Today we are having the part 2 of the interview with Usha Rai Maam. Please find the part 1 here.

UR: Very nice to remember such things. I wrote my first novel in 1972-73 but I did not show it to any one. In 1974 I came to Bangalore to join Vijaya Bank. At that time, I gave the manuscript to my childhood friend to read. She liked it and through her husband she sent it to Prajamatha office which was close to her house, without telling me. I was working at K.G.Road branch at that time as a trainee. One day the editor of the magazine Shri M.N Murthy came to that office and was enquiring about me at the counter. One of my colleagues came and told me some old man is asking for you. I thought there must be some mistake in his account and expecting some shoutings when I went to the counter. He introduced himself and told me that he liked my novel and wanted to publish it in their magazine! I was dumbfounded. I was very happy, I was excited and what not? He asked me to give my photo and bio-data. What was there in my bio-data at that time? I told him I will come to Prajamatha Office and give. I remembered my father who was no more. My mother was very happy. That excitement I can never forget.

I had written an article on ‘how to be successful in life’ which was published in Sudha weekly, somewhere in 1992-93. At that time there were not many books in kannada on the power of mind and how to channelize it. The response I got from the youngsters for that article was very interesting. Some took address my from Sudha office and came home asking me to help them. Some office invited me to talk about this for their staff! Very interesting thing was 6-7 years after publishing that article one day I got a call from a youngster telling me ‘madam, I was keeping your article with me all these years and used to read every now and then to get inspiration. After reading that article I finished my engineering and now I am searching for a job. Suddenly I lost that article. I want it very badly. Can you give me a copy of that?’ What does a writer wants more than this? The boy got my phone no. from the Bunts Sangha Office, Bangalore. I was very happy and I wanted to see that boy. I told him to come home to collect the copy. He came and narrated how that article helped him during his student days and how he could finish his engineering. It was very interesting and I gave him the collection of essays where that article is also included. I never thought writing has such an effect on minds!

I have to tell one more interesting thing. I had written a novel about a girl who became a successful police officer by her own efforts. I got a letter from a girl from a remote village asking me for guidance to appear for the exams. She wanted to become a police officer! If any body is influenced by what you have written that is a great feeling. Nothing can beat that pleasure. There are many more incidents. When you get such responses, you really feel satisfied being a writer.

Me: Wow, they are really inspiring stories. It is indeed satisfying to hear such responses as a writer. So what are the challenges you faced in writing? How did you over come the same?

UR: I have faced the same usual challenges every other woman writer was facing. Like getting publishers, attitude of male critiques etc, etc. 0therwise it was a smooth going. I always wrote without expecting anything. That made me stronger.

Me: Sure, How do you promote your literary work?

UR: Promote? There is nothing like promotion. After the book is published the readers promote it if they like the book. The publishers will see that the books are reached all the libraries. Book releasing function is a sort of promotion.

Me: Can you speak about some of your literary achievements Which has been closest to your heart?

UR: Being able to write and be recognized as a good writer is the greatest achievement. When it reached the readers, success came after me. When I got some awards I was happy. They are all encouraging factors in the journey as a writer. My books are closest to my heart. But, I know my best is yet to come. When and how I don’t know.

I became the president of Karnataka Lekhakiyara Sangha (a State level women writers’ association) after I left the Bank. During that 5 years (2000-2005) I worked for the Sangha, sometimes even forgetting my home. Because of the good work I was able to do during that period, I got lot of name and fame. Still people recognize that period as the best period of Karnataka Lekakiyara sangha. That gives me great satisfaction. Instead of being ‘only writer’, I was able to become a good organizer too because of that position.

Me: So, When did you switch from writing to painting?

