Dutta waits for her to enter the studio. But her entire petite body stands glued to the tiled paint marked , grease stained studio floor. His narrowed eyes await patiently to capture her body movement if any? Her physique, although he notes is still, yet very gradually her bold green eyes scour the towering height, the occupied depth, and packed width of his studio. Dutta from a comfortable distance, studies her eyes as they shift, then subtly pause at the visuals in his studio..
Her sharp fine nose twitches a little , as in wafts the smells of oil, some turpentine solution. Dutta gazes at her and muses, what did you expect lardki? some perfumery store.. welcome to my world where I make colours! he reflects silently,his eyes fixed on her person...
Her petal lips lazily relax as she focuses on an array of canvas, covered with scrunched up muslins propped up against the lower boundary of one wall. Naku half wonders what was on the concealed canvas? The room is neatly divided by easels as well with semi completed sketches of human figures in motion.. Naku gazes in fascination at the common theme of the rudimentary etches.. mostly that of a male child with presumably a mother figure.. sheltered by the huge expanse of a tree with naked pokey branches..
Dutta deep in thought, his contracted eyes fixed on her roving eyes, pulls in his bottom lip into his mouth.To him the intense manner with which she is lapping in the character of his work studio, leads him to believe , this is no giddy doll here just for fun. The woman seems to be learning about him perhaps? little by little. His jaw flinches and his face clouds, why on earth would she want to form opinions about him? he is nothing except a senior pupil. The only fact she perhaps keeps in mind is that he Dutta should be bequeathed respect due to his seniority academically when compared to herself.
Dutta studies her, as this time she turns her long slender neck towards one side of her graceful shoulders. It is to observe his coarse well used wooden work bench with crossed legs that stands to one side of the studio.
Bemused he watches her face as she raises one of her sharp eyes brows and looks with keenness at the tins of pigmentation, that burden one end of his work bench. Much to his perceptive glee, Dutta notes a slight quiz in her wide doe eyes at the sight of a few wooden planks that hike up precariously against another wall, underneath which stood some more stacks tins of paint.
Dutta shifts his eyes and scratches his pronounced nose.. musing, she probably surmises I do decorating as a side line? with a sigh, he wipes his stubble cheek with his palm.. and gears himself to observe her visual recordings and facial expressions, upon finding out more sections of his private domain of creativity.
This time, she literally throws back her neck slightly, exposing her gullet under a covering of peachy hued skin. She looks up in fascination at a discolored piece of string that runs between two pillars in the room, upon which hang white squared papers decorated with block stencil mosaic prints held in mid air .The sudden dash of primary and secondary colours in this section of the room, like the water based prints , seem to bounce of their radiance on her face! for Dutta sees her beaming smile, lips extended sideways to reveal her pearly white teeth.
But soon enough, the lips detract as she notices ,directly near the dash of colourful paintings, stands a small scaffold with a half opened tin of prima with the finger marked wooded handle of the brush it... some scrunched up soiled paint stained rags..
Dutta moves across to yet another far corner of the room, and encourages her slender neck to stalk his moves. His solid back without seeing can sense that her eyes now lodged on the far side of the studio. That which now lies bathed by the aluminium sky light vents in the ceiling. He feels he has to catch her expressions at this point. Casually he revolves his body around and is rather taken aback by the air of her sustained interest in his variety of animal sketches pinned on the wall. Her smooth brow creases a bit as she observes, all manner of animals, crawlers, winged, amphibians , mammals in still motion.
Before she can study the next wall, Dutta moves over to the sink to rinse his hands. He senses a certain stillness behind him. He knew what she looked at now and he grabs a towel, wipes his hands, turns around to face her, his posterior lightly pressed against the base of the paint marked sink.
As he anticipated her previously relaxed expression, now appears not so tranquil..at the sight of the next section. Still life etches of semi clad images of the human body defining various gross motor actions, ranging from upright sitting postures, to lounging lying positions.. this corner despite it's still life nature, shows a mechnical movement of life .
Naku can see it was mostly the studies of the male physique which was fine by her.. muscles, tendons and what not? but it was the subtly enfolded female body postures under sheer sheets giving figures some ethereal entity that caused her some anxiety!
Dutta notes how a crimson hue creeps up from the pit of her neck bones, climb up her dainty chin and then continues to spread as a flush over her fine features. He has to say something to clarify the doubts that clearly rise in her mind..
But he delays articulating with her, and strolls to the wall adjacent to where she stood, thus to divert her concentration ,to the wall mounted fixed shelf. He stretched and raised his arm to the rows of packed shelves stacked with paint, charcoal, plaster of paris, newspaper stacks.. pots of various sized and type of oil and water based brushes!
