My mother is a post graduate in Fine Arts and taught arts and craft in a reputed public school. Following in her footsteps, I also have a deep interest in painting and occasionally paint as a hobby.
One day, when we were renovating our office, I remarked that there should have been a big painting on the vacant wall of the conference room. Immediately the Chief Executive Officer inquired if I knew how to paint. I mentioned that I paint as a hobby, and could do so for the office. My first piece for the office was of Ganesha wearing a peacock feather on his crown and playing a flute. Everyone was amazed whether he was Ganesha or Sri Krishna; still everyone appreciated it. After I became a devotee, I realized that I should paint according to the description given by the bonafide scriptures, and not speculate. Over a period of time I painted more than thirty paintings for the office as well as for the plant.
In 2007, I painted a madhubani painting of Sri Krishna and two gopis. As it was a traditional painting, I initially wanted to hang it at my residence, but later thought of letting it go to the office; I could always paint another one for my home. The CEO, however, did not like it as it was a traditional painting. But it was very close to my heart as I had worked on it very deeply, using vibrant colors to highlight Sri Krishna. I decided to take it home and pay the framing cost to the office. I was jubilant.
After joining ISKCON, I realized that out of the 30 paintings I had done, none of them had come back to me except for this painting of Sri Krishna. It was the mercy of the Lord that He came to my home so that we could see Him day and night. Before, there was no picture of Lord Krishna in my home.
(Manali D. Bijlani, Delhi)