As a child, I used to sketch and colour pictures and I recall how my art teacher had appreciated my work. It felt very good and, after finishing school from Agra, I attended an art class for six months. I went on to graduate from Lady Irwin College in Delhi although my earnest desire was to study commercial art at the J J School of Art in Mumbai. But the excitement of getting married took over and, at the tender age of 20, I married an IAF officer.

Around 20 years later, I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. I was depressed and my hands were trembling like an 80 year-old. Finally, with treatment, I found my balance again and picked up my old palette and old oil colours.

I was out of practice and my work was shoddy but I worked hard to get back in form. Slowly, I regained confidence but, eight years ago, I experienced trauma in my marriage. I am still reeling from it. To help maintain my sanity, I would paint on canvas whenever I could, and I came up with some interesting work—and my first gifts to family and close friends.

Unfortunately, I am not the pushy kind who can ask people to look at my work and buy my paintings. But recently, everything kind of came together very quickly.
I have a circle of friends who have been very supportive and appreciative of my work. One of them, an artist, sent across a curator to check out my work. He was impressed with my craft and suggested that I be a part of a group show he was planning with first-timers. It was a dream come true! I had always wanted to do an exhibition but did not know where to begin.

It was a thrill to see my works up on the walls at the Rainbow Art Gallery of the Balayogi Paryatak Bhavan in Begumpet, Hyderabad, in December last year. I received a lot of praise for my work. The chief guest, Dr Bharti Patel, retired agriculture research manager, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), complimented me on Autumn Scene, which remains my favourite work in oils. The colours are soft and muted, and there is a lot of depth in the landscape. I had made this painting in 2003. The autumn colours in English paintings have always fascinated me—they are a riot of colour and I wanted to do one just to see if I could.

At the end of the day, I feel a deep sense of satisfaction that, at the age of 60, I had the courage to fulfil at least one small dream of mine, something truly for myself. The other dreams were for my family, which happened to turn sour.

There’s more. The curator who invited me to show at the exhibition plans to get a solo show of mine on the road. He also wants to hold an art camp in my house as he likes the ambience of Sainikpuri, where I live. Suddenly, the New Year seems to be turning bright and colourful for me. I know God is on my side and my prayer has been answered.

—Ashima, Secunderabad

Photo: Shyamola Khanna
Featured in Harmony — Celebrate Age Magazine
March 2017