This weekend I bought my first piece of original art, from the artist herself. I never intended to actually do it, and was going to settle for a poster or wall hanging, to add some character to the living room. But then, I bumped into Meera who was selling her paintings at Dilli Haat.
I liked one with dancing dervishes, with a burst of primary colours. And I do so love primary colours. She was selling it for 9 k. I smiled squeamishly. “Out of your budget?” she asked, candidly.
“Yes, I said,” feeling a little embarrassed. “So, what is your budget and what are you looking for?” she asked with complete sincerity.
“I have to think about it, I suppose,” I said, not wanted to divulge the abysmal amount I was willing to pay for someone else’s creativity.
“Say Rs 1,000?” she volunteered. “Yeah,” I mumbled.
She asked me if I was looking for a mother and child theme. “No!”, I said a little too vehemently.
She looked around a wee bit and then pulled out an abstract piece, which coincidentally had all my favourite colours, green and blue. It featured a woman’s face, and her eyes were searching and she was calling out to someone. “Hare Krishna,” was scribbled in Hindi, several times.
“This one is for love and relationships,” the artist explained, convinced that this was the one for me. I paid her 2 grand and returned home, joyous.
The painting lit up the wall. Who knows, it could be a symbolic of wonderful things to come.