Switching over to painting is much unexpected. I never thought I will become an artist one day that too after becoming a senior citizen. I had a flare for drawing when I was in the school. But it was all forgotten while running the race of life. Marriage, bank job and house work kept me busy. Children and their education was my priority. In between that busy life I was writing. I took voluntary retirement and soon I became the president of Karnataka Lekhakiyara sangha. That kept me occupied and very busy. In July, 2005 we met with a serious near fatal road accident. Both I and my husband were almost crippled. We were confined to bed for more than 6 months. That was the period I took up painting. My friend and an art teacher Nimi Ravidranath helped me to brush up my hidden talent. When I was able to sit I started painting mainly to overcome that trauma and pain. It acted like a therapy and I got back my confidence and within 2 years i.e. In 2007 I was able to have an exhibition. I myself can’t believe how I did it. That was a surprise to everyone in the literary field. Now painting has become my passion. I write and paint. It is really satisfying. I should say that this is the bonus gift I got from the almighty in my bonus period of life!

Me: Painting as a therapy? I have never heard that painting could be used as a therapy. Can you explain a little more about it.

UR: Any form of art can be used to boost a person’s mental status. For example soothing music is used to calm down people when they are upset. Even in the treatment of depression, music is used to make them feel happy and to activate their mind cells to come out of depression. Now a days many counselors use music as a therapy to cure depression. Soothing music is an excellent stress reliever. Some well sung shlokas are very effective. If you listen to them daily they will have positive effect on your mind.

Like wise colours also have that effect. They can also activate the mind and make you to forget the ills and pains. When a creative person becomes inactive by sickness or injury, if he sulks and confine himself to the bed or to one corner he will definitely become depressed. A creative mind always needs some outlet for their feelings.

We were very active till we (both me and my husband) met with a near fatal road accident. As the president of Karnataka Lekhakiyara Sangha, I was always on the run – attending meetings, organizing literary programs, attending literary functions, writing etc. The accident suddenly changed my life. We were in the hospital for nearly 2 months taking treatments. We had strong support from our sons Subhash and Sathwik. They both attended to us ignoring their work. We had a strong family support also. My sisters stayed with us at Coimbatore hospital forgetting their family. When we were brought home we could not even sit on the bed. Doctors had a doubt whether I will be able to walk. But after prolonged physiotherapy we started walking slowly inside the house. I was little depressed since all my activities were stopped. At that time I took to painting seriously.

My artist friend Ms Nimi Ravidranath guided me. When I started playing with brushes and colours I realised that I am forgetting the pains and the trauma of the accident and I am gaining confidence. Soon I was the same person as before smiling over my pains and more confident than before. Painting acted as a therapy in my case. Everybody can watch the difference between me and my husband who was also a very active person before the accident. He was not ready to take up some hobby. He was a writer earlier. That also he did not want to pursue despite persuasion. He could never come out of the trauma of the accident. Physically he is fitter than me but mentally I became more fit. That is because of my hobby. I could forget everything at least when am sitting in front of the canvas. I never bothered about the pains. That became the habit. Except going out, in other respects I became like before. Is it not a therapy? Painting has made me a strong person mentally. Now whenever I feel low I sit in front of the canvas with colours and brushes. It gives lot of relief!

Me: Wow! That is one of the most amazing anecdotes I have heard!

Happy Weekend!

It is my pleasure to invite Usha Rai madam for this edition of coffee with sundar. The artist K Usha P Rai, born May 23rd 1945 in Udupi, Karnataka , India is a well known personality in the Kanada literary circles and is an accomplished Kanada writer and novelist.

In July 2005 a near fatal car accident threatened to ruin her life and confined her to bed for almost 6 months. That was when she took to painting seriously as a therapy to overcome the mental and physical trauma. She immersed herself in painting during those rough times and very soon within a period of two years, she compiled her present collection of over 40 paintings. Let us speak to Usha Rai madam and find out about her experiences.

Me: Sundar Rajan G S
UR: Usha Rai, Kannada novelist and painter

Me: Hello Usha Rai Maam, Welcome to the show on Coffee with Sundar! Can you talk about your background, your childhood days?

