I was always fond of drawing and painting and other forms of creative expression from my school days. I decided to pursue my passion in art and the desire to be an artist, by undergoing a formal training, a Master's Degree in Art in the year 1988. This is where my journey as an artist began. After nine years of painting, I had my first solo exhibition inaugurated by the legendry Late Mr. S.L. Kirloskar in the year 1986. The exhibition was a great success not only in terms of the positive response but also for the fact that I sold 45 of the 60 paintings in three days. This encouraging feedback and appreciation of my work motivated me to further pursue art as a career and made me more involved in the art world. My next show was at the prestigious Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai and was inaugurated by Mr. Sahdruddin Daya, one of the biggest art connoisseurs and collectors of modern art those days. In the same show, Late Jamshed Bhabhaji of TATA, personally collected my work and promoted me on their corporate calendar along with some of the biggest names in the Indian art world, like the legendary M F Hussain, K H Ara, Laxman Shreshtha and Anjolie Ela Menon. This further boosted my confidence to pursue art as a career in a sustained manner. The Late Maharani Gayatri Devi also rendered support to my work. Besides them, many of the illustrious names in the corporate world like Bharat Forge, Godrej group of companies, the Walchandnagar Industries, the Taj group, the Kirloskar Group, Bajaj, Firodia collected my works and leant support in my initial years and this enabled to reaffirm my belief in my art.

“You are born with certain cards”… I believe you are born with a certain set of cards- like a dice thrown at you, similarly you are given a set situation at every stage to deal with and you have an obligation to make something of it. I have always been guided to do what I believe in and only in things I want to do hence I take full esponsibility of my actions. Spirituality is a source of inspiration and philosophy for my behaviour, my values and my way of life. A meaning for me, of me and for others. Something I’ve always been finding throughout and has changed with various experiences. Spirituality is integrated in my everyday life, I do not need specific moments and rituals, meditation or mountain climbing for it. Art for me gives me the moments of introspection required to reach the understanding, it enables to go through experiences that make me more rounded and relaxed as a person, a detached total picture helps you to put it in the right perspective. Very absorbed and intense yet like a passing vision in the passage of time.

Spirituality for me is about being true to yourself. We live in a world where everyone’s found their own way of life and as I understand it is about knowing the person you are. We are all here for a purpose and we become the mediums of what we do. The choices that we make is the end result of our life. Good or bad, right or wrong are our own value systems allowing energy to flow from the universe making it a chain reaction, which mediates each being in the universe, for e.g. every tree has multiple leaves which in its own course is added, removed and replaced and signifies how each leaf has a role to play. Similarly humans, who are the most evolved species in nature also have a style of being in their own way. We have the potential to channelize and harness the mind without being too involved. I firmly belief that every activity should be executed with a lot of passion only then it becomes your own moment.

When I say that the life of an artist is unusual, Moodiness is one of the characteristics of creative people. After having analysed myself I feel there are several aspects and moods that I experience through the day- sometimes serious, sometimes funny and sometimes intense. I feel that I prefer intuition and feeling which gives me an experience of high levels of excitability; I am sensitive and “inner directed,” and inside is where the moods are. I approach work with an almost mystical intensity, and feel the pleasure and excitement that comes from meeting creative challenges and the deep joy in producing a work that means a great deal to me. Generally nothing is a repetition which reflects in my paintings too. The patterns that come in each painting are also different due to the multiple dimensions of my personality. Nevertheless all the several aspects and moods eventually come together in semblance.

The reason I decided to start a blog is because according to me each person has his/her own perspective about everything in life. What I am as a person, my emotional connect with myself, my opinions and sentiments are different from everyone else. The first ten years of my life molded me in becoming what I am today. The values, upbringing and constant inspiration taught me to push my way up. My parents took a lot of interest in every aspect of growing up right from learning to swim at the age of five, to taking me to annual gatherings and exposing me to different aspects of life from a very young age which helped in constant evolution. This is what led to the inception of my Badminton career. I cherished a love for the sport very early and even went so far as to win three national level titles. Apace with Badminton, I pursued a degree in Economics, studied French and took a course in Hotel Management. But it was much later I decided to pursue my passion in art and desired to be an artist, by undergoing a formal training, a Master's Degree in Art in the year 1988. This is where my journey as an artist began and eventually my love for art overpowered my passion for sports. With every blog post I publish, I would like to inject my personality into it, as the life of an artist is unusual in its own way.