Across the Universe

The Stuff of Life

Hello Universe. I am yours

(andyouareme)

This is a long ado update to the story that started on my blog and that everyone reading is a part of. :)

So when I last wrote a post, I was on a desperate hunt for good vibes.
and needless to say, many tests and trials later, all the collective energy of people reading this blog worked. yay!

I wrote that last entry when I was still waiting for my visa. I didn't end up getting it, missed the flight I was supposed to take, and decided to go to chennai to explore the only leedle strand of hope there was: To land up at the embassy and jump onto a flight from chennai the same day.

So off I went, with a bag full of sweaters for the english cold, but to chennai at the hottest time of the year with practically nowhere to go! I was taken in by a very sweet friend of a friend who I'd never met also full of good vibes, and landed up at the embassy at 8am in the morning expecting my life to turn into a bollywood movie. Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way. I didn't get past the gate where I was laughed at by the guards and employees. Apparently you can't just turn up at the british embassy and demand visas. :D

Back on the home front, a cat was doing her best to pull some strings that also didn't seem to be working out. All looked bleak. And so I sat outside the embassy, with not much to do or go, vaguely hopeful and mostly dismal and called a number that I knew no one picked up for the visa section in the embassy.
5 hours of phonecalls later, with no real progress at all, I let go and decided to just go back home.
I realized I was still happy to be going home to all my comfort and love. I surrendered and had done what I could.
It was around the same time that the number (on auto redial) had gotten through and they said my visa was ready and on it's way to bangalore.

the next hour was a blur. me yelling that I was in chennai and not to send it to bangalore, them saying they'd try and keep in chennai except their office (far away from where I was at that point) was closing in five minutes,jumping into autos, stopping traffic, running to the vfs office, finding it closed with two comical guards outside saying I couldn't go in and telling me to leave. A burst of tears (works every time) and suddenly I found myself getting the guards to open the office for me and being ushered to an airconditioned special office where I was told to wait. (all this not even knowing whether it had been accepted or not) and offered tea, and a man in a suit handing me and envelope. deepbreathe.openfold.stamped.

and three hours later, I was on my way to the airport with my bag full of warm clothes, shaking with excitement, and very very sleep deprived.

hello universe.
i am yours.
this book is to the journey
(and letting it take you where it will)

listening to mindspaces at TED global in Edinburgh

thanks to Levi's and all the love.

what do you think (so far)?
I think the world is bigger than I thought (and I love it)
hellofate.
I trust the tests make me stronger.

heartfelt thanks to all these and more. :)

The Stuff of Life.

this is where it all began

and this is where it brought me.

the persistence of vision

(not giving up too soon)

fitted with a good pair of levis jeans.

and I found myself in a dream.

with robotic birds and all. :)

(watch this talk )

here are some quick sketches while the talks went on.

yemen from my eyes "you are the bridge"

The God Complex - trial and error. let yourself fail.

Robin Ince (a definite favourite that isn't up yet) left with me goosebumps and a hundred scribbled quotes. I breathe atoms. keep the wonder. I'm glad the universe is pointless.

A talk on Lying

JR's awesome Inside Out Project

and more and more and more.

a second round of updates coming soon. (I promise)

I leave you with a photograph taken in edinburgh accidentally. point and shoot.

but quite descriptive of how I felt.

Love and Gratitude.

Shilo Shiv Suleman

Khoya-an interactive book for children

Khoya- the trailer from Shilo Shiv Suleman on Vimeo.

check out www.khoya.in!

So this is what I've been secretly working on for a long long time.
and having presented it as an Augmented Reality book for Kids and now an ipad app for kids-
I'm proud to say It's also my diploma project at Srishti- and is going to be OUT there in the real world December 2011.
Share it send it click it save it fund it develop it and rotate it.