"these are my life line, my resources and building materials", he finally speaks stiffly to her, standing sided towards her.
"I thought you would say life and what it offers you as subjects , would be your guiding source" she replies from where she stands.. as an outsider nearly, by the door..
"tu , tum bolte bhi ho?" he says lightly.. turns only his head to rest his eyes on her ,and then with some caution, he continues.."mera studio ke checking khatam ho gaye ho , tu, tum undar ah sakte ho.."
Naku smiles nervously, and thinks why not, she's here for a purpose, it's not as if she has come to some clandestine meeting with him.
As if he felt her mind set, he gripes,
" you'll be safe, I am quite harmless really, so stop wasting mine and your time and come in!
There is a sudden jarring in his voice, which leads her to believe, that some tempest resides in him, despite his outward stiff and balanced disposition.
"Errh yes", she mutters and lifts her foot and crosses the threshold to his studio and walks a few paces, and then stands ,yet again, holds both her arms before her.. almost like a still life.
Dutta now strides towards her, pushes his black kurta sleeves up and slowly circumambulates around her.. making her edgy and nervous.. as the smell of oil based paint and his sweat reaches her nostrils, and she holds her breath and tightens her face in anticipation of what's to follow.
Nothing much, to her relief! With a slight clearance of his throat he perches himself on an old wooden high stool , inclines his body and with the curved grip of his slender finger tips, loudly drags another wooden stool before him at a reasonable distance, puts it in position to face him with a slight tap of his long semi exposed leg..
He looks across to her stilled form and instructs her, rather formally.
"come then! sit before me and tell me about yourself?
She nearly jerks out of her trance, this studio, and most of all him! had transported her elsewhere. It's a good thing his guttural voice with a specific task brought her back from imaginative vagaries.. she needs to be task based too like him..
She did as he asks her to do perch up on the high stool before him.. and ignores his intense eyes on the folds of her knees, the nervous play of her fingers on her lap! Consciously she pulls the ends of her white shirt a bit more on her knees..
Dutta moves his head to one side, relaxes his lips and rolls his eyes.. she is the shy type.. to him the grace of femininity.. a feature he warms to in a woman.. somehow to him, it hints of a certain chastity in a woman, very deity like.. but he also wants a bit more from a woman.. the maa Ammba.. elements , to put a good fight should the need arises..
This girl, can she fight for herself? he muses as he turns his face back to her and his eyes latch on to hers.. he can see a query in them. Will she stand up , be brave and make it known to him? or will she remain shy and withhold her piece?
Hummm? kuch bolna hai thujhe? he asks tersely. His reading of her face was correct.. and by the looks of the manner she pinches her petal like pink together, it seems to him she will speak and she did.. in a voice as feminine as her complete being from head to toe..
Her content was more of a statement, rather than a query..
"errh , those pictures of the wall.."she moves her neck and Dutta didn't need to see which ones, he just needed to, like he mused before.. put her mind at rest..
"humm, those women's bodies semi clad reproductions, I assume you understand are replica's of famous artists works in my studio. They are used to provide inspiration , and point me to the direction of body form and movement, which I use in my work. Now it seems to me you are preoccupied with the thought, that you might be a subject for my work along those lines?.. well the answer is a categorical no! so far we are not that liberated in thought to accept art form in it's true shape.. so where you are concerned and my work along side .. clad representations is what I aim to portray you in.."he says curtly. Seeing the visible relief on her partly moist brow, he adds in a surly tone..
"waise mera studio mein tum ne kya expect kiya tha? ke Bollywood heroines ke posters hoon ge? humm?
She giggles, which causes him to relax a bit .. and she says,
"nehin tu, pardon my ignorance.. ummmh..", she stops, she doesn't know how to address him.. he is her senior.. and well, older so directly taking his name perhaps would be a bit, awkward..
He looks at her questioningly with slightly raised eyebrows, pauses silently for to speak. But seeing that she clamps up yet again, he enquires..
"looks to me you still seem a bit anxious ? what is it this time? he asks with slight irritation in his tone.. may be his positioning of himself facing her is making her jittery.
So he decides to stand up and fixes the folds of his dhoti as strides over to an armature mounted on a work high stool.. and ran his fingers on the stiff wire skeleton like framework used to support and mould clay or other building material images. He knew her eyes followed him and he imparts her with information..
"this wire like frame is like the back bone of any fashioned image ..an essential for any sculptor.. he chuckles, suddenly and recalls his model making as a young lad and reveals,
"it's so odd that as a child I never needed such support to pour out my heart into images of my liking! but now to tease out the fine details of a subject either before me or in my minds' eyes I pursue it " he says as he yanks his head to one side ,catches her eyes and calls out..
