My muse my nieces

Pencil Sketches of my nieces at their Arangetrams...
It started with Meera. Meera's poise and beauty has always set her apart. There are many things about her that make me so proud - a vicarious joy in her achievements. 5 years since her Arangetram, today, she is an independent spirit pursuing her dreams in Bryn Mawr.

Her Varanam was on Krishna and that got me thinking. With Krishna in the background, nothing could go wrong! I sketched this as a surprise gift for her.

Then it was our dearest niece Vedika's Arangetram. Her every step, stance, expression is perfect! She dances like a dream! This added to the pressure on working on her sketch!

So I worked on 2 pieces for her, just in case....

Vedika's Varanam was on Lord Shiva. And so Nataraja got her back on one while the other was a close-up to highlight her beauty.

Vedika is very dear to our heart and it is a joy to watch her blossom to a fine young lady in the past couple of years. She will discover more of her inner strengths in her college years!

My most recent sketch was Divya. Divya has time for us, to talk, to let us know about her plans, about her school and make us feel part of her life. Always...

It was Krishna again...and it brought me a smile. And this time, Divya was Krishna. The Lords's feet framed her in the sketch, as He will in her life, as she takes her next step in the world. The Lord will protect this special one.

Krishna will protect my Dad

I feel the need to write this...

The past few days has given me my first-hand experience of my fundamental Hindu belief that our journey on earth is temporary while the divinity inside us is permanent. My father breathed his last, peacefully in his sleep on Monday, April 4 at 8 am. Call it intuition or whatever but my anxiety levels were high since Friday. After concerning reports of my father’s health during that week, I booked tickets to India with the intention of taking him to the hospital myself to oversee his treatment. Nothing prepared me for what I saw when I reached home on Monday afternoon. Nothing.... it was like my heart just plunged into a vacuum.

Or maybe Krishna did give me signs that I did not catch very well. After talking with Dad on the phone on Wednesday and Thursday, my prayer was a sketch of Vasudeva carrying the Lord through the rain and the rising Yamuna. The Lord realizing the pain of His father, puts His tiny feet out to quell the raging waters. KRISHNA, protect my Dad too! 

Since you don’t know him, let me tell you briefly about him, my father, through my eyes. He lived a full active life of 80 years, a principled self-made man, who lived life on his own terms. He left his hometown when he was barely 20, worked on a ship for some years, settled in Doha, established himself and retired voluntarily as the head of the then Sheikh’s travel company. He and my mother raised me and my brother with the same principles and a love that makes us who we are today, his proud children. He would write every penny he spent in his diary and tally them meticulously multiple times and lived with pride without depending on anyone. He was always the first person to help a neighbor, to write to the local newspaper on social issues and no one went empty handed who knocked on our door. He has been my mother’s caregiver for the past 18 years until the last 2 years when he found himself with stage 3 Prostrate Cancer with bone mets. The last 4 months had been particularly difficult with multiple fractures but he did not worry us with his pain and discomfort, always sounding cheerful on the phone. He took care of his personal needs to his last day and even sorted my mother’s medicines, repaired her reading glasses and had his milk, rested his head on the pillow and left knowing that I will be home in a few hours to take care of mother. He left with a dignity that makes my Dad, my Dad.

We have rituals ordained by our scriptures for 13 days which they say is for my father’s soul’s passage but I feel it is more for us, the living, to reflect on life. Relatives and friends rallied around us for those days and whether we are orthodox or not, the customs and Sanskrit chanting have been cathartic. My brother and I made a road trip to my father’s hometown with his ashes as it was his wish that we immerse it in the Arabian Sea. Back to the 5 basic elements.