The Wicked Dragon of Pelmel

Aditi Raychoudhury. Forest Fire. 2009. Adobe Illustrator CS.

Aditi Raychoudhury. Mother Owl. 2009. Adobe Illustrator CS.

“Whoo hooo, whoo hoooooo,
Has lost his grace utter-ly?
What can I do?
About this hullabaloo -
It wakes my chicks up early!

Aditi Raychoudhury. The Wicked Dragon of Pelmel. 2009. Adobe Illustrator CS.

There was a wicked dragon

And so wicked was he..

That every night
When all slept tight

He went on a burning spree..

(Excerpt from The Wicked Dragon of Pelmel by Aditi Raychoudhury)

Synopsis:

The Wicked Dragon of Pelmel Forest is a story about the addictive nature of power, and its potential to devastate, or to create. When the dragon accidentally discovers his ability to breathe fire, he uses it to terrorize the little creatures of Pelmel Forest. Disturbed by these developments, the little creatures make it their mission to find this monster who is destroying their forest and their lives with it. When they do, they are in for a big surprise! Not only is the dragon sleeping quietly, but looks terribly innocent. So they promptly include him in their circle of trust. What will this invitation to friendship beget? The scorching heat of his breath, or the gentle warmth of friendship?

The Bomb and The General V2.2009

Aditi Raychoudhury. Strawberries. 2009. 6" x 4". Adobe Illustrator CS.

The original ‘The Bomb and the General’ is a delightfully optimistic, anti-war children’s book – written by Umberto Eco (The Name of The Rose), and brilliantly illustrated by Eugenio Carmi. It was published in 1989 –

In Italian: By Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri, Bompiani, Sonzogno, Etas S.p.A.;
and
In English: By Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

This version of “The Bomb and the General” weaves in some of the original text (italicized), which initially inspired this story. Like the original story, this version also maintains a naïveté to create an anti-war message for children, and for adults, a more complex tale about hegemony and insular faith.

Aditi Raychoudhury. Land of Plenty (In Green). 2009. 22" x 11". Adobe Illustrator CS.

The General of our story enjoys a life of utter ease and gluttony, till he is compelled to seek God, during a moment of personal crisis. This pivotal encounter awakens in him an unshakeable passion for God’s word. But his myopic obsession with the details of God’s message clouds its original intent, and provokes an ominous future. Will his country slumber on through the impending doom or will they arise to reclaim their right in a peaceful world?

Aditi Raychoudhury. Land of Plenty (In Pink). 2009. 17" x 14". Colored Pencils on Tracing Paper.

Aditi Raychoudhury. Land of Plenty (In Orange). 2009. 17" x 14". Colored Pencils on Tracing Paper.

Aditi Raychoudhury. Land of Plenty (In Orange). 2009. 17" x 14". Gouache on Paper.

The Loudest Firecracker

My illustrations for The Loudest Firecracker by Arun Krishnan have been published by Tranquebar Press (January 2009). This will be the fourth book to be published with my illustrations.

Aditi Raychoudhury. Dabbawalla. 2004. Pen and Ink.

Aditi Raychoudhury. Disco Ganapathi. Pen and Ink. 2004.
Aditi Raychoudhury. Twilight Zone. Pen and Ink. 2004.

Aditi Raychoudhury. Man-Lion. Pen and Ink. 2004.

Aditi Raychoudhury. Ebb and Flow. Pen and Ink. 2004.

Aditi Raychoudhury. Death By Fire. Pen and Ink. 2004.

Synopsis:
It’s India versus Pakistan and as the excitement soars in the final over of a memorable cricket match, ten-year-old Siddharth sets off a firecracker. The blast that follows will change his life.Siddharth discovers that growing up isn’t easy: he has to handle a tragic death, his best friend is gravitating to a rightwing political party, and his film-maker father has troubles of his own as he shifts away from the commercial but lucrative world of Hindi movies. And Poona is nothing at all like Bombay.

Will tennis matches help, or can his mother’s beautifully retold myths do the trick? Will instant noodles come to Siddharth’s rescue, or will it be his old elocution standby, The Charge of the Light Brigade? In this touching, poignant and often hilarious debut novel, Arun Krishnan has created a world we all recognize, one that will appeal equally to young adults and a more mature audience.

From the Author:

“Please disregard the message on Amazon that says Ships within 1-2 months. It ships instantly, like any other order. I am working with Amazon to get this message removed.

The novel is excellent reading for friends and family, so don’t feel scared to order more than one copy. (I think the Surgeon General recommends 4).

If those friends and family, turn against you, you can use specific portions in Chapter 4 and 9 that can be read out aloud as a form of retribution (recommended by the Government as an effective alternative to waterboarding).”

Why Obama’s Tax Plan Will Help Us

Its Election day tomorrow. With the economy sliding faster than the downward spiral of a ride in “Great America”, we are justifiably nervous about the issues that have featured prominently on debates – albeit not always answered with clarity – the continuing war, government spending, tax reforms, jobs, education, mortages…

Sadly, in the Bay Area, even a 100k annual salary, can often, and shamefully, be short of a mortgage on a three-bedroom single family home, quality K-12 education, and some. The sad state of public schools in some of the Bay Area urban spots – San Francisco, Berkeley, and yes, the infamous Oakland School District, where I live, is testimony to the misplaced priorities even in this otherwise relatively liberal state

Besides, the crumbling public schools, Oakland, CA, also has the dubious distinction of being the homicide capital of America. But I disagree with such stereotyping. It is easier to stereotype than to look beneath that smug sentence and find a solution for change.

The Politics of Economy

I am enraged to hear the ongoing argument about tax cuts for big businesses helping the economy as a hardsell against Obama’s tax reform plan. I am not an economist, nor have studied the tax structure in great depth, nor can I say for sure that Obama’s tax structure is a win-win situation.

But what I can say with a great deal of confidence is that the last set of tax reforms have clearly shown us that bigger tax cuts for big business DO NOT help the economy. We are in the middle of an unending war, and we hear the word depression being thrown out with increasing regularity these days. One doesn’t have to be an economist to come to this conclusion. One only needs to be a US taxpayer and US resident for a few years to see this without a shred of doubt.

I fail to understand how ANYBODY well, that includes McCain-Palin) can be so ridiculously illogical to criticize the the Bush government, and yet refuse to accept that the last set of tax reforms (big tax cuts for big corporations) have not helped the economy at all!

I fail to understand why some people still believe in an ideology that has failed to provide jobs, or boost the economy – in short, a complete failure – over and over and over again. Or do they have simply too much spare change?

‘Nuf said!

Do You Trust Nuclear Power?

On one of my favorite radio progams: BBC World Have Your Say.

And this is what I had to say:

This is not an area I have much knowledge in, but I do think that nuclear fuel as a clean alternative is more maligned than it deserves to be.