"before I got up, Nakusha, I felt you wanted to ask me something" he reminds her casually.
" haan ,phoochna tu tha.. aap ko kis name se pukaroon? She asked with semi lowered eyes.
Dutta's face flushed and he lowered his eyes pulled his lower lip in his mouth. Never had any past or present fellow pupils asked him such a ridiculous question!
He has an approved, accepted, and know identity tag.. "Dutta" how come she has not noticed or is she plain and straight like a linear line.. he muses with some lightness. But then with a sided face, says factually in space..
"Dutta! .. mera nam hai! Dutta S,P.. Shriram Patil..
There is silence and he slowly turns his head to her frame still perched up on the work high stool..
"woh, main, errh.. it's a bit awkward , you are senior..sooo mujhe se nehin hoga.."
Dutta shifts his position from the armature.. turns his heels and comes back to his high stool, gathers his dothi, lifts his black muslin kurta from his hips and rests his bottom on the high stool again, looks her directly in her green doe and quizzically comments,
"what rubbish! senior ! so iska ye matlab hoya ke I should call you junior!.. ju mujhe manzoor nehin.. may be the case academically, but if we are ummh to, work together.. ummh tu there has to be some sync between us, humm? waise what would you like to call me Nakusha? he asks suddenly and taken off guard as she was lost in his verbatim.. she blurts out..
" DP..
Dutta folds his chin and peers into her eyes with a hint of mirth , and responds,
"fine, so it's sorted you address me as DP seems you only want to know my intials, not the person? Dutta nearly bites his tongue! Has spontaneity got the better of him.. thank heaven's she only half heard his flippant remark.. and didn't respond. But he needs to interrogate her. Well get to know her.
" now I want you to tell me what do you think I would be doing with you? Dutta knows straight away that was an ill formed question as it can possibly lead her into musing about certain avenues which he certainly did not have on his mind! so hurriedly he rephrases his question.
"what I meant is do you actually have any idea as to why you are in my studio? I know you are aware of the brief, but what is your perception. I'd be interested to hear" he asks, which sounds to Naku more on the lines of a demand.
Yes undoubtedly , she knew this DP is a hard task master to please.. she knows after some fleeting moments with him in his domain that he is constantly analysing her..may be he might drop her from the project altogether ..that will be regrettable as she could do with the stipend he spoke about initially ..
"DP, she begins, I know that I am to be your subject. The medium you select will be your choice entirely, as you know best which building material, is best for a given medium of art! But honestly speaking I will not misconstrue facts.. and as such my first reason is for the money ,that I will be handed out by this project. My understanding is you will either paint or sculpt my image that predominantly captures the spirit of Indian ethnicity".. she explains in gentle eloquence, that which does impress him , she could see the traces of positivity in his eyes..
Dutta, minimizes his approval of her brief honest admission with a "hmmm"
But muses, this is the opportune moment to enquire about her family.. on a purely professional of course,
"Nakusha I know it's a silly question, but why the dire need for money? he asks briefly can't be too nosey he thinks, she'll get ideas..
Naku gives him personal information, "well DP I have my family.. parents and a school going age brother, to support..that's why you can be assured that I will fully cooperate in what is required from me ,as visualized by you," she says with a vibrant smile that enables her whole face to be enriched by a glow. That holds his attention for a moment! till he realizes that he lingers his eyes on her face at length.. and best pull them away and rest them elsewhere...
Looking down at his finger nails.. that have a residue of dried clay under them, he points his index finger at the nails of the adjacent hand and dryly says,
"tell tale signs of my profession, Nakusha.. just so long as you know that things do get messy for me, and also for who comes in here."
With a shake of her head she smiles, and adds in a compromising tone..
"I am aware this is a working studio, not an exhibition hall.. it speak off, the sights and smells of a behind the scenes works which contributes to poignant works of expressive art"
Dutta , yet again , silently lauds her discerning spirit, and has a sense of sanguinity about working with this girl.. but for the moment he feels he knows all that he needs to know about her and thinks of perhaps dismissing her.. with a draft schedule..
" Nakusha, we need to decide a time when from tomorrow you will need to come in, so I can start with some sketches, of yours. I will decide after wards whether I want to do an assemblage of a three dimensional representation of yours or two dimensional ..if it's ok with you?" he explained, clearly.
Naku felt a high at being consulted by him. there is an immediate sense of trust, like putting things in his hands as it were.. a sense that he's the expert, hence he knows best. But similarly, the words he uses and the thoughts he expresses makes her feel ,that he is the expert but somewhere she too provides him inspiration. She doesn't quite realize when her eyes latched on to as.. and she blinks to steer herself back to reality.
