Arbit Scratchpad

A sketch titled 'Me Mind Mi Mind': Original Color: Pen sketch, Digitally Modified, Shamit Bagchi, 2010.

It starts with the strumming guitar. The languid voice indicates the exhausted feel and then this goes up to a lilting voice full of verve. The emotional, affective component is well exhibited all throughout and in the lyrics - talks of dreams, memories, motives, happiness and laughter. Thakee see zindagi se kuch lamhe / raftaar churaa lo naa - what you want to be (personality - brand personality connect). The frolicking duo is very well portraying the playfulness and the splashing of the water - signifying freshness. The jingle has cognitive aspects too - surreptitiously telling you to get off the mundane, grab the happiness, smile a while, and then steal a Limca. Almost seamless connect to the product. The strategic positioning of the Limca brand at every stage and finally the empty bottle - as you reach that point you are fully energized - a volcano of the water erupts. The guitar-works add that much to the jingle - a very well sung one; quite evocative. The visuals are total conati...

Litchis by SHAMIT BAGCHI The outer peal, The crimson ribbed texture, I pluck it with my underdeveloped nails. The innards - semen-colored. Sweet, nectar filled, Juices flowing around the lips, dripping, A stain it leaves on my shirt; And on my jaws and cheeks. My tongue chokes, In the sweetness of the fleshy core. Its hollow, vivid to the taste. I let it linger - on the tongue Eyes closed I taste it with a vengeance. Then I bite - soft, succulent Squirting, it overflows in the recesses Of the confinement of my mouth. Melting, vanishing in a moment, Leaves a trail of viscous nectar as it Goes down my throat; getting steadily dilute. With my hand I extricate the seed and Throw it up yonder, above the betel-nut trees As I see it fly I turn around and Then I pounce on another one from the bunch; My father had bought from the market. Then I was a child, hot summers At my grandpa’s place – I’ll remember always: The burning sun on the roof And litchis for company. PDF Version

The Summer again, Slurping the litchi nectar; Days went by - the hot afternoons. Those Mangoes, Their oranges and yellows. Juicy, ripe teenage days. Covert fantasies, a soaring mind, Boring after cricket fights! Childhood, sweat, grouses and laughter Grandpa's sprawling house. Hustle bustle, markets and hawkers. Talkers, walkers and gawkers! Those evenings hanging out with cousins, The Chaat stalls, little money, pockets empty Fountains of heady fun. Giggles and running around, Studies suspended for months. Reading books and Visiting places, ours and theirs. God knows whose else, All a custom, accustomed to; Without any will - an annual affair. The clock strikes twelve Night then, sleep eludes. The heat is not doused yet; Heat boils and rashes Fridge water and cold splashes. Summer holidays to look forward to; The Summer then, Summer again!

There are friends and then there are angels... I feel every human I have ever met or interacted with (online or offline) for a considerable time is an angel in disguise and all others are friends, potential angels!  - SHAMIT BAGCHI