

People have commented they can't see the graphic clearly as its a lil too dark. I have purposely kept it dark, as it suits the mood. Besides I work on an LCD monitor, and the details look pretty much clear especially when viewed full screen.
This is one of my favorite graphics! I am sure all of us must have at some time or another experienced sleepless hours, lying awake in the dark, hurting.

For the long run

2007-09-02T15:52:00.001-07:00

For the long run
Originally uploaded by hemali

My friend Prutha is running a half marathon on 16th September, 2007 in Philadelpia to help educate underprevilaged children in India, through Asha for Education. She is training in New York. Help her raise $2700 USD for the cause.
Here’s where you can donate:
www.ashanet.org/nycnj/?s=marathon&id=191&rid=3099

And here’s a link to Prutha’s blog, where she recounts her experience of the training for the marathon, and how she keeps going through the trials.
prutharaithatha.blogspot.com/

I am so proud of my friend for what she is doing! There are children who work all day in the sun wiping windshields of cars, selling newspapers, busking in trains, while they should be going to school… There are children who dream to be somebody when they grow up, but never get the chance for an education. There are children who study in night schools after a long day’s work. There are children who study under street lamps…

They are children who face the harshness of life everyday, who have never really had a childhood. Every child should be pampered, but they have to toil to earn their food, they can’t afford basic tuition fees or books. They have to face so many odds to succeed in life, and there are so many stories of men and women who have done it! They are fighters! They see dreams through the dust…Help them fulfill their dream.
One step from you, and they can go a long way…

A special urge to all Indians for the future of your nation,
One step from you and your country can go a long way!

Cheers India!!!!!!!!!!

Please pass this link on to all your friends...

And a special note for Prutha, you move me girl! Wish you all the best with the marathon, and I pray you reach your goal! Love you, you inspire me!

I feel like a bird

2007-08-14T12:22:00.001-07:00

I feel like a bird
Originally uploaded by hemali

Im feeling like a bird
I spread my wings and fly away
Im feeling like a bird
I close my eyes my dreams come true for one day

DJ Bobo's Like a Bird lyrics

Wish all Indians a Happy Independence Day!!!

My winning entry

2007-08-04T03:56:00.001-07:00

C. Bhogilal & Co, Mumbai's most famous and reputed stores of Bathroom design fixtures, had conducted a Basin Design Competition at our college.
I submitted two design entries for the contest, and one of my submissions was the winning entry for the competition which makes me so proud!

This is the winning entry and it is a complete glass basin, rich and exclusive.
The basin stand is designed like an abstract tree trunk in glass, and the soap trays are three staggering leaf shaped concave glass dishes...
The most beautiful effects will show as light streams through the stained glass, throwing color shadows and reflections on the polished wall surfaces and floors, and add the most stunning and fantastic feel to the bathroom!

And here's my second entry, metallic and modern.
Used lots of geometric elements here, checkers and spirals and planes.

I love both my designs, just love designing bathrooms!

Parrot tales

2007-07-31T12:48:00.000-07:00

Hey all!! I had a guest!
This cutie flew into my house the other day and was with us for 6 hours! It was utter fun to play host to him!

He must be someone's pet, coz he didn't seem too keen to fly out and was very friendly and unafraid of us all! Except when I was taking my camera too close to take his pics and video he got a lil cranky at me :))
Haha.. He gave us all such a good laugh, nibling away at the big treat of food we laid out for him on top of our TV set, for that's where he had lounged! :-D
He ate a chilly from my hand, gorged on peanuts and enjoyed junk food just like the rest of us, and spilled water over my TV set! I luckily got a video of that too!

He came in from nowhere and brightened up my day!! I wish he'd stay for ever...

Bye Bye Birdie~~~!! I'll never forget that day!

So Close To Heaven

2007-07-31T05:06:00.001-07:00

So Close To Heaven
Originally uploaded by hemali

"Lift me up in your eyes
If you told me that is what Heaven is, well, you'd be right
I've been waiting forever for this
This is the night"

Artist: Clay Aiken Lyrics
Song: This Is The Night Lyrics

Ah!! I have been waiting forever for this too...!
How I yearn for someone whose presence would make life so beautiful, so beautiful it feels like magic... when stars would feel so close, you'd feel like you are wrapped in glow dust, and like heaven is just right here!

...This is one of my earliest digital graphics! I love the surreal quality it has!
Surreal always manages to transcend me into fantasies...!