Original Concept,Art, Animation and Design by Shilo Shiv Suleman
Written by Avijit Michael
Soundtrack by Nikhil Narendra

under the guidance and mentorship of Anders Sandell at Tank and Bear

to get in touch about funding,development or any other questions- mail shilo1221@gmail.com

the background:
I’ve always been a bit of a technophobe, fearing that if I got sucked into a computer screen I would lose my relationship with the natural world. In 2009, in dialogue with Mukhtiar Ali the Sufi Singer, we discussed how nothing had changed since the Mahabharat, lofty chariots in the sky are not unlike our aeroplanes. We came to the conclusion however that Magic had been replaced by Machinery.
I found this quite disturbing.
If anything, Machinery (and technology) should enable and actualize magic, not kill it. So I started working on Khoya, a series of interactive narratives for children in the Toy Lab.
In it’s first avatar: Khoya became an Augmented Reality book for Children. It was amongst the first of it’s kind in the country and explored the boundaries of technology and tangibility.
In it’s second incarnation, I started to work on the second book of Khoya on the tablet platform.

Good vibes!!

Hello universe,
for those of you who have read the previous post - You know of the twisted turns of fate that have brought me the opportunity to go to scotland!
Except *dun dun dun* I have very little time to get my visa. 10 working days to be exact! I have my appointment tomorrow morning.
I need a few more miracles and being a firm believer in positive thinking and the power of good love-
I ask you to send me some GOOD visa vibes!
So all of you reading this post- do keep the good visa vibes going!
muchos gracias
dhanyavaad
Thanking you
Shilo Shiv Suleman

ps- Here's a free wallpaper in exchange for those good visa vibes! it's from my new book for the ipad- The second book of Khoya!! tun tun tun... This is very much work in progress though! So stay tuned to find out more about Khoya and my visa-worries.
Lovelovelove

Let the Beauty of What you Love be What you do

Yay!! :) I have awesome news.

and by awesome I mean happy joyful stargazing news.

The fates are speaking :)

So a while ago I heard about Levi's Shape what's to Come Community

A community of young women being formed around the globe as people most likely

to pioneer their way into the future.

I told myself I'd apply. But went out of town, got distracted by a hundred other shiny objects.

and missed the application date.

A few weeks later- a beautiful stranger called me as I walked around the streets in Bombay

and told me I had 15 minutes to apply on the phone!

two days later I found out I was one of the 17 women chosen from across India to create the community! and I was amongst some fantastic women, some singers, some fashion designers, photographers, activists and more!

The first assignment of sorts was to create a visual diary of one's journey into our respective fields.

This made me feel like it was even more fated. I've been keeping visual diaries all my life!! :)

the whole journal can be viewed HERE

Open publication - Free publishing - More levis

some pages from the visual journal. :)

my mother and me

but but but!! the story doesnt end there. :) So in much of a hurry I sent off the journal too them with prayers and love. And as the fates had it, I sent it by the wrong courier service.

that (and get this) went on strike the day after I sent it!

And with tight deadlines and all- this caused many phonecalls between Bangalore and Bombay.

Half an hour before all the journals were being taken to the US (except mine because mine was lost)

it was found with the apartment's watchman (who ironically had the same name of someone very significant in my life) where it had been forgotten!! There we go again with divine intervention and the fates.! :)

And then and then and then (yes the story still isnt done with)

a few weeks later I got a call from Levi's saying I was 1 of the 4 women

chosen to be a creative ambassador of India

at TED GLOBAL in edinburgh.

Say what? Could this be troooooh? Yes it is infact!! :) YAYY

*bounces around the house*

this is the mothership of TED conferences and I am sooooofer excited :))

and so soon tooo.

*bounce bounce bounce *

Thank you blog for all the love.

It's strange thanking a blog...But boy do I owe this blog LOTS.

I started this blog in June 2006. When a young keyboard playing man I was charming at the time suggested I do so. I started by thinking I'd be a writer, realized I couldn't really write and started putting up my photographs. and then art too. This blog has within it 5 years of growth, of love, of visions, of tears, of joy and of gratitude. From when I was 17 to now. :)

(incidentally the man I was charming is the one drawn above.5 years later and we are still charmed)

and thank you blog readers for love too.

and thank you world for all the love. :D

omgorz. so much love. hee.

