Saturday, February 04, 2012

Travels with an Identity Thief – Part Three – Seeing Through Marilyn’s Eyes


As a writer assuming the identity of a visual artist, I am faced with a special set of challenges. Marilyn thinks in pictures, whilst I process life through words. To be true to my ‘character’s character,’ I must learn to experience the world as she does, to open myself to her emotions as triggered by the colors and textures around us, to let my eyes experience the world before my intellect.

On the other hand, to be true to myself as a wordsmith, I am committed to finding the language that will convey Marilyn’s experiences as vividly as possible. No wonder I am totally exhausted at the end of each day!

It was not until I reached Aurangabad, two weeks after my arrival in India, that my shift into the visual mode gained noticeable momentum.  Who can visit the rock-cut caves of Ajanta—discovered in 1819 by a band of British officers hunting a tiger—without being transfixed by images masterfully created by the great sculptors and painters of 2nd Century India?

Marilyn had pored through books of photographs and listened with fascination to her husband Shankar telling Jataka tales of Buddha’s reincarnations and the Bodhisattvas. No way had this prepared her for a face-to-face encounter with the ancient world.

Later that same day I visited a market in Aurangabad, along with hundreds of shoppers caught up in the Diwali festivities. From the grey stones and ancient murals of the caves out into a modern riot of color… what a transition! I could hardly snap pictures fast enough. This one will definitely inspire Marilyn to paint as she never has before.

5 comments:

  1. Love the photos! Very exotic!

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  2. Joyce, I love this sentence--"to let my eyes experience the world before my intellect." Love the photos and your writing. I can see you getting into Marilyn's character---experiencing and living the color, art, history and spirituality of India....the things that will eventually make Marilyn feel a strong pull and eventually move to India. Keep writing my friend.

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    1. Saborna - thanks so much for your comments and insights. Marilyn and I are merging in many ways - one of the joys of writing as you well know...

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  3. Anonymous9:43 AM

    Joyce, the other day I came across a researcher who claims that the Garden of Eden was actually situated in the banks of the Ganges, dating back to over 6500BC. Such a wonderful land and it is my motherland. I am proud of it and proud that u loved it so much. I love ur style of writing... this sentence says a lot: "From the grey stones and ancient murals of the caves out into a modern riot of color… what a transition!" Wonderful! Keep it up :)))
    Kaberi

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  4. Thanks so much "anonymous" Kaberi Chatterjee - you are a wonderful writer and I'm glad you enjoyed this post.

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 Stay tuned for a virtual trip through La Alpujarra and Ceuta, the places in Spain that inspired me to write Zahara and the Lost Books of Li...