And as I write this I remember a beautiful scene from the movie, It happened one night...

Ellie: Have you ever been in love, Peter?

Peter Warner: Me?

Ellie: Yes. Haven't you ever thought about it at all? It seems to me you, you could make some girl wonderfully happy.

Peter Warner: Sure I've thought about it. Who hasn't? If I could ever meet the right sort of girl. Aw, where you gonna find her? Somebody that's real. Somebody that's alive. They don't come that way anymore. Have I ever thought about it? I've even been sucker enough to make plans. You know, I saw an island in the Pacific once. I've never been able to forget it. That's where I'd like to take her. She'd have to be the sort of a girl who'd... well, who'd jump in the surf with me and love it as much as I did.

You know, nights when you and the moon and the water all become one. You feel you're part of something big and marvelous. That's the only place to live... where the stars are so close over your head you feel you could reach up and stir them around. Certainly, I've been thinking about it..

(This is the quote that flashed onto my mind..)

... Boy, if I could ever find a girl who was hungry for those things...

[she comes around the blanket "Walls of Jericho" and kneels by his bed]
Ellie: Take me with you, Peter. Take me to your island. I want to do all those things you talked about.

Honeymoon

2007-07-31T04:13:00.001-07:00

Honeymoon

Originally uploaded by hemali

The nights, stars and the moon.. there is so much magic in the world!
This is one of my most beautiful work, and it sends me to dreamland every time I look at it..!

And here's a beautiful song by Elvis Presley that I so often listen to, which I like to associate with this image of a girl romancing the moon..~!

Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone,
Without a dream in my heart,
Without a love of my own,
Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for,
You heard me saying a prayer for,
Someone I could care for,
And then there suddenly appeared before me,
Someone my arms could really hold,
I heard you whisper "Darling please adore me,"
And when I looked to the moon it had turned to gold,

Blue moon, now I'm no longer alone,
Without a dream in my heart,
Without a love of my own.

Blue Moon
Originally Written by Rodgers and Hart (1934),
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers. Remade by many others...
Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley (Sun Records 1954)
and finally this version by the doo-wap group "The Marcels" in 1961.

I am so happy with the appreciation and adulation this art of mine got!
It was selected as the admin's favorite, on The world through my eyes , a very huge and popular group on Flickr.
Honeymoon was TWTME Blogged here!

My eyes love to dream

2007-07-29T05:31:00.001-07:00

My eyes love to dream
Originally uploaded by hemali

Stars are my eyes
Where the sparkle of hope lies

Dreams, my twinkling stars
Safe within my eyes at night.

Stars do rule our lives...

My dreams will see day's light
Before i close my eyes.

-hemali 23/10/99

I am not embarrassed of this one! :-)

The Journey

2007-07-28T13:41:00.001-07:00

Life is full of sweet surprises! I remember how awestruck I was when I first saw Gale's stream.. I had just tried my first hand at photomanipulation, and my friend Hari recommended that I should check out Gale's work! And I met the Digital Art Goddess of Flickr!

...And life took a new turn!! I was so inspired by her work, her dedication of working for hours and hours till she reaches perfection, her love for her work, her friendliness and her kindness and her integrity, I started to look upon her as my guru! I started to express myself through graphic art, just like her, and it has become such a passion for me now!!
She's so very sweet to always lend her precious time to answer any queries I have had, and she's always lending out tips and secrets on her Flickr gallery comments..

She's compiled extensive photoshop tutorials on her website.
http://www.thegraphicgroove.com/

She also blogs about her adventures in digital art here:
http://www.galefraney.wordpress.com/

She loves people! Stands and fights with all fortitude for what she believes in! She helped a guy who's music she admired come over his heroin addiction with so much passion, using her art to inspire him, and as a medium to express her's and his trials and tribulations during the process, she has moved and inspired thousands of people who visit her stream!
She has a heart of gold...!
Here's something I've written for Gale...

"Have you ever wondered how amazing it would be if you could photograph a dream? Gale Franey's pictures are like dreams; beautiful, mystical, magical dreams you can see with open eyes!
Visions you will remember for ever...
I wish I could see the world with Gale's eyes!!! It would be so much more beautiful!!!"

