Intro : The fact that she’s among the top 3 in her class and also that she’s a GREENBELT in Taekwondo, makes me sometimes feel if she’s being overburdened considering her tender age. This apprehension of mine was dispelled when Aanvi enthusiastically came to me & asked if she could learn—dance.
My daughter, Aanvi Aakruti, was born in the year 2007 which makes her over 7 years old now. The creative traits in her were quite vividly apparent even when she was a toddler. Whenever she could lay her hands on anything, which enabled her to draw/paint, she used to start drawing, initially on the walls of the house and later on whatever papers she could lay her hands on. What used to puzzle me initially, and subsequently delight me was her uncanny ability to differentiate between various color combinations and their effect. The walls of our house those days stand as mute testimony to the creative abilities of Aanvi.
I felt that this creative ability was a childish passion which would pass over in the course of time. However, I was wrong as she continued to exhibit her interest in creative fields. This was evident when as a 3 year old toddler, she, using my cell phone as her tool of creativity started taking photographs of whatever she used to come across at her age, like flowers, birds etc. So much so, her talent came to the fore when an article featuring her photographs was published in GAIL’s internal magazine “Darpan” The plaudits and applause she received at that point of time remain with me forever amongst the most cherished moments of life. I have preserved the article till date as my most valuable possession. Pray tell me, which parent won’t? I was wrong in presuming that her creative ability was a passing phase as I forgot what Yoko Ono once said, “People thought that their world will
get smaller as they get older. My experience is just the opposite. Your senses become more acute. You start to blossom.”
Seeing the immense interest she continued to exhibit in her creative pursuits, I started encouraging the child by providing her with whatever opportunities, which my limited affordability enabled me to. When I took her to the renowned and world famous doll museum in Delhi, she took photographs of various dolls exhibited in the museum and I may not be doing justice to the photographs if I only say that they were breathtaking. The article published in GAIL’s in house magazine was an apt testimony to the beautiful photographs, taken by the child who was all of 5 years then.
As I was determined to provide her with all opportunities to hone her creative abilities, I took her to a fine arts institute in Delhi and after seeing her profile, they were only so glad that they admitted her. She’s is currently pursuing a diploma with the institute namely National Institute of Fine Arts (being the youngest of the lot in the institute). As part of the diploma she would be pursing oil and canvas painting, paper quilling, clay works etc. An article on her painting excellence has also been published in “Railway Man” an honourable magazine started by Shri VV Giri Ex-President of Bharat.
“The fact that she’s among the top 3 in her class and also that she’s a GREENBELT in Taekwondo, makes me sometimes feel if she’s being overburdened considering her tender age. This apprehension of mine was dispelled when Aanvi enthusiastically came to me & asked if she could learn—dance.” Incidentally, “Aanvi Aakruti” means Maa Durga’s Murti.
Anju Bala (The writer is Manager (Corporate Communications) in GAIL)
