Salt and Pepper look! Nature and photographs are best in black and white, colours add charm I agree, but that’s a lot of choice. Looking out of my window, it’s black and white all over and it is pouring white from the grey sky.
Today at 2 .30 AM it started snowing again, amazingly spring had sprung, with lent over and lent lilies forcing its way out of the snow, that had fallen all over, for weeks now.
I want to remember someone close to my heart and who aged gracefully with a salt and pepper look.
Prof. Bhagyanath’s, wife Sulochana Ambat, whom we respectfully called Valiamma, stayed with us for a few days, 4 decades ago, I didn’t want to leave her side, she was amazing, her grace and the Salt and Pepper look, with thick long hair, was adorable, I couldn’t take my eyes off her in saree and the beautiful Konda (Put Up) that’s what we called for that particular hairstyle of elderly ladies. She had the most elegant divine look after her bath, she left her hair wet, and loose, somedays with a kulipinnal, a version of plait or braid with just a few strands of hair say the thickness off a finger taken from under each ear lobe and plaited in the back with another bunch from the middle or simply with a tiny knot at the end of her flowing hair.
There were always a few leaves of Lord Krishna’s favorite basil, tucked into the plait or in the knot, this has an amazing color composition, deep green and a deep purple. I did all this growing up and I miss plucking the sprig straight from the sacred plant. Valiamma used to make small garlands with basil leaves, using strings stripped out of the banana plant (vazha naaru)
The only time Amma tolerated my super-fast baths, and me walking around without drying my hair and water dripping was when Valiamma was at home. My hair always dripped like the icicles here melting in sunlight. Valiamma adorned her forehead and just below the Adams apple, (I know it is not prominent in woman but that’s the easiest explanation I can think of, not to miss the real spot) with chandanam and she spot the chandanam (Sandalwood paste) with kumkum, Adorn with a bindi, perfect round like the old Ana paisa.
She used her right index finger to line the inside of her eyes, pulling the upper cheek down right below the eyes, with the left hand index finger, and line the inside of her eyes with kanmashi (kajal or eye liner). Believe me these were all made in-house, this process was always done by the elderly ladies at home, burning white muslin cloth rolled like straws and dipped in the juice of various crushed herbs, and catching the soot by covering the flame with a bronze dish, I never got an opportunity to do this, firstly because I never had the inclination to spent a minute to look at the mirror dressing up, and secondly playing with fire was supervised.
One thing I noticed Valiammas’ eyes never smudged, when I started using Kanmashi everytime I wear a saree, in a few minutes it’s all over my face, I mean it’s out of my eyes where it is meant to stay. Well I have really never taken any precaution to prevent that, though I know every woman looks wonderful when they apply kanmashi.
My first and only introduction to cinematography was at Sankumugham beach in front of Lizen Ammachy’s home, when Madhu Ambat, Valiamma’s son, came to visit Lizen Ammachy. All of us cousins were playing Frisbee in the beach.
He was shooting for a film he was working on, sometime in 1982-83 time line, I was wondering why he covered the lens with a net like fabric, the sun was still shining bright. He asked us to continue playing while the hero of his movie was walking by the waves, a melancholic, slim tall guy. Later he showed us the clip he shot, it was unbelievable as the whole scene was weighing the sadness of the hero, it was just not bright, it was so foggy, bright sun can give the make belief of dusk with dew and fog just by covering the lens with a net fabric. Something I saw then, nothing to match the techniques now.
He is considered to be one of the veteran cinematographer in India. We played to our hearts content and he kept blotting us to his celluloid.
If there is paradise on Earth it’s when you are near heavenly souls.
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