You really really should see all of her beautiful art...!
Here's a link to her stream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/galefraney/

And I am so lucky Gale made two such lovely graphics for me!
I will always treasure the Journey and the Blossom Dancer so close to my heart!
Thanks so much Gale for the graphic u made of me!!!!!!
I can't believe how gorgeous i look!!!!!!!!
Will show it off to my great grand children!!! :-)

The Journey
Originally uploaded by Gale franey

Here's a poem I had written on 23/6/97, titled "The night has just begun"; when I was a 17 year old, and 10 years after it was closed in my book, I am opening the pages again to accompany a picture I know I am gonna keep looking at even after 10, 20, 30, 40.. years from now...
Life is indeed a journey!

I have woken up from a long dream...

A dream that carried me far away...

Away from reality..

I sailed the sea of tears..

In the boat of love..

My destination is yet to come,

But my journey is over..

My dreamy eyes have led me to a blind end,

And now when I can see reality

I wish I were blind.

Digging old graves....

2007-07-28T12:58:00.001-07:00

I am digging old graves again…! Just went through the file of this post I had deleted last year coz I didn’t want to be a drama queen…
But I really like a few of these poems I wrote, sadness can bring out your best, coz it comes from the heart! But more than anything, now while I look back at it I am reminded that no matter how impossible it may seem when you are depressed and feeling dark, the phase shall pass….

Here’s the post again…

I can do anything for laughs!!! I love to have fun and enjoy every moment that passes by in my life. I love that state when you are so happy your heart it singing!!
And I am usually in such a state!! I can take so much delight in every small thing! For me life is mostly sunshine :)

Just sometimes I feel very sad… being highly sensitive, I have had moments of depression and turmoil, have felt darkness. Nothing you do can shake off that gloom…
All the while I know it will pass, I know I’ll survive… Just that I can’t just snap out of it!
I hate that state, but then it seems futile to try to fight it!

So, while it lasts, I try doing something creative. I write, I sketch, I paint, I play music, I design, I learn new things, Play in Photoshop, make digital art, I think, I imagine!
I moon about how it will be when I’m discovered, how it will be to have my interview in an architectural magazine, how it will be when I publish my novel!!
I am a dreamer…! It’s because of my dreams I have survived times when I’ve felt like killing myself because I couldn’t take the pain! And I just said I “feel like”…
I’ll never kill myself!! I have this tremendous zest for life!!!
I want to experience everything!! I want to see the world! I want to have babies! I want to get married! I want to fling a vase on my husband!!:-)

These are some sad songs I had written in the past…
I had hoped they would make me rich and famous when I wrote them :)

My heart is a grave [24-6-97]

Deep in my heart my desires lie
Which I have left to slowly die
I break my own dreams
Kill all my hopes
Bury all my emotions
So your dreams are true
So your hopes thrive
So your motions are ever alive
Don’t misunderstand me
These favors are just for me.

It means nothing [27-6-97]

Lost searching a lost friend
Deserted once again I found pain
I find an oasis in my eyes
Indeed life is salty
Salty sorrow raining on honeyed stings
Bitten by a bee
Who hurt pretending to heal
Flying away with wings
Knowing everything
Considering it nothing.

Tell me life [13-7-97]

I wish life I knew
Much more about you
Coz a lifetime is too short
To know everything about you
Parts of you aren’t just few
They are very different too
I can’t fully live you
How do I part with you?
When shall I see the dead you?
Atleast I know
I’ll never again meet you.

Cold helping hands [7-6-99]

Cry dear, cry…
Cry till there are no tears to dry…
Hurt yourself to such pain
Till you never feel it again…
Gasp so long for breath
Till you can breathe easy after death…
Empty dear, empty your heart
Till there is no burden to carry
On your journey apart…
Call death to you
Weary as you are,
You wont be able to go that far

An empty life [18-5-00]

An empty life, and an empty heart
The body so numb,
As the mind drifts afar…
Thinking nothing
The eyes staring nowhere
There is vacuum now
Where emotions were there
The heart beating somewhere
Rhythm less,
And monotonous as ever
For an empty heart,
Every beat is heavy.

Ruminating on life [ 26-10-00]

Life… Its ingredients make
An unpalatable dish
To just chew and chew and chew…
Tasteless, spiceless…
Such is the cud of life..
Difficult to swallow
The throat so constricted
To pass it down your throat
With a gulp of tears
My throat’s choked…
I want to vomit out this life…
I am not hungry for more.

