Category: innovation

An art conversation and kind offer.

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This was my response to the message posted in our local Mysore community….

I’d love it, but I just can’t. To me .. It reflects different dimensions, feelings or moods. MAnjula my wife who sadly died seven years ago would reveal all


These layers.

Starting from the left Her smile, shining like the sun would infect everyone she met. The middle is her action, being there always helpful and determined. The third her calmness in whatever situation. The style reflects her embracing the tradional and the modern.  Wrapping it all up would be her attention to being present and attentive.

I can’t take it as I’ve just moved and already have too much art

https://meandmycycle.com/2026/05/08/behold-beauty-in-so-many-ways/

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The full message …. posted to our local WhatsApp group in Mysore.

Dear Art Lovers,

This is not an easy message for me to write.

There is a piece of art that has been a meaningful part of my journey for a long time. It has quietly shared my space, witnessed many chapters of my life, and carried a presence that words often fail to describe.

However, life has brought me to a point where I can no longer hold on to it. While letting it go is difficult, I feel that this piece deserves to continue its journey with someone who truly connects with it and appreciates it from the heart.

I don’t want to place a price tag on this artwork. Some things cannot be measured by a fixed number. Instead, I would love to hear from those who feel genuinely drawn to it.

If this piece speaks to you, I invite you to send me a personal message sharing:

• Why you feel connected to this artwork.

• What story, feeling, or memory it awakens within you.

• And what amount you would be comfortable offering for it.

Over the next few days, I will read each message with gratitude and care. My intention is not simply to find a buyer, but to find the right home for this piece—someone who will cherish it as much as I have.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for honoring the journey of this artwork.

It is a canvas painting on a wooden frame. 

Dimensions 28 by 58 inches.

Fruit Thali

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It seemed a little hectic this morning. Malis staying with us but not to be seen — yet. Cats fighting in the house in the middle of the night. Kaveri doing last minute revision (maybe) and off to school early for yoga and exam with sports after school.

Yesterday planning the cycle route to school

Kaveri and I had planned to cycle to school this week but that’s delayed to Thursday —- we can’t have too many changes in one day!

Sowbhagya still holding us all together — has now left to do home cooking for her business and will return later.

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Last night we attended a great new event, it’s where we got a thali of fruit… fab!

Great venue, we met the owner and an old friend Sham Sunder the environmental sustainability head of Crest at NIE – National Institute of Engineering who I first met — on a great cycle ride that he arranged — shortly after arriving in Mysore

Held at the Nityotsava Convention Centre

Puppy training

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Somehow, I don’t think my trademark— facilitating — is going to work in this situation.

After two days of chaos, we need a new approach. So ….

… we cleaned up the mess

Sowbaghya did a sterling job with my pathetic assistance.

Then some changes..

meals at regular timings, immediately clearing up their mess as soon as they deposit it, more suitable food for young pups, visiting the park to play and poo, and positive encouragement.

Footnote

I keep getting stopped in the street by people in our community who spotted us in ‘The Star of Mysore’

Plus odd stares as we walk into the park with the nameless

Art again and again

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As part of the festivities we attended a fabulous art show at the Art College just across the main road.

Our no 1 pull was to see Pravalika’s wonderful piece of art.

With tons more to appreciate.

I stopped myself from buying anything. There’s already too much to fit into the new house.

But how about a bird for the tree?

Rise up tempered radicals

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Reformists of the world unite

people are worried about AI taking jobs away.

See the guardian article.

If it looks likely — then surely here’s a golden opportunity (naive? Socialist?) to resurrect an old idea.

Slash the working week by let’s say a half:

— Provide a living payment to everyone and in return encourage people to be active citizens with their newly available ‘free’ time.

— get people to ‘sell’ the idea to everyone by creating new opportunities for training, mentoring, working to identify what needs doing to help sustain healthy communities and life in general, and for each other and to jointly plan and implement things as active participants.

Yes it needs a revolution

It requires intervention by government, an alternate view of what means to have fulfilling roles, a shift from our prevailing free market orthodoxy, a challenge to the thousands of years old social structures of unequal shares of resources and opportunities.

Not a big ‘ask’ then.

Surely if AI is going to take jobs away plus we’re constantly hammered by our collapsing societies in addition to the bleak environmental predictions of global warming — this is exactly the time to act.

But of course— the pessimist pops up here— as I often say — there’s abundant solutions and answers to our challenges. For many reasons we just can’t work together, yes we’re unable to cooperate to be able to act and change.

