Reticuli on turntable

Reticuli from Nimisha Saikia on Vimeo.

I should have uploaded this way back in March, but it took me a while to locate the video file. I'm sorry about the render quality, it's way too low but I had no space in my laptop while I was exporting it. :)

I had made a sketch of this robot sometime during my fourth semester and decided to create it on Autodesk Maya as part of a course. The character is inspired by a wasp, inline skating but mostly by ARCEE ( Fifth Generation Autobot from Transformers Armada, Japan), the coolest female autobot. Even though I'm not too fond of bikes, I thing she can hold off pretty well with her gadgetry.

Feeding Frenzy

Feeding Frenzy from Nimisha Saikia on Vimeo.

Thought of uploading a video to show you guys how my black ghost knifefish feeds on his favourite meal of freeze-dried blood worms. Otherwise a shy and reclusive creature, the nocturnal phantom comes out only to feed, and when it does, oh boy, is it fast!

Time to rebound!

My Workstation: Messy and archival

A tote that reminds most people of a young mother's baby equipment bag

A closer look into the details

Two pots: Medium and mini

Kohlapuri chappals the size of my index finger

Bells and more bells..and ahem..a blue camel

The time for winter vacations is nearly upon us with one slight glitch. I will not be home to experience it. That is such a bummer. I haven't been home since last November. Its been almost a month since I started the production for my classroom project and with each passing day, it feels like I've been at it since eternity. I need a way to rebound.

Rebound clause no.1- Grab a good dinner with a friend I haven't had a chance to meet much

Rebound clause no. 2- Buy something absurd

Rebound clause no.3- Watch two or three of my top ten favourite movies back to back.

Rebound clause no.4- Literally hose down my room and scrape every corner of it

Rebound clause no.5- Just take an auto ride to Mithakali Char-rasta where they house three aquarium shops. Fishes have a way of calming me down the same way a mug of hot chocolate does on a freezing winter evening by the fireplace.

Clause no.2 worked, as a bunch of us strolled into this very large handicrafts expo just across from our campus. picked up some interesting relics. With this experience I can safely say that what really keeps me going are some seemingly erratic, unnerving and unassuming bunch of cheap thrills. I literally thrive on these things. :)

Reptilia diaries

Of of the many dzongs that offered us shelter during pelting rains. 

The highlight of my trip. Playing around with a group of giggly girls who doubled as lizard enthusiats by the river side! They actually showed me five different varieties of lizards while some of my batchmates went fishing after lunch. I chose to stay behind and absorb all the knowledge I could get my paws on.

 

Succumbing to the  glory of the glorious Dirang valley sandwiched between the mountain range

That's Tom, a British gap student encouraging us to cross this lethal trap-of-a-bridge

That's me holding  a baby Kal-Pai lizard

This was minutes before I released it on to the forest floor. The skin was oozing out a strange white paste so I used  a leaf to transfer it. 

My fascination towards watching wildlife documentaries continues to grow day by day. In one such episode of Wild earth, I discovered that one of the most poisonous lizards on earth is found in the very depths of arunachal pradesh, around an area which I have frequented during numerous hiking trips. I was compelled to dig my drawer of old photographs from the last trip that I made to Dirang, a small settlement surrounded by dense timber forests. And before you know it, I was staring wide-eyed at a pair of photographs featuring me holding the very same lizard on my palm! 

Needless to say, a torrent of memories began to cloud my thoughts and as I shuffled each photograph like a pack of cards, I felt like I was being transported to the dewy depths of  arunachal pradesh. Kind, smiling faces, pine needles strewn over the foothills, mounds of home-made pop-corn and of course a battalion not-so-pleasant mosquitoes. I remember being unable to hear my voice over thundering hailstorms, seeing tents blown straight out the ground, dodging landslides and of course---- Lizards!! (deep sighs)

Have never had a better adventure than this. :)

Epitome

The Polar bear faces the threat of extinction. By the year 2030.

As I am sitting in my comfort-bound lifestyle, under a spinning fan, with a list of obligations to rant about, I can't help but hate myself. I hate myself for things I cannot do, or think I cannot do to save this species. It is easy to create awareness about the plight of endangered species. It is easy to care. It is even easy to say that 'we all have our share of problems' and guffaw at the thought of saving an animal that we have never seen or will probably never see in our entire lives. But to drive a species to the verge of extinction, is savage. It is generic for most people to link advancement with growing globalization. For nations to direct their finances towards nuclear science and military. National security. That seems to be the greatest problem we can think of.

We are lost in the 'virtuality' of things. It is on the basis of such virtuality that our civilization thrives. Hail bank loans, employment securities, investment policies, mortgage yada yada. Things that DON'T EXIST. They are like the invisible grains of sand we pride ourselves of succesfully clenching. Frankly, THEY DON'T MEAN ANYTHING. They populate our lives and breed a festering colony of problems and make us so very 'enclosed'. So enclosed that the moment a car loan gets sanctioned, we breathe a sigh of relief. What is this false sense of security? We watch documentaries, thinking that we do our bit in educating ourselves about nature's impending problems. But does it really concern us? Does it allow us to grow and think beyond our pocket money, electricity bills and good haircuts? It rarely does.

It is the overwhelming humility of an animal such as the polar bear that is causing me to write this down. It epitomises something that we have long since lost. The humility of our survival. The virtue of our morning prayers. The reverence of our daily bread. For an animal whose survival hangs by a thread, we can barely wait for somebody to flick the remote and change the channel from Discovery to MTV.

A Polar bear can no longer feed itself because of the growing water levels in the arctic, preventing it from migrating and forcing it into starvation. They are braving the climactic impact and heading into the open ocean but they can only swim for a few days at a stretch. Judging by the sharp decline of arctic glaciers, this species would not have a ground to stand on by the year 2030. They would either drown in the arctic seas or starve amidst the frigid glaciers.

Which imaginary ordeal do we need to cook up to save this animal?



Please watch Disney's "Earth" to understand the plight of polar bear in depth along with several other species that are facing a threat due to global warming and industrialization.

Some basic linework for my film

Its been like a decade since I put something up, so I decided to post some ongoing explorations for my classroom project. These aren't final, mind you. I pretty much feel like a big ol can of LPG these days, and I don't even know why I can relate to an old can of LPG. Its a frustrating process..but it's bound to get better when the production starts (methinks!). Apparently there is something called a 'gestation period' while conceiving a film, and I'm not a big fan of that. 

IF: Unfold

Ahern

Flingalong a flight

Rapta