96 - Café Ekante

a sneakyart drop

👋🏼 Hello readers!

I am sitting under the rays of Vancouver’s winter sun, filtered through dense clouds until I can almost look straight at it. But it is not warm. So I think back to a warm evening by a lake in Kolkata.

That’s what today’s SneakyArt Drop is about.

The sun slid towards the horizon with a languor typical of everything in that part of the world. Like a drop of honey sliding down the surface of a pink and orange sky. The Bengali word for this peculiar sense of lethargy, which permeates all activity in the city, is lyaadh. But winters are not so bad. The sun is not cruel during the day. It is a welcome presence. And you are unhappy to see the onset of dusk.

We sat by the lake, watching the colours play on the sun-dappled waters. Mummy tossed bits of atta to the fish, exclaiming as they scrambled amongst each other for nibbles. The big ones, we noticed, were more likely to remain unfed. They lacked the agility and speed necessary to grab the food before the others. Poor them.

A short walk away, outside the park, there was a small shop with a board that said Café Ekante. The word translates to solitude. It sat by itself, with a few chairs laid out, so I found it a suitable name. Unlike the other times we had come to this park, this time I had brought my sketchbook. So I got to drawing.

As always, I didn’t know what I was going to draw ahead of time. But also, as always, I knew it as soon as I saw it. I walked a little closer, and found a place to sit under a tree. As I started, a car rolled up and a couple stepped out to occupy one of the tables. It was meant to be.

It’s a quick drawing, because the others in our party were restless to walk about in the park. I asked them to go ahead, raced through the scene, and caught up with them ten minutes later.

A lesson in perspective,

Because I had only a little time, I could only capture a little scene. Because I set myself a little time, I was able to capture a little scene.

It is a joy to look at the page in my sketchbook where this little scene is imprinted forever. I stole a moment of beauty out of the ether of space and time, before it was lost forever. That feels good.

Read also:

[Insider #20] “Other people exist” - Part 2 from my appearance on The Seen and the Unseen Podcast. I talk about a profound realization that changed my life in many ways.

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Thank you for your time and attention. Have a great day!