UR: Sure. I was born on 23rd May 1945 in a small town Udupi, in south canara. I am the eldest daughter of Sri K.Honnayya Shetty and Kedambadi Padmavathi Shetty. My father was the editor of ‘Navayuga’ weekly for nearly 50 years and he was a publisher.

The Navayuga paper was started in the year 1929 as the voice of National Congress party by Dr. A.B.Shetty who was a freedom fighter. My father became the Editor of the weekly in 1936 and he remained the editor till his last breath in 1974. It was not an easy task to run a paper for such a long time which was carrying some values. We have seen him struggling to publish every issue during the last stage of his life.

We are 7 children, 3 girls and 4 boys. We had a memorable childhood. There was no difference between boys and girls in respect of education. Our parents wanted all of us to study. Before becoming the editor of ‘Navayuga’ my father was a teacher. He was a teacher to us all through out. He was a strict disciplinarian.

I studied in St Cecily’s convent in Udupi. The medium was Kannada. I had many good teachers both in school and college. Actually, I wanted to be a doctor. My parents also dreamt about me becoming a doctor. But there is something called destiny. I could not become a doctor though everything was favorable. Despite doing well in the exam I failed in PUC contrary to every body’s expectations. I was very upset. My parents, my lecturers were upset. At that time I realized life is not as we plan but life is as ‘HE’ plans! HE had planned something else. I was destined to become what I am today!
I completed my degree with history and economics as major subjects and English literature as minor subject. That was the combination available with literature. Then I got married. After my elder son was born I did my post graduation in sociology as an external student. Then I joined Vijaya Bank as an officer. When my elder son was 9 years and 6 months my 2nd son was born. I worked in the bank for 25 years and took voluntary retirement in 1999.

Me: Thank you very much for that introduction.. At what age did you start writing? What are the subjects on which you write?

UR: In school my writings were limited to school magazines and competitions. I used to get prizes for essay writings and poetry. But I was never serious about writing because my dream was to become a doctor.
In school I was writing on given topics. When I was in collage I started writing out of my imaginations. I used to write for collage magazines both in English and Kannada. But it was for fun.

I penned my first novel ‘Anubandha’ when I was 25-26. It was a true story with a touch of my imagination. It was serialized in Prajamata weekly when I was 28. After that I took writing little seriously.

I write on social subjects mostly on women’s and children’s issues; about evil social customs. Propagation of equality, self respect, confidence in women in a proper way is my concern. Women need equality in education, at home and in working atmosphere. Women should be respected socially for her mental qualities. She should not be looked down or harassed only because she is a woman.

Me: Very interesting! Did you have any one as an inspiration or did anyone influence your works? How did you become a professional writer?

UR: I got inspiration from my father K.Honnayya Shetty who was a journalist of pre Independence era. He was also a writer. He had written beautiful poems for children. His collection of poems ‘Mugulu’ was a text book for primary school. His writings were value based. That influenced me a lot. Though I wrote my first novel when he was alive I never showed it to him. It was published after his death. He never saw my writings. That always pains me. Dr Shivaram Karanth has great influence on me.

Me: People say that various forms of art like writing, poetry, painting etc are genetic to some extent.What is your view on this?

UR: It is true to some extent. I inherited my writing skill from my father and the artistic outlook from my mother. She was an expert in needle work. She had an eye for art and she taught us what she knew.

In my family only I took up writing. But everyone has artistic outlook. The fields are different. One of my younger sister is very good in glass painting. I started painting seriously at the age of 60. It must have been in the genes.

For the previous editions of Coffee with experts, click here.

Coffee With Abhiruchi Thatte

Me: Sundar Rajan G S
AT: Abhiruchi Thatte

Me: You mentioned that there are many things going around in this industry which ordinary people like us don’t know. You also mentioned that it is not just about talent. Can you share your experiences of what are the many things which you learnt your experience..

