Inspirations and thoughts

Sometimes it happens..we get stuck for inspirations. We need to get away from familiar surroundings to see things in a different perspective. Recently I went to Nepal (having wanting to go there since I was a teen) and in midst of its dusty roads, the noise of the busy crowded city, I fell in love with the handpainted advertisements found on the sides of unplastered buildings, watching the people harvest their lands in between these buildings (which seem to be oddly placed within parts of the city), their attention to details on their handpainted thangkas, handicrafts and textiles(such as, yak wool, which was so soft to the touch). Even their teas are packaged in embroidered pouches!



We went to Thamel (it's really a shopper's paradise and eye candy for inspirations!) and I saw this bag which had been recycled from rice bags. The sales person led me and a friend up thru a dark narrow stairway and into their workroom where you can literally say, "The bag was 'freshly made'". Thamel is a really vibrant area of the Kathmandu city and it is filled with everything you may need or want to buy, from religious thangkas, to cotton clothings, to wooden decorations, gemstones, jewellery, singing bowls, religious buddhist decorations, teas to places where you can learn alternative healing and meditations;to eating in cosmopolitan cafes offering food from all over the world. It's really a sensory overload and a place you have to spend days exploring. Bargaining is a must if you are keen on the buying anything.


Recycled bag from a local rice sack.



Historical and holy places in Nepal, are rich with decorations and carvings. The craftsmanship is amazing. However, I did noticed the faint traces of modernism of ugly cold steel and generic buildings that seems to appear standing awkwardly among the city's old buildings, Nepal is in the midst of a change with its' new government..hopefully it doesn't lose its charm along the process. We were lucky to have gone during the October month, when their month-long religious festival begun. Everyone was in a festive mood.

It is a magical and inspiring place with its' serenity and scenic routes leading to the hills. The contrast of the craziness in the city and its the calm natural surroundings is a good antidote for any creative blocks! The only setback of this trip is, the time is too short! Well, it's another excuse to go back there again!!