Wednesday
There was a strange feeling of déjà vu watching her spill from that crumpled bed, stretch like a young cat, knock strands of long dark brown hair from her tan shoulder, and smile.
I watched her stand, naked, her back to me - slim, curvaceous, her mane brushing that indent in her back, kissing her rounded cheeks. I glanced as she brushed, feeling each brushstroke, transfixed with her beauty and my luck, understanding that fortune can, and did, smile that Wednesday.
In the mirror I caught her lustrous almond eyes, warmed by after-sex glow, radiant. The nakedness of her and the nakedness of me were in stark contrast. She was svelte, hardly a cherry tree in the breeze and I mountainous, a whole landscape for her to explore. I loved the ease with which we fitted, the naturalness in the way we fell together - little spiderhunter kisses, then mouthfuls of hornbill passion flesh, drawing us closer until we were a rainforest.
My joss was good. She had done that – turned my life around, gathered me to her with passion and love, pulled me to her slight breasts and saved me. Over morning beef noodle soup, dark brown coffee in that old tin city she blew rising steam, her cleavage rising, falling, catching my heart with her honesty, and holding it in her forever.
It hadn’t been that long. Sparks had flown between us in that country kitchen, igniting something deep inside, a karmic something bound up with the yin-yang, ebb-flow of the universe, swept us up together on waves of passion, bonding our hearts, souls. I knew from the moment I met her that I would not end my days as a dying dog, front legs paralysed, howling for a merciful release, hot sun beating on my fur and my misdemeanours video looped until I passed.
Scents of India
There is radiant splendour and vibrant beauty to India which Rafiee Ghani captures well in his latest exhibition – Perfumed Gardens, at Galeri Chandan, Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.
Amidst russet forts, towering minarets, eggshell blue skies and the vermillion of northern saris, there is the vivid perfumed romance of all that is rich and stunning about Rafiee’s India.
Amidst russet forts, towering minarets, eggshell blue skies and the vermillion of northern saris, there is the vivid perfumed romance of all that is rich and stunning about Rafiee’s India.
Though the title ‘Perfumed Gardens’ is perhaps best known from Sir Richard Francis Burton’s translation of the Arabic erotic manual, it suits the vibrancy of Rafiee’s exhibition well. The wandering visitor to Galeri Chandan becomes ‘perfumed’ with colour exuding from canvases and watercolour papers throughout Rafiee’s stunning display. Those rich, lively, visual, aromas permeate consciousness in an almost subliminal way, leaving the visitor heady, intoxicated by their sheer beauty.
As you might expect - vermillion, cardinal, crimson, cerise – the colours of India, dance and swirl from Rafiee’s paintings, often counterbalanced by walls of blue, or simple Indian skies. Red in all its facets presents as the bonding colour, uniting works throughout the well-spaced gallery. Galeri Chandan’s unique architecture only enhances the exhibition. The visitor is allowed a certain voyeurism when peeking through arches, around corners, down staircases – like the small children we all secretly are, excited at the next find in the treasure trail of that Perfumed Garden.
And it is an excitement. The journey that Galerie Chandan and Rafiee Ghani take us on is a journey of spills and trills, a secret journey bound in symbolism, closeness and distance, a voyage of re-discovery, root finding and whole-making. India has that effect. Once sampled it is never forgotten. Be it the bounce and brashness of Bollywood, or the dank misery of Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay, India gets into the blood like an incurable virus, forges love/hate but it is never forgotten. Like Rafiee’s paintings, India always calls, sometimes we heed that call, sometimes we simply listen and reflect, surround ourselves with its hues and scents and recall the heat, the passion, and the perfumes which linger in oh so many gardens.
Perfumed Gardens - an exhibition by Rafiee Ghani; at Galeri Chandan, Bukit Damansara, 9thJanuary – 3rd February 2012.
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