Passion extinguished [28-10-01]

All the fire has spent itself
It has taken away its warmth
Only cold ashes remain.
To the searching misty eyes
Only smoky fog is visible
All the body feels
Is cold and dreary ash…
A tiny speck still flickering
Too small to rekindle the fire
The ash slipping from the fist;
To will be gone with the wind.

That was my last poem. Passion extinguished.
Something died in me, I killed it.
My best songs emerged when I was in turmoil; my best songs are my saddest.
I didn’t want to dwell so much on the dark side of life, I prefer to look at the shinier side.
That’s why I have this contempt for writing poetry.
That is why I make fun of my songs.
So the tombstone of the poetess in me would read…

Hemali Tanna, Poetess [31/10/94- 28-10-01]
She Sucked.

Now, Hemali Tanna is digging old graves and having lots of laughs..!
(I said that coz I always ridicule my poems in italics)
Because she is not a poetess, she is just a girl.

10 second interview

2007-07-01T03:09:00.000-07:00

For my first wish, I wish...
happiness

I wish I had never seen...
anything beautiful go...

What's your magic word?
Que sera sera

I could really live without...
Viagra... so please don't spam me!!!

Pardon my...
vanity..!

The key to success is...
to keep trying till you get the right key

For the talent portion of the competition, I will...
have an unfair advantage over the others.. :))

What's the first frivolous thing you'll buy when you're rich and famous?
A beautiful plot of land where I'd design my dreamhome!

Who would you want to be with on a desert island?
Someone who can arrange for a rescue after the honeymoon is over, coz dying in each other's arms ain't my idea of romance!

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An artist, and from the 6th grade onwards, an architect.

If you were famous, what would you be famous for?
Breathtakingly beautiful work, arts and designs...

I wish my parents had named me...
Tina Tanna, it would sound like a jingle

I love the scent of...
Petrol

Fame or Fortune?
Both! Otherwise Fortune!

Beauty or Brains?
Brains

What was the best advice you ever received?
Persistence quotes inspire me...

What advice would you give your younger self?
"You are on the right track baby!"

In retrospect, do you wish you had studied harder or had more fun?
I have studied hard, and had loads of fun too :)

I've always wanted...
Everything!!

Love is great, but I'd also marry for...
I won't settle for a marriage without love

The best things in life are...
emotions... life means to feel

My name should be listed in the Wikipedia entry for...
I think I am Michaelangelo's reincarnation :p

What would you do for a new car?
Buy a new guy... errr

What would your super hero name be?
HemaLEE

My friends would shocked if they knew...
the shelf life of my clothes! I still wear a shirt that's 10 years old!

I read 'Playboy' for the...
I don't 'read' it!

The older I get, the more I...
know my milestones are delayed.

When the aliens arrive, I hope they bring...
me a nice hairstylist!

Who would play you in a movie version of your life?
My life's like a movie anyways, and I am the star :-D

I'd be nothing if it weren't for...
my dreams, hopes, aspirations!

Complete this sentence: Life is like a box of...
Life could be anything, it's all about what you put in the box to treasure and what you throw away!

People think that I'm...
a funny girl, and I love that!

What color underwear are you currently wearing?
You will never find out unless you get on all fours :p

What's your favorite color of Crayola crayon?
All colors are beautiful if you know how to use them

I believe in...
silver linings... there is always hope

I'd be the happiest person in the whole world if...
life patterns into the picture I have been painting in my imagination!

What's your favorite book?
Gone with the wind

What will be your last words?
"I had the time of my life!" ...atleast I hope so!

What cartoon character did you have a crush on?
I've always been waiting for Calvin to grow up ~~

What time period would you like to live in for a week?
Ten years after I die, to see my loved ones...

I'm the best at...
I have too many delusions of grandeur... :))

I will dedicate my life to the invention of...
Anything to detangle my hair!

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?
Internet explorer... it saves up thousands of them! :-o

What's the grossest thing you've ever eaten?
An ant, that my mom passed off as masala...

Ignorance is...
the reason why we must ask more questions...

Architecture, a unique experience everytime!

2006-05-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hi all!! This article is in response to the comments on “Smile because the bees have gathered more honey”. I felt like writing a post to show what architecture means to me.
I am posting an article I had written about architecture for L’ Espirit, my college magazine. Almost five years down the road, I have made some changes and added some more to the original article.

