It has been one whole year, or probably a little more that; when this remarkable journey began. The timing could not have been more incongruous, or shall I say, uncharacteristic. What with disease and disaster foremost on our minds, and our life thrown completely off gear. But that is exactly when magic happened.

I came across this Catterfly post about an online class on some form of Folk Art . I must confess that I probably didn’t even pay attention to the name of the art form. It piqued my interest, not just because it was to be by a native artist, from the very heartland of the art form, but also because I suddenly realised that I had never ever given a thought to Folk Art. Coming from a person like me, fiercely passionate about art ever since I was a little girl (Of course, that now seems like a hundred years ago!) And inspite of life jostling me around in all kinds of preoccupations, I actually managed to hang on to my hobby of drawing and painting, for dear life, quite literally. And so, I decided to sign up pronto. And believe me, it turned out to be a rollercoaster ride straight into Wonderland!

It was those very early days when Catterfly had come up with this month long bonanza of 5 art forms. Daily classes, for the entire month. It definitely qualified as that proverbial offer, that I simply could not refuse. So I jumped, or shall I say leaped at the opportunity; blissfully unaware of the mayhem I had invited into my humdrum existence.

It turned out to be a month of flurry and fluster, as I flitted from class to endless household chores at breakneck speed, desperately trying to fit in an astronomical number of activities, all into one poor single day. That too in maid less agony. Whew!

But what a discovery it lead to! A veritable treasure trove of our magnificent and myriad art forms. I actually felt like Christopher Columbus…- having just discovered a brand new world. And one year on, the wonder just doesn’t seem to stop. Warli, Gond, Pattachitra, Saura, Santhal, Kalighat and, and, and……the list just just goes on and on. These were names I had not even heard of before March 2020. As recent as that! Slowly and surely, they crept into my tiny little world , and became a beautiful and indistinguishable part of it.

With each new exposure, I find that it is not just the sheets of paper and canvases that are getting more and more colourful; it is my very spirit and indeed, my very being!
It was this enchanting Warli painting from one of the earlier classes that triggered off this chain of thought. I just thought I would share it here.