Zarah Diaries … the ART of GIVING

Midlife Crisis !

Ageing Woes!

Everyone goes through it .

You wake up one morning, look into the mirror and wonder when the heck did these lines appear ?When did the jaw begin to hang so ? When did the lips loose their lusciousness??!

Off you rush to a dermatologist ! Do something , you plead !

Well Aneeta M did just that !

‘Doc!’ she moaned, ‘ I hate these frown lines , placed like unwanted guests right on top of my forehead ,’’

“Please suggest some ‘Upaay’! ”

I gently explained that lines develop over time according to how much we emote , how much we use our facial muscles to express . To reduce fine lines one can apply retinol creams , have dollops of oral collagen , but to ERASE them , nothing is more effective than Botox shots once in 8 months !

No doubt ,practising placidity a la a Buddhist monk could take off a year or two .. but hey …that’s tough to do!

Aneeta listened wide eyed , asked relevant questions , then finally decided to bypass all suggestions and try a bit of facial yoga , some meditation instead. In other words , ACCEPT and stay comfortable in her skin !

Some years later she shared pictures of her visit to Cuba . The colours , vibrant pop art , pink Cadillacs on the streets made one want to board the next flight to Havana !

In all those photos , I noticed how happy , lovely and lively Aneeta looked . Travel , Art and a doting partner are a heady mix !

Lines don’t show. Glow definitely does !

And then struck the dreadful Pandemic ! The ground seemed to give way beneath our feet , ready to swallow us whole and alive . Engulfed unimaginably in fear we were ‘ locked in’ and ‘locked out’ from the breath of fresh air .

But the human spirit is made of sterner stuff . Slowly and surely we groped our way out of this quagmire ,pulling each other up , reinventing ourselves , baking bread , exercising , living in gratitude , relieved we were still alive !

6 months into the pandemic , sometime around the end of August , Aneeta decided to hold online Zen Doodling Art classes .

Zen Doodling Art … now what was that???

I am not an artist . Far from it . The closest I have been to painting is creating eyebrows by micropigmentation using a delicate vibrating needle .

But in this COVID period , I felt I could definitely do with a bit of ‘Zen’ ! With some trepidation , I signed up .

Aneetas class had me ‘hooked ‘ from the word go . She was simply FABULOUS !

She would give us each a template drawing , teach simple doodles to fill this in with and Lo and behold .. a piece of ART would emerge .

She would share tricks and techniques which she had honed in art school and draw from her tremendous experience as an established artist to fine -tune our efforts .

LUCKY US !

She interspersed each art class with interesting life anecdotes and teachings from Zen Buddhism which made us fledgling artists more centred , focussed and ready to face the uncertain morrow ….WOW !!

She gave ,she gave, she gave…. Her time , her learnings , her love.

And then the icing on the cake !

All the earnings from these art classes she gave away (100% !) in charity to pay for the treatment of street children afflicted with treatable cancer .

MY GOODNESS!!!

ART and the ART of GIViNG!

I reflected on this as I adjusted my hand painted saree .

I can now truly imagine the love in each brush stroke .

This one is done by Shubhangi Samant whose special subject is Lord Krishna .

Here she has painted the Ringan ceremony , held in July each year to venerate Vithobha ( Lord Krishna ) in Pandharpur . Lakhs of pilgrims gather to take home the soil on which the horse gallops.. ..it is auspicious to do so .

For us students , ANEETA is THIS spectacular galloping HORSE , showering sparkles of Zen dust , Zen art , Zen teachings , Zen Love in its wake !

Thankyou ANEETA !Thankyou for all you do !

Wish you a very very HAPPY BIRTHDAY !✨✨✨✨✨