Dutta blinks too and this time actually bids her to leave..
"that'll be all Nakusha , today was just an ice breaker between us.. ummh, and also it was imperative that you get the feel of where you will be stationed ,with me for sometime. "so , abhi tum jao and kal, I'll, see you lessons ke baad" he says objectively.
Naku , slips off the stool and slowly in small steps walks away from him, pulls open the studio door, and is tempted to look back, but shyly goes against the idea and leaves.
Dutta watches her leave and slips off the high stool too..and catches sight of the edge of her white chunni brush past the door..
~~~~~~~~~
Baji zooms! down the corridor and missesa frontal collision with junior mz. Nakusha! !
"areee rok! rok! kya hoya?.. Bhau ne firing tu nehin ke tare pe.. " yelled Baji to Naku as he skates to a rude halt.
Naku giggled, this was DP's should she say close buddy?.. seems a nice happy go lucky chap; devil may care attitude.. but trustworthy.. him and DP do make an odd contrary couple.. I guess it's the imbalance of their personality traits, one loud, other reserved, that makes them gel! she surmises.
"ab aap kuch bolien gi bhi Nakusha ji? ke maan aur wait karoon? Baji teases with his arms folded on his chest.
Naku, shakes her head and replies congenially
"I survived Baji.. he's not that bad as he portrays himself to be! defends Naku.
"oyee fikar not! koi bhi lotcha ho tu mera ko bol main fatafat clearance! kar de ga! assures Baji with a funny wink.
Dutta pops his head out from his studio and, looks at Baji and growls,
"teri awaz undar tak ah rehe thi mujhe" should have know you'd be up to no good! then he moved his eyes to Naku.. and suggested,
"tumhe ghar nehi jana? your Aye must be waiting for you"
Naku gives a small smile and nods nervously and slips away..he's caring ,she muses, looks out for pupil welfare.
Dutta's eyes ensure that she leaves and Baji's radar eyes catch on to that. Dutta yanks his head to the side and invites him,
"chal ab undar ah, help me pack my sketch pad and folder!"
"kya re Bhau! Nakusha bahut relax dekhti the, aisa kya kiya tune? bolo bolo?
Dutta shoots him a filthy look and gripes..
"bikwas pe zera dhaken laga! kam ke baat ke hum ne aur kuch nehi.." confesses Dutta.
"aur kuch? Bhau tu kya bol raha hai? kuch? ye kaisa kuch? jis ki Baji ko kuch! khabir nehi
~~~~~~~
Before Dutta can tackle his friends pot shot. The door opens and in walks Seema fanning herself with a Chinese hand fan!
Dutta with his stuff tucked under his arm, looks at her enquiringly and she raises one eye brow and with a pout to her lips says,
"I expected to see you in my office for a feedback about your meeting with this girl" Dutta gives her a distant stare and drops his gear on the floor , almost militantly.. she did half wind him up.. her manner is too commanding at times, something which he does not warm too more than less. Yet since she is staff over seeing this project, he should perhaps give her a synopsis of his meeting with Nakusha.. But where can I start from muses Dutta.
Seema gives him a challenging, waits for him to supply what she requires ..with a full stretch to her, loudly luscious lips. Then speaks authoritatively,
"To me when I popped in earlier without your knowledge Dutta.. I could gather that you and Nakusha perched up on high studio work stools looked quite a couple! reports Seema..
Dutta flares his nostrils and moves his sober face to her.. how dare she spy on him! is his first reaction and, he makes it known to her .. teacher or no teacher!
"I didn't realize you would zoom in on my interactions with pupils.. why? whatever for? he growls.
"part of the assessment process Dutta. Surely you understand that how you approach your potential subject, will be seen, judged and marked upon by me.. so this then would be classified as an unapprised observation of the category, "how does the future pupil art instructor fare..?"
Dutta looks astounded a bit, "pupil art instructor ? what is she on?
" yes.. no need to be surprised Dutta , faculty has noticed your hard work.. and natural flair , and haan.. great couple you and that girl Nakusha! she chrips with a sweep of her arm..
Dutta latches on to the woman who has a vivid imagination.. under her authority she may half-jokingly say things that may not be necessarily true.. so he makes a correction.. if not for his sake then for this girl Nakusha!
"I wish to correct you Seema ma'am, great partnership of artist and his subject" Dutta amends tritely.
Seema feels snubbed looks at Dutta's face, why is so quick to react? whose reputation is he guarding, his spotless one? or her unknown one? to be continuedHamlet53~19.7.14.
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