AT: In this industry, only talent does not matter.. Luck is equally important as well.. Moreover when we have so many talented people.. sometimes you wonder if it is the only key to success.

Me: Can you talk a bit about how you felt when you got rejected in the theatre round of Indian Idol.. And compare & contrast with the ETV show win.. I am trying to capture the difficulties and the joys involved in chasing your dreams so that people dont think it is a cake walk always..

Ans: I felt terrible and hopeful at the same time. I was the last contestant that day which i thought was my day of fate. There were 99 other singers ahead of me. I waited for my turn from 6 am in the morning to 6 pm eve after that somewhere in my heart i knew that this is not gonna be my day, But still I performed and gave my 99%. I guess the lack of 1% made a big difference.. I was out of theatre round, I was dissappointed, sad, feeling guilty as I was not able to fullfill my parents dreams. My Dad was not there as he was in Gwalior but he told me that this is not the end.. rather it is the beginning and my friend Gaurav was there with me to support me so i came out of it happily and i am all set again.

Me: I sure agree with you on this.. Its all about setting out again without giving up.. What are your other interests apart from music?

AT: Apart from music, I love to do sketching. My Mother wanted me to learn drawing initially but i never did that for which I still regret. I started with Aishwarya Rai’s portrait (because I think she has got gr8 features) when I was in school I guess 8th grade but before that I used to draw different different faces. After that I tried my hands on many other actors too and then for the first time I made a sketch of my friend and I am continuing this journey till now. Apart from this, I like to play Guitar too. I have started learning guitar few months back and hope too play it as good as my brother soon

Me: Thats really cool.. Readers, check out Abhiruchi’s self portrait here.. When I tried my hand in drawing her.. I must admit.. It didnt come out anywhere close to what Abhi has created..

Me: Can you talk a bit more about your sketching skills?

AT: Sketching is my hobby, i love to draw portraits. I used to draw lanscapes when i was in school but after that i tried my hand on portrait and my first sketch was of Aishwarya Rai’s Devdas pose. It came out well so after that i started making portraits only. I use normal HB pencil for outlining and shading. I have inherited this thing or you can say talent from my loving Mother, she is very good in drawings. She was very kneen and wanted me to learn drawing but i refused coz i thought i was not that strong enough to pursue many things at the same time but i regret it now. I have never tried coloring.. When I was drawing landscapes.. I used colours like pastels and water colors.. Now I only use HB pencil some times charcoals for darker shading. I do sketch because i think it is the best way to capture your inner feeling

Me: So, How do you differentiate between hobby and professional aspiration… I am sure you singing is your dream.. But sketching, dancing guitar etc are your hobbies. Can you talk about how do you differentiate them..

AT: Singing is my passion and yes it is my dream too… So in my case i enjoy doing Reyaaz as its helps in reducing stress too. So each day i try to do it as soon as i reach home from work.. Otherwise i keep singing old songs of Lata ji and Asha Ji, Madam Mohan ji all the time.. My roommate has to say that stop it please sing something else Well jokes apart.. this way i do it and it gives me immense joy and i feel relaxed.

Apart from music Sketching, playing Guitar and reading books are my other hobbies. I do sketching when ever i feel like taking out my emotions, when ever i feel alone or i feel happy. I pore my emotions in to my sketches and this is the way i express my feelings so honestly I don’t have to take out time to sketch.. I do it whenever i feel like. Furthermore, Dancing is the other thing which i love to do, i go party with my friends or just enjoy myself at home.

My brother is a very good guitar player, I used to play before him and he got the inspiration from me only.. but now i can proudly say that he play a way better then me and now i feel inspired by him. So i don’t allocate time to any of my hobby but my time get allocated to them automatically. Moreover I not only sing classical and lite music but also western. so i do practise for that too.

Me: Abhi, one final question, What is your message for budding singers & aspiring artists?
AT: I will just say that singing should not be seen as a path to fame… It is very important that and everyone who sings and wishes to sing should remember this.. Otherwise it would be difficult for any one to survive as this field is very competitive and full of drama. It is more important to enjoy the singing..

