?>
II was born in 1975 in Calcutta in a joint family of fifty. Having been brought up in Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Delhi, Pune and Faridabad, I have constantly been exposed to a myriad of thoughts and ideas, sometimes getting bowled over by the most concrete idea coming from the simplest source. This is how I learned to respect people irrespective of age, sex, education and background.
I received convent education throughout and like most, climbed the education ladder up till an MBA. My days at LSR taught me to have an independent mind, and never fear destiny. At Symbiosis Pune , the class was a mix of people from different educational and societal backgrounds and my friends at the International hostel were from many different countries.
Post MBA in 1999, riding the wave of an idea, I discovered the art of soot painting, a term I coined for making artworks out of flame. It was a reversal of the art process whereby the canvas was moved over a stationary flame (brush) producing interesting results. What ensued over the next 15-20 years was honing the skill, till I could draw a straight thin line. From producing realistic works to making bigger abstracts and making colored soot paintings by layering with acrylics, the experimentation involved was exacting as well as rewarding. Soot paintings found a place in The Limca Book of Records in 2003
In 1999, when I left work to tinker full time with soot paintings, I found time to read English literature, which my younger sister was pursuing from LSR, and also savored Hindi books of philosophy, literature, and poetry from my parent’s collection. Philosophy interested me so much that I borrowed the Vedas in original Sanskrit (with Hindi translation) from my aunt. It was Rig Veda that interested me the most, which talked about society and the king, and the various laws made at that time. Most of them being redundant now, it made me think about a time when words did not exist
Years of experience in field of poetry.
Years of experience in book publication
Years of experience in paintings or art.