*BOUNCES *

THANK YOU.

Scribbled Paper

Did I mention I've been making notebooks of my illustrations?

Well, I have! and some handbound leather,wood and paper ones are going to be in Sale in Bangalore on the 26th at the Kitsch Mandi at pebbles!
and Postcards too! and posters :) Will post the detailed list of things to be on sale soon.

In the meantime however I started to scribble in one of my own notebooks. :)

This book is to

Beauty, trust,abundance,love,light, bliss, surrender and always Peace.

Tonight my moon is blue.

Making a habit of happiness

Saraswati

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do

Forest Love

Where I end and you begin, the sky is falling in.

Many moons have passed since i've posted some photographs.

This time, an old digital camera, some fading light. and the world.

see constellations.

tree beard

the temple tree

feet on rainglass

the person you love is 78.9% water

circular breathing

a photo taken whilst drawing and mapmaking

Kingdoms of Moss, forests of fern

treehorizons.

when you speak the air around you sings.

green like forests. green like the deep of the sea.

You, prince of forests and pinecones, in the tongue of crows you sing to me. ferns wind themselves around your skin. Your feet are the trunks of banyans, the strength of rocks. your heart beats, you breathe.deep.

Revenge of the Octopus!

In an evil plot the Octopus™ is stealing the ability to play from children around the world. He has locked them inside huge apartment complexes, making them study all day long and forcing them to play the cello.

In the Eight Kingdoms™ a rebellion has slowly been brewing, a set of young designers have joined together to create a whole new set of toys, that will liberate children from the Octopus and allow them toy play again. Now to squash the rebellion the Octopus have invaded the eight kingdoms. To free our brave designers and allow children to play again you will need to visit Chitrakala Parishad, on April 27 and 28th. Hope to see you there!

The prototype of the second book of Khoya - an interactive series of fantasy novels is being previewed at the Toy Lab exhibit!!
Do come :)
Much Love
Shilo

Ras Leela

So today I did this Radha-Krishna illustration for the inside of a cd cover I'm working on for

Jai Uttal's New Album called "Queen of Hearts" full of very beautiful - Full Love-Bhakti music.

It also became a gift for Neville Moncher who runs Karuna Farms

which has become a second home of sorts. :)

What was interesting however is that It's the first time I drew a radha-krishna in three years

and so I dug out the last one I did-

and was amazed at how much my work has changed and evolved in the last three years!!!

A BIG burst of gratitude to all those who've witnessed this evolution in the last couple of years! :)

and here's some beautiful Surdas that lay beneath the illustration three years ago.

And will now too :)

Love.

"Seeing Radha stand alone, Krishna came from behind and blindfolded her with his hands. But his hands could not fully cover her large and elongated eyes. They shone out from within his fingers as a serpent's gem which it had disgorged and hid between its fangs;" or as Rahu finding the sun and Mars together, had pounced and held them fast. Krishna does not have any self-interest, for there is nothing for him to desire or achieve. But he removes the grief of separation of those whom he loves. His eyes came close to Radha's, and his lips were on hers. It was as though the lotuses forgetting their opposition to the moon had opened their petals to be kissed by the moon rays. Says Suradasa, Krishna's loving embrace removed from Radha. the sorrow of her parting. "

Shakti

A set of six postcards created for a cat/friend of mine (codename-ganjesh meow)
who shares her birthday with women's day. :)

'Let the beauty of what you Love be what you do'

Available as canvas prints, postcards- notebooks-boxes or anything else you can think of :)

HELLO BLOG WORLD! :)

I'm terrible. I don't update for days.

I eat too much sugar.

and I don't comb my hair often enough,

Most importantly though- I don't update for days.

and there's so much to put up and share!

and so share I will!

To begin with,

Very soon I'm going to start an inspiration page, where I'm going to try and put up as much beautiful inspirational work of other illustrators/artists and whoever else I find eenteresting online :)

Love

Shilo