Beach Bum

In the making….

Babaji

India is a land full of mystics and… a whole bunch of charlatans masquerading as them.

The old man here is the quintessential advice rendering ‘Babaji’ you’ll find in every village, issuing diktats and laying down the law… which is often as outdated as he is.

Operato… aka L’homme immobile

I love the opera… and believe it or not, when I’m feeling low there’s nothing I would rather listen to than an operatic aria.

So this is for all those times when the music of the opera has held me and elevated my mood.

I decided to make this boy a cross between a choir-boy and an operatic tenor… you decide what you’d like him to be.

Rhinestone Cowboy

I made this cowboy for a friend who grew up believing she was one. Thought I would have him draw his pistol, but my friend is quite the pacifist… more ‘Lucky Luke‘ than ‘Billy the Kid‘.

The pistol stayed holstered.

Oratario

Soap-boxing was one of my favourite pastimes as a child… and my only audience, my dad, who would sit patiently while I ranted and raved on and on about the state of the world as I perceived it.

Any resemblance of this clay boy/man to Lenin (the bald pate) and Marx (the beard) is purely coincidental. I am one of those individuals who was and still remains a staunch capitalist, with a fondness for all things branded.

And I’m not talking hot irons.

Farm Boy

I live in Mumbai, in the state of Maharashtra in India and the ‘Farm Boy’ here represents the ‘kisan’ or farmer typical of this part of India, complete with the Gandhi topi (i.e. the ‘Gandhi’ hat… more of a cap really).

This man appears to be one of those landed dudes. The rich farmer, out surveying his land being tilled by the numerous labourers in his employ… or then again perhaps he’s just heading out to the village square for some chai and a tête-a-tete with Babaji.

Duuuh!

In a quandary?

Perplexed?

Oh… never-mind!

Jhola Boy

This guy is one of my favourites (psst… don’t tell the others I said so).

He represents the young student activist of the ’70s and ’80s when I was growing up. The way we all were back then. Someone with high ideals, who believes he can change the system, before he realises what being ‘political’ really means.

The word ‘jhola’ stands for the bag he carries across his body. A bag usually open at the top, or at times with a flap and button (like a satchel). Standard student activist or budding politician accessory back in the day. It carried nothing more than a slim book, sometimes but not always – a little phone-book, a pen or pencil and an almost empty pack of cigarettes…

Goan Rapper Dude

Goa is one of the most beautiful places in India replete with countless beaches, plenty of booze and a fair sprinkling of bozos, all of whom think they’re up for ‘Best New Artist’ at the next Grammys.

So here’s my tribute to one of my own. Or we prefer to say…

‘Amche goenkar’.