Back to Gandhiji

Maybe this is why I was so attracted to India

It does hold the answer to all our challenges

We can find anything and everything in India, including

— all our mistakes.

Come on let’s give it a go

Ed: who’s he speaking to?

Creating Stones

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It’s the last few days before the summer school holiday ends.

There’s time to fit in one more activity

Our new good friend Pravalika introduced Kaveri to the art of stone carving

We’re at one of the most famous stone-carvers in India and it’s in Mysore.

We can see all the stages of creating a statue: from the rough hewn shape through to the final finish

It’s surprisingly delicate and quite fast.

Pravalika is a patient teacher and patient carver, she wonderfully manages the double pressure.

Kaveri is, of course, also a star.

The teacher’s teacher approves

The elder, yes that’s me, managed an inch of carving before the women gave up in despair.

New spots? Maybe not.

The chief stone carver and therefore the workshop famously created the statue for the new Ayodya Temple last year.

Kaveri’s first stone carving is dedicated to MAnjula and will be installed at Mysore Bed and Breakfast.

Fresh from College

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No not really, although I’d like that too.

I’m just back from the annual art show at CAVA

As expected, there was a fab show of amazing art from engravings through sculpture to paintings

I also was pleased to meet some of the students (some of them again) who introduced me to concepts, stories and completed works.

The drive to the college, opposite Siddarthanagar

Monisha and Vikas

Naresh

My only regret is, I didn’t realise yesterday that it was on and take Kaveri.

The poor girl would have had to tolerate monkey stories . Look closer.

Experiencing Mysore

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Mysore is a connecting place, social entrepreneurs, community animateurs are forever initiating new ideas to bring us together.

Sriranjini Simha kindly invited me to experience mysore. Well I have been doing that for twenty years, initially on holidays and now as resident with our own business. But joking aside this was an invite to a new initiative that is actually called ‘Experience Mysuru’ and I’m so pleased I checked it out.

I’ve always thought that the Mysore city feels more like a village, by that I mean : it has an intimacy, interactivity, on a human scale. Well ‘Experience Mysuru’ reflects exactly that. Mysore has a well deserved reputation as a cultural capital that was fantastically represented last night..

The ‘showcase’ was curated to reveal through the senses of taste, hearing, smell, touch and sight and included: yoga and meditation, ancient board games, percussion, storytelling, dance, music and singing. To be more precise — Chande: the pulse of Karavali, Bharatanatyam, Carnatic music and Kamsale— come find out for yourselves what it is. 

I can’t say performers, yes they shared, their skills, they entertained but it went beyond that. Each person introduced their activity to ‘get beneath the skin’ they fitted all this in to just 120 minutes and it was not crammed. It was exactly right, the timing, the diversity, the interactive-ness, the rich content, their expertise, I’ve got to know Mysore a bit over the years but this brought me to so many new layers and levels.

Well done team, we’re rightly proud of our heritage and this was a great way to share with young and old, local and not so local, and I’ll be back..

Who is this guy, who pops up everywhere? An active entrepreneur who’s become a good friend.
Great to catch up with established and meet new friends.

Thank you Kim Kanchana Ganga, Tanushri SN, Shrimathi and her team, Pranav Athrey’s-Pranav Athreya, Suraksha Dixit, Tejashri Murphy, Pushpa and her team… plus the managers and organisers behind the scenes that put it all together and made it go so smoothly…..

More info 

http://www.experiencemysuru.in 

0091 8105318650

Info@experiencemysuru.in

@experiencemysuru.in

The venue was the amazing The Heritage House in Saraswathipuram  

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I’ll write separately about Mysore – Mysuru, about the city’s name and history but this is not the place. 

Doge

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I’ve been wondering about Doge… why we have it? What does it mean? I realise now it’s not actually a spoof, it is unfortunately real but it’s also a means of checking that we’re properly concentrating.

That we’re awake

.. and hopefully not complete idiots.

It’s actually a joke, in the most serious sense

So have you worked out how to pronounce it? Don’t lose this opportunity for a knowing smirk.

I was thinking on the lines of doggy.



But no there’s something better.

More on the dodgy dog. Sorry to our canine friends….

Footnote

So what is Doge.

Some might say it’s one of the initiatives to fulfil the coup currently happening in the US

Officially it’s…



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The head honchos is a certain Musk.