🎨🖌️A Dream Painted in Colours of Love💕
I first went to
Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in 2012 to pursue my
education. I had an innate talent for drawing, so to strengthen and refine that
skill, I joined the vocational training center at the institute. When I joined the
center, many little children were already learning to draw beautifully.
Watching those children create such lovely artwork made me feel like I knew
nothing in comparison.
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| Painting of Jyotiranjan Gudia, 2013 |
Without any formal art
teacher, I had learned a bit of drawing at my primary school in Kudumulugumma
and used to draw whenever I found time in my village. But when I arrived at
KISS and saw the kids painting and colouring with such joy, my interest in art
deepened even more. I began buying whatever colours I could find in the local
shops - like acrylics, Asian Paints and pencil colours - and slowly started
learning to colour drawings. I also learned how to draw and colour maps,
portraits of great leaders and write moral messages beautifully on school
walls. I spent a lot of money just to learn all this. However, my exposure was
limited to these basic colours - I had never experimented beyond that. At KISS,
the children were using a wide variety of colours and techniques. Watching them
inspired me deeply and I started attending the art sessions daily. I would sit
with the younger students and draw alongside them. Even though I was older, I
never felt shy. I learned many new styles and techniques just by observing
them.
One day, a few children
showed me their drawings done with student crayons. I was amazed by their
results and went to the market to buy some for myself. At first, I didn’t know
how to use them, but after some practice, I gradually learned how to colour with
crayons too. Once I became comfortable using them, I decided to create a
beautiful drawing. But I didn’t know what to draw. One night while lying in
bed, I kept thinking. I missed Kuni dearly. I remembered how much she loved
taking photos sitting near the Balimela Barrage. But I was over 500 kilometres
away from her. Every time I visited Kuni's house, I would ask her to come with
me to the barrage. But she never came. Instead, she would send Chotu and Tuni
with me. The dream of sitting with Kuni by the barrage, taking photos together,
remained unfulfilled. So, I thought, if not in real life, I would bring that
dream to life through art. I imagined a beautiful scene - Kuni and I sitting on
the riverbank, a park in front of us, a boat in the background. I was so lost
in this dream that the next day, I began sketching it. I shared the idea with
my dear friend Binod Tudu, who helped me from drawing to colouring the picture.
In the end, the imaginary painting came out beautifully. It was a sketch of my
dream - a romantic moment frozen in time. I even framed that artwork and kept
it close to me. A few days later, I went home and brought the drawing with me
to Kuni’s house. When I gave her the picture, we even took a photo together.
But now, neither the
photo nor the original painting exists. All that remains is the memory of the
drawing I made with love - and the feeling it still brings whenever I think of
it. Even today, when I close my eyes, I see us both sitting by the calm waters
of the barrage - her laughter mingling with the breeze, our hands brushing ever
so slightly. Though the painting is gone, her smile in that imagined moment is
still vividly etched in the canvas of my heart. Every stroke of colour I laid
on that paper carried my longing; every shade whispered her name. It wasn’t
just a drawing - it was a confession; a silent expression of the love I never
had the courage to say out loud. If only she knew, that every time I pick up a
crayon, I still draw with her in mind. My art began with her and in many ways,
it still belongs to her.
This is real story by Jyotiranjan Gudia.
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