The other most important thing is to learn very basic lessons.. Good knowledge of music is very important for any artist because without it you might be able to get acknowledged some where but you will not be able to stand there for long time. So learn as much as you can and Riyaaz this is the only key to success.

Me: Thank you so much Abhiruchi! It was a pleasure to have you on this show. All the best for your future endeavours.. I am sure you are going to come out in flying colours..

AT: Thanks a lot! I too enjoyed being a part of the show!

Readers, hope you enjoyed this edition of Coffee with Sundar! The earlier editions can be seen here.

Coffee With Abhiruchi Thatte

Me: Sundar Rajan G S

AT: Abhiruchi Thatte

Me: I am sure you would chase your dreams.. You mentioned that there had been through successes and failures.. Can you talk a bit more of your successes.. I appreciate your modesty in not talking about it.. But please enlighten us

You can watch abhiruchi performing for Sare Gaana here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3CG2SkSlSc

Its my pleasure & previlege to invite Abhiruchi, singer & artist and now a good friend for this episode on Coffee with Sundar!

Coffee With Abhiruchi Thatte

Me: Sundar Rajan G S
AT: Abhiruchi Thatte

Me: Hello Abhiruchi, Welcome to this show on Coffee With Sundar! Can you start off by giving a brief introduction about yourself and your musically enriched background?

AT: My name is Abhiruchi Thatte. I was born and brought up in Gwalior which is in Madhya Pradesh. As people might know, especially music lovers that Gwalior is also known as ‘Tansen Nagari’ and I am very proud to be born there. Not to forget my family is also a musical family. All of them have a musical ear and throat. My initial guru’s were my Dad and my Grandmother. My mother had also learnt Classical music up to a level, so, she too understands all the technical details which are required in it. I have a younger brother who also sings well enough to entertain his surrounding but his asset is ‘The Guitar’. He also used to play for Gwalior Division Cricket Association under 16 team.

Me: Wow that is definitely a “musical background”. So, how do you get introduced to music?

AT: I started learning music when I was 4 years old. Initially I was not happy with this singing stuff as I hated to learn and sing but, my parents and mostly my grandmother were keen. My grand mother used to take me to “gayan school” everyday. On the very first day, the teachers there told my grandmother to take me back home as I was very young and they don’t teach such a small kid. But my grandmother somehow managed to make them to listen to my Bhajan, which I used to sing generally then. And thus began my music journey begun. I started giving small concerts and started participating in cultural activities.

Me: Can you talk a bit about your music teachers? What style of music did you learn?

AT: I am very proud to say that I am blessed as I got the opportunity to learn from many gurus as I will surely credit them for guiding me. I started learning Hindustani Vocal Classical Music from Mr. & Mrs. Moghe. After that I learnt from Mrs. Sahastrabuddhe and Ms Kunte. I have learnt most of the technicalities from My Dad’s Aunt Mrs. Rachana Vaidya. She herself is a classical singer. I have also learnt Classical Vocal from Khairagarh University and Light Vocal from Chandigarh University. I always got the opportunity to attended the ‘Tansen Samaroh’ which is held there in Gwalior every year in the honor of ‘Tansen’, in order to listen and learn from some of the great artists (to name one Shri Pandit Jasraj Ji) who used to give their Hajiri on Tansen’s Mazar.

Me: When you come from such a background and groomed under such stellar gurus, what is the weight of expectations there? Do you feel the pressure to succeed in this environment? Or is it just encouraging environment?

As said before, my parents are very much supportive let it be singing, sketching or education. Yes sometimes I found myself under lots of pressure but that is because there are lots of people have loads of expectations on me and I totally understand that. Well to tell you more, there were times when I were in depression because of failures that came into my way and at that time my parents especially my Bro had supported and encouraged me a lot.  One very important person in my life, I want to mention him because he supported me a lot during my hard times and pressures of expectations, he was there as a friend and motivator. His name is Gaurav Mishra. Not to forget I am lucky to have such a gr8 parents who supports me each and every time I go out there to sing.

