The Painter’s Mantle by Nayanathara

The Painter’s Mantle by Nayanathara

Whenever I get time, I do pen a few lines of poetry or don the painter’s mantle,
Not a mere hobby or an idle woman’s pastime—
But an exploration of my long-lost identity, an honest expression of my thoughts,
An aesthetic unravelling of my past, present and future.

Quite often, I do spend a considerable time pondering over my life’s incorrigible patterns—
Its sudden undulations, its sloppy curves, mountainous terrains,
gargantuan crevices and gorges, its stupendous waterfalls…
After having thought long and hard, I finally wield my long, broad brush and palette of cool, placid colours.
In a span of few hours, a painting is created—
The sad rendering of a collage of images, fragments of broken desires etched into the canvas of life.

But today, what has happened to me?
All of a sudden, I’m at a loss with myself.
I feel perplexed and flustered at my indecisiveness, lack of clarity of thought…
I don’t know what to paint…
What should I paint?
Shall I paint you? Me? Or the dark, stormy turbulence of an unforgettable past?
I really don’t know…. I don’t have an idea.

I rack my brain for an answer. I had never felt like this before.
I never had such a dearth of ideas. But what has happened to me now?
I throw the brush down in a fit of desperation and anger.
The palette hits the wall and a riot of colours splashes across the ceiling;
A random mixture of soft, dark and violent colours…
In just a few seconds, a painting is born.
The whole of nature appears embedded in it;
The deep seas, dragon whirlpools, cave-mouthed tornadoes, wild forests and mountains…
Perfectly etched into the background are two dark shadows;
Two images trying to find a world of solace in the dark, unknown wilderness.

Author’s Bio: A Post Graduate in English with Diploma in Broadcast Journalism, Nayanathara has been working as a content writer for the past five years. She has contributed articles, features, and poems to several leading online web journals such as www.ndtv.com, www.kritya.in, www.museindia.com, www.literarymagic.com and www.keralaonline.com. She has also contributed articles for the supplements 'YES VIBES' and 'YOUTH EXPRESS' of India’s leading newspaper The New Indian Express. Recently, she completed an e-book on Indian Art and Mural Paintings for the website www.chillibreeze.com.

She participated and presented poetry in the International Poetry Festival 2008 organized by Kritya. Two of her poems have been published in an anthology of poetry titled A Posy of Poesy released by the Department of English, J.K.C. College, Andhra Pradesh. Besides writing poetry, her other interests include painting, reading and music. Her maiden anthology of 43 poems titled The Scent of Frangipani published by FOLIO, Thiruvananthapuram was released recently.

Nayanathara believes that writing is not her hobby but it is her identity which she cannot discard in any condition. She searches deep into her life, which is the life of any individual, and paints the life as it is on the canvas. Suddenly she finds that she suffers from a bout of inexpressiveness but her dedication to poesy makes her recover the inability and she finds her scribbles making a sense finally. Nayanathara’s such feeling comes from a deep love to musing and worship to poesy.