The Spirit of Architecture

Architecture, a unique experience every time! A stimulating exercise for the brain, the excitement of using your senses in your imagination when you are designing! Designing is a process that requires the same intelligence that is required to write a murder mystery… The whole plot is in your mind, you know the killer, and you work out the whole story, where every event fits so perfectly, and yet maintain the mystery! Why, it’s like a dream you see, and as you move closer to the mirage, it ceases to be one! It has become real!!!

REAL is a word that charms me. Real satisfaction, real joy, when you are proud of a really good design you have done. The shaky excitement when an exciting concept strikes you! I have had such magic moments! When I am so happy with myself, telling myself, “Hemali, you are AWESOME!!!!” Architecture is an ego-booster!

EGO, I am proud to have one. I have developed my ego by my achievements so far; by proving to myself what I can do, what I am. I am proud of my determination, my perseverance, and my energy to rise again when I have badly fallen. I have big dreams, and I am not bothered when people ridicule them. I am never ashamed if I lose or am defeated or mocked at; it’s comforting to me that I tried my best and I say something nice to myself and I try again. As long as I desire something, I am too greedy to give up on it.
I can’t understand people who label egoistic people as arrogant. I don’t think I am arrogant. I love myself, am proud of myself and I respect my abilities. And this makes me strive to do designs that I can call excellent and can be proud of. I challenge my aptitude, and I like that attitude.

ATTITUDE, a quality that makes a person and a design dynamic. The aura it creates around the beholder! The magnetism of a person who refuses to let his worth judged by anything or anyone, but his own standards and values. And the repulsion of a person who coz of his negativity thinks fabulous designs are out of his reach and of others. I say this with utter venom because I was tired of convincing my basic design professors in the first Sem, that the work of art I did was not “inspired” or “lifted” from anywhere! Their attitude still shocks and angers me. All such people do is making Gods of people whose standards they never aspire to reach.

ASPIRATION, the motivation, the driving force that doesn’t let you step down to mediocre when faced with challenges and makes you reach the standards you wish to reach to. The just pursuit to exploit the best in yourself. The energy to be the best and differentiate the good and the bad. Have I done a bad design??? Yes, a million bad ones before I finally made my “THIS IS IT!!!” design. I was not satisfied how my thesis was shaping up, and though my design was ready, I did not submit it that semester. I worked on another fabulous design on the same plot while I interned and submitted a design in the next term, a design I am extremely proud of today. Thanks to my aspiration to attain excellence, I have been a tough critic of my own designs, and it has paved the path to the evolution of my own style.

STYLE, your signature on your product. A baby that evolves from the cells in your mind, fertilized by constant thought. And the numerous methods of achieving this labour of love! The way I have achieved mine is amusing. I was a complete foodie, and had a weakness of cakes! I have cut down on these temptations now, after working hard to lose 18 kgs and to go Fat girl Slim and I enjoy looking sexy more than I enjoy eating cakes :-)
I visualize my design as a spectacular cake, and there is always an element of FANTASY in my design!

Architecture in the right spirit is a metamorphosis and evolution. I was just a caterpillar with lots of big dreams in his tiny eyes when I joined I.E.S college of Architecture in 1998. I would like to thank two of my dear professors, Ar.Ameen Rajwani and Ar.Farooq Hyderabadwalla who were my Architectural Design Guides, in my second and fourth years respectively, and have been instrumental in evolving my design process and my Architectural appreciation during the span of my college years.

"I hope to evolve into the brightest and rarest butterfly someday."
Hemali Tanna, Just A Girl.

Smile because the bees have gathered more honey!

2006-05-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

Haha!! Am I “bugged” these days?!!!!!!!

Just when I thought I’ll get a break from work for a while, I get a new project!!!! I am tired of working on weekends!!!
And doing presentations is no fun!!!! I want to design!!!!!!! I do so miss my college days, designing bungalows, schools, resorts, I actually felt like an architect!!!
My creativity is screaming for an outlet!!!!!! So till I get to “design” a theme restaurant, or a funky children’s room, or a casino, I like to play with my imagination in photoshop! :-)

Okay, time to preach now….
Hope my poems inspire all of you : P

Smile [4-11-94]

When in the pockets there is no money
Smile because the bees have gathered more honey!
(Hahaa!! No need to even add my lil comments to make it funny!)

When little is yours in the tractor
Smile because the cups of flowers are filled with nectar!
(How do I face anyone with brains after this!!???!!!!)

When no opportunity at your door is ringing
Smile because the rivers are singing!!
(It could be any song, just substitute LOVER with LOSER!!)