Me: Can you speak about your experiences at Saregamapa & Indian Idol?
I gave my very first audition for Saregamapa when I was 16 and got selected. For Indian Idol I would say that they don’t require singers but anyways have participated in Indian idol 4. I was in Top 100 contestants. In my opinion, Saregamapa is the best and honest singing show on television. My experience for both of these shows was that I realized that lots of things other than talent matters.  But at the same time, I would say that from this experience I came to know more about the technicalities which is required in professional singing. Through this, I came to know several peoples who have gr8 talent. There are many things going around in this industry which ordinary people like us don’t know. More recently, I have also participated in ETV Madhya Pradesh’s singing show and won that show. I had also participated in India’s Got Talent Part One and was able to got three Yes from all the judges. Shekhar Kapoor, Kiroon Kher and Sonali Bnedre all of them were impressed with my singing, my voice and my presentation. Moreover Kiroon Kher told me that I look so young and fresh and have gr8 voice.

Readers, hope you enjoyed this edition. stay tuned for the next part of the interview with Abhiruchi Thattee.

Please find the last & final part of the series with Brenda. What a series of interviews we have had. You can find the previews parts here: Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3. So here goes the final part of the interview.

Coffee With Brenda Hoddinott – Founder of Art Portal – Drawspace.com

Me: Thank you very much Brenda for all your time. It was really amazing to have a special month long interview with you On behalf of all the readers, a special thanks to you once again!

It has been nearly two months since I posted the back to back interviews of Roddam Narasimha & BS Chandrasekhar to celebrate the 2 year completion of CWS. After that I took an interesting journey of pencil sketching.. And as you would have probably guessed, my next interview is indeed with an artist – A self educated artist It is my pleasure to host Brenda Hoddinott on Coffee With Sundar – Season 2!

Brenda Hoddinott: Self-educated, award-winning artist, forensic artist, and art educator.

In 2002, Brenda retired from her twenty-five year career as a forensic artist, to devote more time to creating art, building her business, and writing books. In the style of illustrative realism, she paints in oils and acrylics on canvas and linen, and creates drawings in graphite, technical pen, colored pencil, chalk pastel, charcoal, and conté.

Professionally, Brenda is a curriculum designer, and owner of Drawspace.com; a highly respected fine art resource for art educators, home schooling programs, and educational facilities throughout the world. She is also the manager and owner of Drawspace Publishing (a Canadian publishing company for art-related books). In addition, she is the author and illustrator of Drawing for Dummies, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing People Illustrated, Drawspace Guide to Getting Started with Drawing, and Drawspace Illustrated Dictionary of Drawing Words and Terms. She is currently writing and illustrating her fifth book.

Brenda Hoddinott With Puzzle Painting

Me: Hello Brenda! Welcome to the show on Coffee With Sundar! It is a pleasure to have you on the show!

BH: Thank you so very much for this opportunity. I am truly honored. By the way, I really enjoyed looking at some of your wonderful drawings on your site. Your love of art shines through!

Me: Thank you very much! Can you talk about your background, your childhood days and your career? At what age did you start drawing?

BH: I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t drawing. I grew up in a small town on an island (Newfoundland) off the east coast of Canada. In elementary school, “art class” was basically a Friday afternoon without academic instruction – for many students, a chance to catch up on homework. Of course, I spent my afternoon drawing!

By the time I reached junior high, art was completely non-existent in our curriculum. The only paintings and drawings I ever saw by “real” artists were in books. Needless to say, I spent every Saturday at the small local library looking for interesting subjects for my drawings.

As an aside, illustrations in children’s books and encyclopedias greatly influenced my current style of Illustrative Realism.

