Raku with Nirmala Patwardhan

In the fifties she travelled to Germany and UK to learn about pottery and glazes. She has a glaze that is named after her. She is particular about how a place is kept. She is very systematic. At close-to-eighty she is passionate about glazes. "Raku" she explains means joy and happiness, pleasure and well being, contemplation and meditation. "We had so little of that, I am sorry" she says. "It is my doing. I should not have been so harsh with the students." The workshop after some initial uncertainty because Sandeep's uncle's heart-attack, went off well. However, there is much to be learnt in the things that Nirmala Patwardhan spoke about. Sounds like a lament for a rigour that is missing - and since one cannot demand this of another, it is best that we begin journeys that take us into the heart of our own limitations.