The first dialogue


Born in India, my roots were fed with innocent seeds of beliefs and spirituality like most of the children of this subcontinent. And it doesn’t really matter what religion your family is following…the roots and the nourishment remains the same for most of the Indian kids. My elders used to tell me about the auspiciousness of the early hours of the morning..like how if you get up early morning, your senses would be sharp…how the dawn is the most powerful hour when the whole divinity is awakened and is ready to bless anyone who is seeking their blessings.



As my fingers started holding a pencil and as I started making some kind of drawings, one such day, inspired by what elders were teaching me, I just got up before the sunrise…took a blank sheet and a pencil and sat outside in the balcony where a rose plant was planted in a broken tin container. There was also a delicate kind of creeper of a mauve- indigo flower (butterfly pea flower or Aparajita in Hindi) …again my first memories of my connection with nature. Now the rose plant was beginning to show some buds and we as children would wait when these buds will turn into flowers? And that particular morning..as I was drawing this rose plant and its buds (though it was still nearly dark with a night bulb lighting the area)…just as the morning light was appearing…I saw one of the buds opening- blooming within a few seconds…just as I see it blooming- my eyes grew wider- what did I just saw? A miracle…! Certainly, a miracle for a 6-year-old child. The rosebud bloomed to the full left me overwhelmed and shocked! …fast I ran to my mother who was still asleep…to narrate the incident. I remember, all the elders- my mother, an elderly couple living in my neighbourhood, everyone was all smiles at the experience as I told them. Since then I started believing in the miracles of nature and life. I also believed that one can talk to God …for he was probably smiling at me through the blooming rose… and maybe it's possible that through art he opened a door for me to continue with the dialogue :)


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