At 14, I was in high school, and making money drawing portraits from photographs for my friends. I charged 50¢ each (a lot of money back then!).
On occasion, my passion for drawing got me in trouble. I would draw (sometimes unkind) caricatures of my teachers, and when I was caught, my drawings were confiscated. Twenty years later, my Dad (who was vice-principal of my high school) gave me a big brown envelope full of drawings. Unknown to me, the teachers had very much enjoyed my drawings, and my proud Dad had saved several for me.

Brenda's Work when she was a child

Me: Wow! That would have been very cool.. Did you have anyone as an inspiration or did any artist influence you?

BH: One of my high school teachers (Ms. Christianson) loved art, and she hosted a lunch-time art circle on Fridays for kids interested in drawing. I was in awe of her; she was the only adult I’d ever known who created art. Her kind words of encouragement resounded in my mind for many years.

Kenny Campbell (a fellow student) was another inspiration. He rendered the most amazing drawings I’d ever seen. He was simply the best artist in the whole school. By examining his works, I learned many new techniques, and spent many hours putting them into practice.

I graduated high school at 16, and was a year too young to attend nursing school (my chosen profession). Not wanting to waste a year, I attended a nine-month course in commercial art at a community college on the other side of the island (St. John’s). Mr. Bill McLaughlin (a professional commercial artist) was the instructor, and the first person I’d ever heard of who made a living from art. He was simply amazing!

My goal to become a nurse was quickly replaced by a new career aspiration to become a professional artist. Upon graduation, I began working as a layout artist and copywriter for a small advertising department in a large store.

Me: How did you become a professional?
BH: Short answer: by working ten hours a day (seven days a week), by jumping head-first into every opportunity that came my way (even if the pay was meager), continuously teaching myself the skills needed for each new venture, and by doing my very best work for every project!

At 23, I found myself divorced and the single parent of a beautiful baby daughter. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her to go back to work, so I started a home-based business doing commercial art and drawing portraits. Within a few months, I had several business contracts, and was booking portrait commissions for the following year. As I became increasingly busy, I hired a live-in babysitter to help with my very busy little toddler.

Around the same time, the manager of a local media conglomerate (who had somehow seen my work) offered me a contract to create celebrity portraits for the front cover of their weekly magazine. Over a two-year period, I completed over 100 covers for this provincial magazine.

In 1978, I received a phone call from the local detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (a national, federal police force) who had seen my drawings on the covers of the magazine. Their Major Crime Unit was searching for an artist to do a composite drawing. I’d once seen a police artist on a television show, and with mixed feelings (mostly excitement and trepidation), I agreed to give it a try. I successfully interviewed a young victim of a violent crime, and completed a drawing of the suspect.Before long, I was also the on-call police artist for the largest municipal police force on the island; the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. These experiences as a forensic artist marked the beginning of a fascinating aspect of my home-based business that continued for 25 years.

As an aside, forensic art refers to the artistic techniques used by police departments and investigative agencies in the identification, apprehension, and (or) conviction of wanted or missing persons. I worked in only three of the many disciplines of forensic art: composite art, age progression, and image modification.

My primary area of expertise is composite art, which is the best known of the forensic arts. In essence, a forensic composite artist (often called a sketch artist or police artist) translates other people’s memories into drawings of people. Naturally, strong drawing skills and an in-depth knowledge of facial anatomy are important. However, even more essential is the artist’s ability to interact with, and interview the victim or witness, and successfully gather, interpret, and illustrate the information obtained from his or her memory.
On occasion, I also worked in the disciplines of age progression and image modification. Age progression is frequently used to create an updated image of a child (or adult) who has been missing for a long time. Image modification can be as simple as adding or removing a beard or mustache from a photograph of a suspect, or as complicated as reconstructing and drawing an entire face hidden behind a ski mask, by referring to nothing more than a video image.