When your stomach is not full
Smile because the clouds are colourful!
(I used to do just that when I was dieting!!!)

When sorrow from your heart is not moving
Smile because trees are swaying
(Or rather just watch some heroine dance to an item number :-)

When life at you is frowning
Smile because at life you are smiling!!
(A kiss to myself in the mirror, so sweet!!)

Not for ever [10-11-94]

Happiness is not time…
That comes, goes and never comes again.

Happiness is not a fruit…
Which is raw, then ripens, and never becomes raw again!
(Hemali Tanna quotes will someday be listed in “ Famous quotes from famous people” :P)

Happiness is not a star…
That shines, cools, falls and never shines again.
(I have guts to type such crap!!!!! Hahaaa…)

Happiness is not a flower…
That buds, flowers, withers and never buds again…!
(Hope that brought tears to your eyes… :P)

Happiness is slow but sure
It may be in scanty or galore
(As long as the last words rhyme, its okay if it makes no sense :-)
But its sugary sweet and pure
Something even Gods adore!
(Shame on all of you for actually reading so much crap!!! !! Hahaaaa…)

I learn to win [30-12-96]

Far from this mad mad world
I go mad with joy in my mind made world;
When sadness is busy working hard
It hardly notices me waving it good-bye
As I set the spaceship of my imagination
Floating in my own sky!
Nothing that saddens me
Knows the address to that world of glee
Where both are on vacation,
Happiness and me!
Where love doesn’t rain, it pours
Right within my heart’s innermost core!
Where laughter and smiles play the violin
Where joy and I are kith a kin!
When my beloved and I bind souls
Fun and happiness have to play their roles!

(I am the proud owner of a really adorable boyfriend in my imagination :-)

Sometimes life sucks!! But it’s your attitude that determines your happiness!
When life ‘bugs’ you, you deal with it!!!

Hemali Tanna, Just A Girl :-)

Listening to the last sounds of a sparrow

2006-04-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

Hi to all….!!! Continuing the fun of bashing of my old poems…

I pick two poems of mine where I am expressing my concerns about the degrading human values.
Again I add I don’t care much about such things… I wrote these just to hear, “ Girl, You are so talented!!” :-)

The aggressive man [15-11-94]

Once in the sky I shot an arrow
(I learnt the art from a Neanderthal ancestor…)High in the clouds it did pierce
(Being a woman of steel & strength, I could achieve it :- )There it hit a baby sparrow
(It hit a sparrow coz it rhymes with arrow…)
Its eyes were wet with tears.
And dying it asked me
Why did man invent the bow and arrow??
(Actually it just said “chirp chirp chirp chirp”)
Once in the sky I shot a bullet
(I keep handy stuff in my purse, a handkerchief, lipstick, and an AK-47)High in the clouds it did pierce
There it hit mother sparrow’s gullet
(A bullet will of course hit a gullet!)Its eyes were wet with tears.
And dying it asked me
Why did man invent the gun and bullet??

Once in the sky I threw a spear
High in the sky it did pierce
There it hit father sparrow
(What an unlucky sparrow family!!!)Its eyes were wet with tears.
And dying it asked me
Why did man invent the weapon, a spear??
(By now I am a pro at understanding bird language,
call me Hemali Dolittle!)
Why did man invent these weapons I ponder?
(Coz men are not bird brained like sparrows!!)The questions of the dead echo in my ears like thunder
Bows, arrows, guns, spears, bullets
When my eyes greet…
(My dad is a terrorist)My eyes close with shame and regret
(Why the hell would I use the weapons at all???)
Pity... There is no equality
No one takes to the religion of humanity.
(Repeat the same stanza thrice and you end up with a decently long poem)
Another disaster follows after two days…
Here it is…

Selfish man [17-11-94]

One more star falls
The sky does not feel bad at all
(I can hardly spot stars these days!)
One more flower withers
The garden just doesn’t bother
(May be it was a Japanese Rock garden so it didn’t have any feelings!)Once more there is a no-moon night
The glow-‘friend’ shines even more bright!!
(Hope you noticed how sarcastic I could be… Hahahaa)Once more the sun sets
Birds happily go to their nests.
(When they ought to be mourning by the sea!)One more feather breaks
No care does the peacock take.
(After dancing in the rain the peacock should apply LIVON to its wet feathers!!)
One more cracker bursts
Children only enjoy it just.
(Insensitive Brutes!!)One more heart breaks
No one cries for its sake
Sad when like bats we are none’s
Other’s sorrow, everyone shuns.

