As you know we have been writing about our Bullet travel and Painting on people’s wall. This time Shirley Ann George writes for Artologue. We met the beautiful family of Shirley, Francis, Zerah and her grandmother (Nani) through Shirley’s Son Pheroze. Read Shirley’s impressions about us and the art. We will post the Hindi blog soon.
Tips on Travelling through Life by one Dr. Maxwell attracted my attention some time back. The last tip was asking readers to take some time off to ‘smell the roses’ (as a gesture of gratitude for the wonders of nature that are gifted to us). The last line read: “The more you share, the more you grow” and that’s exactly what happened in our lives from Feb 24th evening to 27th morning (9-20am to be precise).
Sushil and Meenakshi zoomed into our home in reality, on a gunghroo-decked Bullet. Till then we had only known about them as great friends of our son ―Pheroze. Fondness and gratefulness towards them were building up in us and we truly believe that God assigns guardian angels for everyone and the duo were the ones for our precious one in Delhi.
It was the homecoming of another son and daughter. Every second was filled with fun, joy and laughter. We just adored this ‘sizzling couple’ from the word ‘go’.
Amidst endless chatting about the experiences of their travels, listening to enthralling pieces of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Bob Dylan, Baul music, etc. and Sushil’s successful attempt at a snake charmer’s flute from Hampi accompanied by Meenakshi’s Nagin dance, the lovely encounter began to get enchanting.
At my school, students of all ages were completely bowled over with their warm and vibrant interaction at the Art Workshop, they held. Come evening ―and neighbors and friends trooped in to get a glance and interact with the dynamic duo.
The exquisite piece of art done on a wall in our living room could be christened ‘Taking the High Road’. It was like joyous, meditative, nostalgic and therapeutic strokes of our inner emotions and feelings. Meenakshi and Sushil managed to extract and portray on the wall, those hidden ‘ragas’ which were deeply rooted in the enlightening teachings that we grew up with.
My 86-year young mother dived into her childhood and distinctly recalled her pet nanny goat ―Anandavalli who daily traversed with her, eight miles through hills and valleys, to her school and back. Her red ribbon and brass bell that she tied around the mountain goat’s neck, rung in happy memories of the frolicking days of the 1930s in pre-independence Travancore.
Sushil and Meenakshi triggered our ‘nuts’ and outlines emerged on the canvas. Pheroze said that he loved the image of a mystical creature spitting out fire, that had a lion’s body and eagle’s wings.
Our daughter Zerah ―an avid bird lover, would only settle down for her tweeting friends as her favorite creatures.
My better-half Francis said that he admired the unbridled and unsaddled horse that the Red-Indians had.
I expressed that for me every new day that dawned was a securely tied gift bursting open its rims with blessings popping out. There’s no inauspicious time or day in my life. The world glows brighter by the day and I also said that I love dogs.
These were transcribed as a scarlet sun shaped like my plate to reinforce the ‘blessing’ symbol and a dog to signify gratitude. A cute train of birds scampering towards the horizon followed by the towering inferno, midget dog, steadfast stallion and sure-footed nanny goat.
So, our inner feelings got etched with interesting strokes and colors. The color pherozee (color of turquoise ―‘jewel of the desert’) and zerah (the scarlet hue of dawn), which also happen to be our children’s names, became the predominant shades used.
The placement of the travelers ‘taking the high road’ also has a deep meaning. Francis came out with his typically humorous interpretation of the peacock’s tail on fire, tandoori peacock for the hyena like dog and the nanny goat butting us from behind seemed to be quite realistic. We wondered why the horse and the dog were smaller in size. It was overwhelming to hear that for Sushil and Meenakshi, their good friend Pheroze was a towering and majestic personality of their thoughts. That really brought tears to our eyes. It only reminds of what I read somewhere which was like ”Make great friends and keep them forever……. It’s in their greatness that lies the greatness in YOU”.
I felt the painting was incomplete without “The made for each other jodi”. The final stroke came out as a Meenakshi fish with cascading tresses and Sushil fish with signature dungarees and stunner spectacles.
Meenakshi dressed up all the travelers on the high road with wisps of gold which made them look regal.
There’s one aspect that I strongly believe that other’s too have voiced, is that in this present crazily materialistic world, it’s such an inspiration to all couples across ages to look at them and understand what a priceless relationship marriage is all about. Sushil works for five days a week for eleven months and spends a whole month exclusively for his wife and going places for her Art’s sake; such things will definitely enrich the bond of love in couples. Kudos! to them and may their journey of wishes be fulfilled.
We thank them for being with us.