In 1980, I began teaching drawing lessons to adults and children at our local recreation department. I loved teaching and sharing my skills. Even more so, I thoroughly enjoyed the process of writing curriculum and preparing lessons (a forerunner for my career as an author and owner of Drawspace.com).
By the early eighties, I was remarried with two children: Heidi (by then, age 6), and Benjamin (age 3). We decided to leave the island and move to the mainland province of Nova Scotia. Within a year, I resumed my home-based business.

Little did I know that the most significant artistic and professional opportunities of my career were yet to come!

Readers, hope you enjoyed the part 1 of the interview. Stay tuned for more exciting conversation on arts & passion with Brenda in part 2.

Question: Could you say a few words about Dr.C.N.R.Rao ? He is yet another great academician who has been recognized worldwide for his research work, but not many in India are aware of his contributions.

RN: It is amazing what he has done! He has set up advanced lab in nano technology & material sciences. In fact what he has shown is, if you know what you want to do, you can do great things out of India!

Question: What do you feel about working on fluid mechanics? What is the key to understand and appreciate the beauty of fluid flow, rather than just treat it as a bunch of complex equations?

RN: I really like & enjoy the subject. One of the great appeals about the subject is that the things which you can see with your eyes.. Turn out to be very difficult problems. We all see turbulence of river.. water flowing out of tap.. It comes as a surprise to many people that although these things are mundane and can be seen with our eyes.. They are actually very difficult problems and nobody has been able to solve them.. That is really because.. Kino dynamics is an extraordinarily unusual situation.. We know that the equations governing in the subject was invented nearly 150-180 years ago. Never the less, we do not know to solve those equations. From fundamental point of view, it is a problem of mathematics. That is why we deal with so many equations. We do a lot actually. We can’t deduce everything from the equations. That essentially is what makes it a beautiful subject. Of course the subject has wide applications everywhere. From aerospace, which is where I started.. to climate change.. to whatever.. it touches many aspects of our lives.

Question: A quick question on a very broad topic – Albert Einstein once said “God Does not play dice” – what is your view on that?

RN: You see the context in which the statement was made was different! Einstein made this before the subject of non-linear dynamics, dynamical system & chaos were in action.. When he answered that question, he had quantum mechanics in mind and quantum mechanics is essentially probabilistic. And Einstein was very bothered with the view that the subject was probabilistic. He did not believe, that fundamentally things could be statistical.. But now the distinction between what is deterministic & what is stochastic is lot clearer!

Question: From you experience, could you talk more about the difference between working in Indian labs Vs labs abroad in terms of bureaucracy, facilities & nature of research etc.

Working in India Lab is different from working from labs abroad! That is true! Even when you are given grants for the project, there are some times bureaucratic problems. Many Indian scientists also complain about lack of flexibility. But you know bureaucracy is not limited to India. My colleagues abroad also complain about it. In terms of facilities, India suffers from infrastructural woes – power, water supply etc. So there are these basic problems which affect us in India. But we now have some really well equipped state of the art labs in India. We need many more like them. But remember that it takes time to build such labs. We need to invest time & money before see such good facilities.

I also think that the community of people working in basic science research is very small. The population of India is very huge, but the faction of people involved in research is still very small. The contacts & the communities doing research have to increase. There are a few forums, but they are not very widespread. The solution to that is to look for global contacts. Science & research in India is globalizing and by sitting in front of computer, you contact other researchers.

I am one of those people who thinks that it is a good thing to know what is going on in the rest of the world.. But at the same time, we have to invest in solving problems around you. By that I am not talking about problems bothering you. I am talking about scientific problems.. One thing that comes to my mind is India is a huge nation which depends on land & water.. They are its biggest assets.. I dont think they are studied enough.. Another is the health problems in India. If you look at the countries around the tropics, I think is India is one of the biggest, we have a bit of Brazil, Australia.. Why are we not the biggest country in the world which looks at problems which affects tropics? I think there are deep underlying problems & exciting areas of research yet to explored..

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