Pretty huge list of woes huh??
Yeah I crib and complain a lot, after all, I am just a girl :-)

Laughing at Breaking Bubbles and Burning Candles

2006-04-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

This is my first entry in my blog, and I wonder what I should write!!!

I wonder if what I am writing ends up making me laugh or causing me embarrassment as I mature and look back at how I used to think when I was a 25 year old silly girl!

I used to write lots of poems when I was a teenager just to show off to my friends, and then some more when in love and when I had my first heartbreak…
It was during my HSC, and mom discovered my song book where I had scribbled about the “L” word!! I was supposed to be concentrating on studying!!
And the way my brother teased me, he still teases me and I still blush as red as a tomato!!!!

I am quite proud of my first poem, here it is…

When I remember the dead days….. [31-10-94]

Once more I think of you
My mind becomes a mirror...
It reflects the lost rays
Of when we were together.
I look at the camera of life
And a dew drop falls from my eye
And vanishes, just as you
Vanished away from me.

In the dark nights
When I see the lightning and clouds together,
My heart cries loud like thunder...
"How I wish those days are back...
When we too were near"
Then I close my eyes...
And you are with me,
Yes, in my dreams.

Beautiful memories shall never fade...
Of the days I loved,
But could not save.

Okay, so that was mushy and boring. I know that!!!
But I hope it makes you laugh to think I wrote it for a girl!!!!!
My best friend Deeksha shifted to another city, and I was missing her!!!
In the dark nights, when I see lightning and clouds together… LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay!!! Now don’t be presumptuous!! I am not a lesbian and Deeksha isn’t the first love I was talking about!!
Have I mentioned lips, eyes, smiles in the poem!?!!
For now, you guys enjoy some silly and funny and senseless rhymes I wrote just to show around in school!!!
The love songs are too many, and you can laugh at them in my next post!!!

Here’s another….

When life scares me out of my wits [31-10-94]
(What a title!!! And the second poem of the same day)
Oh! Breaking bubbles!
Oh! Burning candles!
You cause my heart to break!
(Like I care a damn if bubbles break, and candles are made to be burned!! I don’t mean a word!)
Oh! Melting Ice creams!
Oh! Breaking dreams!
You load my heart with gloominess!
(You know I am talking BS! I surprise everyone at how fast I can lick up an ice cream or anything yummy!!)

My!! The vexing riddles, of bubbles and candles!
Oh! The raging storms of ice creams and dreams!
Don’t scare me please…
(Stop laughing all of you.... Hahahahaa)

I cry why life is so threatening.
(Oh! I am really threatened by breaking bubbles and burning candles :P)
Why do blooming flowers wither so quickly?
Whereas blooming idiots plucking flowers
Are found in every garden of life!!
(You can laugh as much as you like!!!!)
Here’s one more…

Life, a kite [01-11-94]
(See, I wrote it just a day after I wrote When life scares me out of my wits.. I wanted to boast to everyone how fast I write and how many I wrote!)

Isn’t life a colorful kite, I wonder?
With all shades of happiness, anger, joy, pleasure, disappointment and sorrow,
I ponder.
(I am a philosophical girl : P)
(And I am a poetess as I can rhyme!)
Who is The Great Artist?
Who with His brushes has painted life?
To make it such a wonder!!!
(BTW I have always been an atheist…)

When the weather is cool and nice
The kite of life soars to the height
To which an eagle flies.
When the weather is dull and slow
The kite of life like a feather lies low.
(How observant of me :P )
To the tune of the changing condition
He music of life does flow.
(I am preaching now! Hahaha…)

When the weather is threatening
The threads of the kite of life
First mingle, then stretch and pull
The threads of some other kite of life
And one kite of life loses the war and falls….
(Kite of life kite of like kite of life… blah blah blah blah blah)
Like this the binding threads of friendship, love, service and sacrifice
(service and sacrifice… ILAO)
Too break in any severe situation of life
And after a rise, there is a fall.
(Hope you got some Gyaan from the most dangerous stanza?! Hahahaa)

Once when the weather is destructive and fierce
No more does the kite of life in the sky pierce
It falls down in the lap of the very Holy earth;
And dies where it was given its very sweet birth.

And that’s enough stupid philosophy for the day from the silly, crazy, funny Hemali Tanna, who’s after all just a girl!!