Some Artworks are not landscapes they are nostalgia
Dakra, Ranchi where I grew up
We feared bad ranks, not bad AQI
We chased colleges, not clean air
We got the degrees, the jobs, the city life
Now we chase what we left behind._
Kala @ Nehru Art Gallery worli-
I just love taking Navoo to these places, but she said something very unique: "I like creating artwork, not watching it." I'm still trying to figure out that my generation believed in getting exposure. It took a long time to satisfy my appetite for it. I still remember going to LIFW in 2001 and watching Sabyasachi's collection with my friends with big cameras. Maybe these kids are able to see everything on their screens, so they're full. They just need a cozy place to be, and it's home for her right now. Generation gap!
#genalpha
#shivayvaplachaturvedi
#aplashrivastava
#lifestyleafterretirement
shortcut detour in your 20s & 30s can be detrimental:
From a girl full of ambition and immaturity, I moved to a mature but secure space. When I graduated from NIFT Delhi and started styling at FNL with a part-time evening job at a news channel, Live India, I felt this was the life I had always dreamed of. At the same time, I was a boutique owner in Shahpur Jat. I was designing and showcasing my collection at multi-designer outlets. Styling, designing, & fashion writing I couldn't have asked for a better launchpad in my career. I had a full 30-year plan for my expansion, but it had a major flaw. It had no space for an unexpected health crisis and marriage. It was not that I didn't want marriage, family, and kids; I wanted it all, but I didn't visualize that it would need time and money. I fell sick in 2009 when dengue was at its peak. My platelets dropped to approx 14k, internal bleeding began, and I landed in the ICU.
As there was no space in my plan for illness, the whole 30-year plan collapsed. Life and the situation forced me to see that financial stability, health, and companionship matter just as much as ambition. I accepted it and took a detour for a short duration to a secure job and a healthy lifestyle. The shift from a studio life in Hauz Khas Village to Guptganga was not very easy for me. Then I got two precious things which I desperately longed for: rock-solid support, and eventually a Goddess.
It took approx 11/12 years to piece it all together. I waited to take a turn and join that same intersection of Shahpur Jat, but it seems almost impossible. I still need financial stability, I have some age-related health issues, and I wear glasses now. People's perception has changed. In fact, the skillsets required in the industry have moved on and the doors feel shut. I think of moving towards that Gulmohar Park, Shahpur Jat crossing, but it seems like waiting for Godot...
Navoo’s Table vs Mine
My table had books,copies and a Camlin geometry box. Navoo’s table is a Gen Alpha command center with 3-4 charging wires for a tablet, smartwatch, etc., plus Olympiad prep books, a PC for Aryabhatta and LogIQids exams, and for online French and music classes. The wall has space for a guitar and ukulele, which she has been learning since her Kangra days from Nikhil Sir.
In her table drawers, there are Harry Potter cards, puzzle sets, bracelet-making kits, and half a dozen DIY boxes. She’s into design/art/craft all of it but won’t stick to one medium.
On my table these used to be one Camel watercolour set, handmade sheets, and a drawing board which I had stolen from my father. Boredom meant one thing: paint. My Dakra landscape had coal everywhere, Mahua trees, and my muse was tribal women in their typical draped sarees, silver jewellery, and covered in tattoos which I admire more.
At home, everything was a canvas: chairs, tables, stools, the floor of the house, even Mummy's sewing machine, which I had painted with Asian Paint. I had time. Hours to burn. I had invented techniques just to kill time.
And after spending days like this, I’d finally tell Papa, “I’m bored now.” His reply, every time: _“Jiska dost kitab hota hai, wo life mein kabhi bore nahi hota.”
Navoo's lifestyle is different. Navoo is super busy. “I don’t have time,” she says, armed with digital artillery, online talks & chats with her society friends, school friends, or Kathak friends. Sometimes I feel guilty for overloading her. Her busy schedule has some connection with the emptiness of my childhood?
Maybe after a few decades, social scientists will debate which childhood won , slow and analog, or fast and stacked.
The Habit of Reading Editorials for GenAlpha
Once upon a time, when I was in middle school, my father made me read the newspaper, especially editorials like _Swaminomics and Speaking Tree. I confess I hardly understood them then. But they had strong viewpoints, good language, and a wide spectrum of information.
Gen Alpha and Gen Z rely mostly on digital sources, which sometimes spread misinformation or trap us in a digital echo chamber. News in newspapers is vetted and authentic. Editorials also help in reading in-depth information, improving comprehension, and, most importantly, understanding different viewpoints and their analysis.
The tactile newspaper is declining, but one editorial piece should still be prescribed to young minds. It can act as a catalyst to shape them into thinking brains.
#shivayvaplachaturvedi #newspaper#aplashrivastava
Navoo had just started walking, and it was difficult to take her anywhere because she always wanted to keep climbing the stairs or keep going in lifts and on escalators.
In Dharamshala, there was only one mall - Maximus Mall. We used to go there almost every weekend and didn't realise how difficult it would become once she started walking. The other go-to place was for good, authentic Himachali dham, handi pulao,and coffee - Divine Hima. A villa converted into a hotel with a lot of interesting design elements conceptualized around sustainable space design. Very thoughtfully decorated with everyday props like soop, rassi, branches, trunks, etc. The location was next to Norbulingka.
