Kala Ghoda Festival Mumbai 2010

Trees have eyes!

A day out at Kala Ghoda festival. I was only there during the day, so missed the films and plays.

I got the train home int he women's carriage which was an interesting experience, a women told me to get off at the wrong stop because she wanted my standing space on the train. All the other women screamed at me to get back on again. Thankfully they all new where I was getting off. The trains travel with the doors open which makes a breeze through the train. Lots of people and children selling things from baskets on there heads in the Lady's carriage. Mumbai has a enormous amount of children begging on the streets. Maybe they should change the adoption and foster laws. It isn't easy to cross the road in Mumbai. Cars seem to think they own the road and there isn't enough pavements to walk on. look forward to seeing the underground railway service opening soon, to free up the traffic.

Twig horse

Wire nest

Save water!

Plastic bottles leek chemicals into your drink and have fire retardant's in them, plastic has never been tested for human consumption and if you feed your baby from a plastic bottle you will give it brain damage. Free yourself from plastic waste and stop using it.

Animals in India

Is it a dog or something else, when I zoomed in it has long back legs, half a tail and big ears that stand up.

The white marks on the cliff are vulture poo, so vulture live here.

Three week old goat, very hot but gets a drink every two hours.

Birds nests in the biggest well, I have ever seen at the Topa tribes home in Rajasthan

Antelopes in the distance. These are half goat and a horse.

Vultures in India

Vultures that I saw on the way back from rock paintings a few hours from Bundi in Rajasthan, India. This apparently a very rare sight as 95 percent of the population of vultures were killed off in India because of the widespread use of a chemical called diclofeni used to treat cows throughout India. This is another reason to give up eating cows and animals and let them roam freely like all life on earth should.

My only reasoning why these vultures have survived is because there is less humans in this area and these birds could be eating antelope which is in the area.

This a sight when I wished I had a zoom lens for my camera.

This area was most lightly jungle before humans got there hands on the trees.

Turkey Airport sketches

Boring boarding lounge in Turkey airport, I decide to draw the aeroplanes. On the way to India the plane couldn't land because of snow and ice. I missed my connection and hung out with several people who demanded a transfer, so I flew business class with emirates to Dubai and then India. Business class has large chairs that can be moved around with remote control. They offer champagne just as you sit down. Head phones are really large so they block out the sound of the engine. The meals are served on real plates. Why on earth do they waste the planet with throw away containers for 2nd class. There is also space to conduct work. 2nd class people would also like to do work, but have no space.

I got bitten by flees in 2nd class turkey airline on my way home, which made me very itchy.

3rd floor outdoor smoking area in Turkey airport. Everyone was very friendly and chatty. I talked to An American oil man, he said at the demand for oil we are having we are going to run out and we should find alternative energy very fast.

There were a lot of men in the smoking area and they were all from country's east of Turkey all going to other country's to work.

This man was from Bosnia and he asked if I would sketch him. He was sitting so close the perspective is strange.

Topa near Bundi India music sketches

The organizer from Life away from Life playing his guitar, the only light is the one on his head. I drew in the dark till I borrowed his torch later on.

A guy from the Village playing guitar around the cooker fire that was designed and made from cow dung by the women in the village laid in the courtyard of house.

A musician playing his Harmonium. One hand plays the keys and the other pumps air at the back.

All the musicians playing together from the Topa village.

Mr. Eugene Lambert

Mr Eugene Lambert Ireland's leading puppeteer past away last night. Sincere condolences to his family from Jim, Marian and family. He will be greatly missed by everyone all over the world.

Topa village near Bundi India

This is me sketching tribal musicians playing amazing music with great passion in a village a few hours from Bundi. The organisers of the trip Life away from life had a friend in the village who let us stay the night here. The Topa tribe are normally nomadic but have built amazing houses and have great healthy crops and livestock. The tribe treated us very well.

The villagers all came in the evening to listen to the music and dance. They are all seating in a row on there amazing hand made seats that are woven with rubber tyres or rope.

This is a continuation of the tribe seating in a row left of the last picture.

The women all got up and danced there tradition dance to the music and looked very elegant.

This man is a great dancer, who really enjoyed himself dancing.

Web censorship!!!!!

I was amazed that my blog has had parts of it censored where I have written in Hindi. Very strange. What is the point of this? Taping up mouths is a human rights violation. We learnt to talk to communicate with each other. Join as many anti censorship groups as you can. This is like the burning of the books in the Nazi period.

Sketches in Mumbai

Mumbai street scene right half of page. Muslim lady and security guard for the cafe, I was drawing in. India is the most heavily guarded place I have ever been too. Even the army are in crowds outside cinemas because of controversial film. Every where feels like an airport x-ray place. If only the Americans had free rehab for there population then there would be peace in Afghanistan, which would make the rest of the world peaceful.

Left side of page to first page, these are people going about there daily jobs.

Nice to see lots of recycling going on in Mumbai, this guy had paper and metal on his cart. He stood and posed for me when he saw me drawing outside a cafe in Bandra. In Mumbai residence get paid to have there paper taken away. Maybe this might be an incentive that could be used in the rest of the world to encourage recycling. Best to create less rubbish sign up to Junk buster today.

Moter rickshaws everywhere in Mumbai. When you really want one you cant get one and then when you don't want one there is hundreds. This one is looking out for business, its 30 minutes before school finishes, when school finishes you cant get one. There is so much happening in India you can stand still and watch everything like a movie.