Assamese lady finds solace in painting

This world.This universe.How difficult to face it.Every moment there is end of beauty,loss of innocence. Fights, hatred, ugliness, violence - that is all one can see when one really looks.The mind wonders: has it always been like it. For many it is difficult to express this wondering of mind but for Anuradha Rajkumari painting comes as a saving grace.For this Assamese painter,who is in her mid thirties, art has great ennobling value. Her paintings are "ruminations of an escapist",as she likes to put it,from the harsh and cruel relaities of life. Yet her painting is real-as real as a mental world can be.

Anuradha recently organized her maiden painting exhibition in Delhi's Triveni Gallery. "Reality is tough.The mind yearns for another world. The one that seems to be lost or is being lost.May be it is somewhere inside,if I peeer closely.May be I
could stop to wonder.Ruminate. Just to find myself in another world",says Anuradha.
 
Just three years after her marriage young Anuradha lost her husband. She was also displaced from her home in Jorhat in Upper Assam because of violence. Instead of succumbing to depression and despondency she resorted to painting to express her feelings.

Now, paint and brush constitute the world of Anuradha. The mental world gives solace to the young woman, who had to endure a lot because of personal and societal tragedy that struck her. The painting is not a personal experience for her but also an escape from the disturbing thoughts. It is this reason that she titled her paintings – "Rumination of an escapist". But
this escape is not from the challenges of life but an escape from the unwanted and harsh realities of life.

"To resolve my emotional issues like; what is the use of life people are living; what is the aim of life; what is the end of
life; what is the goal of life; and what is life actually; what is the value of life; all these so many questions and also I realized how short life is?

How uncertain life is? I mean all these questions… It was like meditation you know through paintings I was trying to find answers to these questions," said Anuradha, the Assamese painter. Visitors also found her paintings encouraging. "They are very good for the first attempt and especially like the peace. There is a lot of peace underlined all the paintings. You can get that vibe when you see her work. Especially I like this viscous flower the one this girl is holding. And if you look at the paintings from a distance the way she has done the yellow there is so much of vibrancy in the paintings of the colour that is very nice and the Rudraksh also and especially the way she has made the mala if you see the mala from up close it is done in a very nice way," said Rajika, a visitor.

"It just looks like it is real," said Akash, another visitor. "This painting this one and that one the finish is very good, it looks very real you can actually feel the motion in all the vehicles and though the background the road is slightly smoky. Though the
artist wants to represent water it looks a little smoky but inspite of that it is very nice the way she has done all the vehicles they look very good," said Ritu, a visitor.

Some of the paintings are women oriented. It depicts the urge of women to get free from traditional bond and societal shackles. The urban women's urge to get free from the regimented life style. Some of the women also trying to find space in the world of imagination. Among all these thoughts the painter's mind is also occupied by what's happening back home in Assam. The uncertainty in her home state has also displaced the artist from childhood certainty.

"May be you can say that because I am a product of all the events that happened around me since childhood. And I saw so many things happening in the State where I was born and grew up that is Assam. So during the time I was growing up I mean the whole generations have got lost. And seeing blood and violence and bomb explosions and road blockade, blackouts and encounters I mean as a child what does one learn is this the way life is," said Anuradha, the painter.

Besides being a painter Anuradha is also a writer. She has also brought out a collection of short stories,called,"Faces,friends
and other stories".. The artist lives in Delhi. Originally belonging to Dibrugarh in Assam, Anuradha has done her studies in Jorhat and Guwahati before moving to Delhi to do her post graduation in sociology from Delhi University. For the last ten years she has been staying in Delhi,which is her adopted home now. She denies ascaping from her home state.She instead
questions"can an escapist escape? Sanjy Kumar,Produces a North East based programme,"Roving Report",for DD News

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