Looking back at all these videos, it feels like _ye lamhe ya pal hum barso yaad karenge, ye mausam chale gaye to hum fariyad karenge...
#shivayvaplachaturvedi
#aplashrivastava
#dharamshala
#divinehima
#dharamshalahotels
Navoo at HPCA Dharamshala
Navoo went to see an India-Australia cricket match at HPCA Dharamshala when she was just one year old. It was an expensive box ticket that Saurabh arranged with an excitement which I can understand. I guess it is his generation's obsession with cricket, maybe during that period our country lacked icons from other sports, or just a few wins in cricket made the whole country mad, and we stopped investing in other sports.
I am happy that Gen Alpha parents are investing in football, basketball, lawn tennis, chess, and other sports over our religious cricket. Is it now a third-world game or an obsession of the old generation?
Let Gen Alpha learn sportsmanship more than icon worship. Let them play sports to enjoy fitness and learn the spirit of sportsmanship when they are young, not as a frenzied icon-worshipping generation.
#shivayva #shivayvaaplachatutvedi
#aplashrivastava
Gen Alpha Parents and Indian Classical Art Forms
I loved watching those dad-and-daughter dances to Saurabh’s favourite Bollywood numbers during COVID. But lately, I’ve noticed a curious trend emerging with Gen Z and Alpha - a growing affection for pure, classical art forms. This is unlike the 80s and 90s, when India was flooded with break dance, locking, popping, etc. Maybe West Bengal or the Southern states were a little different.
Navoo herself is strictly against our party, Ganpati, or shaadi dances. She once stopped Saurabh at a wedding, saying, “Papa, just stop doing weird steps.” For her, _mudras_, _bhava_, _hasta_, _abhinaya_ are the real dance moves. I’ve seen this shift at NIFT Kangra and Mumbai too, with many kids coming in fully trained in Kathak, Bharatanatyam, or classical vocals.
Born into a world of instant access, with tutorials, online classes, and endless data at their fingertips, many parents are still choosing traditional, in-person learning of classical music, dance, and art for their kids.
But is this an organic movement, or are a few parents steering them toward it?
Whatever the reason, in this era of civilizational wars, these kids will be the roots of Indian civilization.
#genalpha #shivayvaaplachatutvedi #aplashrivastava
A Silent Social Burden on Gen Alpha
A few months later, at Hotel The Terrace on Kotwali Road, Dharamshala, Navoo found strength in her legs and immediately Saurabh began teaching her to kick a ball.
It's alright she even picked football as her Grade 4 sport, although she's not doing great. The song is emotional, but the generation shown in the song was not weak. Look at our parents - the self-confidence and pride in their personalities because they aren’t financially dependent on us. They built pensions, owned one house they lived in, and retired with dignity. They were not obsessed with hoarding flats for rent, SIPs, PPFs, or NPS. They lived and saved simply, unlike us, who will retire with silent anxiety. In 20 years, will she be able to achieve her financial goals while carrying the weight of our generation - maybe 3-4 oldies per Alpha kid? Today, most of us in our 40s are worried about our 60s. It’s a big social issue that will become visible by 2040, when the first of us hits 60. This isn’t a hypothetical problem. Unlike our parents, we won’t retire with quiet pride. So the best legacy we can give to these Alphers isn’t property; it’s the freedom to not inherit us as a burden.
Jacket& Ball gifted by Maulshree Mausi
Clothes by Jnu Mama
Shoes by - Reenu Mausi
#shivayvaplachaturveddi
#shivayva
#aplashrivastava
Navoo's homecoming
Navoo's first visit to her own home, Verma Apartment, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, was a very emotional moment. I knew that she would not understand anything; even a newborn's vision is all blurry for a few days, but Saurabh started his one-sided conversation with her on day 1. I clearly remember his first sentence... "Apna ghar dekh lo" - he was showing her everything from the bedroom to the kitchen to the temple to the cupboards...
I think mothers, especially after C-sections, are not in a position to attend /entertain the newborns, so I guess dads should step in as much as possible and as efficiently as possible. 😊
Indore ke Pitajee/ Indore vibes When Indore people get some time from Sharafa and Chappan food courts, they remember the real icon of Indore, Devi Ahilya Bai from the Holkar dynasty.
We took Nawoo to the palace to show some regal things at Lal Bagh Palace, apart from street food, which is kind of a synonym for modern Indore. Europe screams at Holkar's Lal Bagh Palace, named after the beautiful surroundings of numerous varieties of red roses from different parts of the world. The Holkars' love for Europe is easily visible everywhere in the palace. It has a mixed aesthetic, with Italian Renaissance-style painted ceilings replicating Michael Angelo's style, Greek pillars, a British Buckingham Palace entrance, and, of course, our own Mughal style. The palace was envisioned by different generations of Holkars; maybe that's why it chose the best aesthetics from different parts of the world but couldn't create a masterpiece. #shivayvaplachaturveddi
#shivayva #indorediaries #indorecity
