March 20, 2013

My Life, One Instagram at a Time


Ladies and gents, I have a new toy and it's called a smart phone. Fine, I am many (many!) years late to the party but it's gleefully novel to me anyway - and Instagram tops the many delights that this new toy has afforded me. In my pre-smart phone days, whenever I saw or heard about Instagram, I secretly used to wonder people's dedicated commitment towards documenting the nitty-gritty of their lives through it, whether it was photographing their lunch or most recent shoe-purchase or dusk waves on a beach. Now, since I have joined the club (but of course;) I see it as a visual scrap-book, memorialising the random and elevating the mundane moments that constitute my days. It's bit akin to the manner in which I make notes in my journal; they can function as inspiration for a poem or a short story...or simply add shape and color to a day, rendering it memorable when it was otherwise destined to be forgotten. 

Here are the randoms and mundanes from my Instagram diary:

#colorcocktail

I dabble in oil-painting every now and then and here is a glimpse of the work while it was in progress; while I *think* it is now complete, I find myself suddenly subjecting it to an intense scrutiny and mentally re-painting it in entirely different set of strokes and colors. Sigh. If I take even half as long as I usually do when revising my writing, for instance, this painting will have undergone several more avatars by the time it can be called complete.

#subterranean/submarine

The first thing that pierced my mind upon seeing this piece of mineral art (it is no less than art, right?) was a phantom sea-urchin. While I enjoy seeing and wearing gems in their polished, soignee forms, their natural states are equally splendorous. I spotted this subterranean/submarine beauty at the Carnegie Natural History Museum's Gems and Minerals section.

#butterballwaffles




Food-grammers particularly bemused me: weren't you concerned about the dish getting cold or - disintegrating - or deflavoring in your quest to perfectly photograph its prettiness? Well, here I am with my maiden food-gram:) I had intense waffle cravings last week and just before I was about to indulge, I instinctively reached for my phone and captured its deliciousness. How could I not? The butter-ball is begging to be photographed!

#pineconenest


Many, many summers ago, during a trip to Germany, I discovered a baby, green pine-cone nestled at the foot of its parent tree; I secreted it away in my jacket pocket and carried it back with me to Oman, following which it proudly occupied a spot on my dressing table along with other bits and pieces that had caught my fancy at the time. Seeing this pine-cone made that baby green one come alive once again:)

#thingsthatfalloutofthesky

Sometimes, you idly look up and then, without looking down even once, whip out your phone and take a picture of whatever you are seeing, afraid that the moment will pass or that thing might just suddenly embrace gravity and avalanche down upon you, a ballistic blur of yellow-green-turquoise glass spaghetti. And then, you walk away, without looking back - or up.

Are you a regular Instagrammer or has the excitement long worn off?

PS This will be my last Instagram-related post (for a while!)

6 comments:

  1. You're an amazing instagrammer. I'm so envious! These photos are really stunning. I do instagram, maybe a couple times per week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I try not to go overboard, because like you said, it's easy to become bored with something like that. :)

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    1. Great to see you here, Jenny - thanks for stopping by and do hope that you visit again:)

      Thank you so much for your lovely words! But yes, while I am in full-on Instagram mode at the moment, I also just as easily get bored so am already trying to Instagram something that really stands out for me - or try out new filter apps to keep things interesting:)

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  2. great going Pinka... funny how I asked about the canvas just today :):)...

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    1. Thanks soooo much! Chalo, watch this space for canvas updates, haha...

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  3. You seem to have a magic wand for your words, they just flow out to make anything that share an instant hit!love your Instagram snippets,,hope you settle down well in your new home.
    Thanks for your visit and enjoying memories of Oman through my painting :-)

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  4. That's so kind of you to say that, Padmaja...thank you so much. Glad you enjoyed the Instagram snippets! And yes, am settling down well.

    You beautifully captured an essence of Oman in your painting, which I so miss...look forward to seeing more of your work:)

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