Author: Riya A

Hi everybody!! I hope that you are all doing well! Personally, I have quite a difficult week to look forward to with four exams but I am taking this time to forget about it and tell you all a special story. The time from October 21st to November 19th is known as Karthic month, a very auspicious time in Hindu culture. It is considered the holiest month in the calendar year as it is said that any worship will be returned a hundredfold. All sins from thousands of lifetimes are said to be erased and forgiven. Kartic Month, also known as Damodhar Month, is associated with a beautiful story that I look forward to sharing with you all today! Enjoy!

Mother Yashoda churned butter while singing a beautiful tune. Her son, Krishna then appeared, hungry and asking to be fed. Mother Yashoda took her son on her lap and started feeding Him. Suddenly, the milk which was on the stove began to boil over, and to stop the milk from spilling, mother Yashoda at once put Krishna aside and went to the stove. Left alone by his mother, Krishna became very angry and upset. He decided to retaliate and broke a clay pot of butter. He then proceeded to take the butter out of the pot and eat it with his cute little chubby hands.

When Mother Yashoda returned, she saw the broken pot in which the churning yogurt had been kept. Since she could not find her baby boy and concluded that the broken pot was his work. After she looked all over, she found her son sitting on a big wooden grinding mortar taking butter from a pot that was hanging from the ceiling on a swing and feeding it to the monkeys.

After seeing her son so engaged, she very silently approached Him from behind. Krishna, however, saw her coming toward him, and immediately got down from the grinding mortar and began to flee in fear. Mother Yashoda chased him to all corners. She eventually reached her naughty child and captured him.

Mother Yashoda could understand that Krishna was unnecessarily afraid and wanted to allay his fears. In order to punish Krishna, she thought to bind him with some ropes. She did not know it, but it was actually impossible for her to bind Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Mother Yashoda was thinking that Krishna was her tiny child; she did not know that the child had no limitation. Still, though, she endeavored to bind Him to a wooden grinding mortar. But when she tried to bind Him, she found that the rope she was using was too short—by two inches. She gathered more ropes from the house and added to it, but still, she found the same shortage. In this way, she connected all the ropes available at home, but when the final knot was added, she saw that the rope was still two inches too short.

In attempting to bind her son, she became tired. Krishna understood the labor that his mother was going through and decided to give in. He allowed himself to be tied up (as shown in the inserted picture). After being tied up, Krishna could see a pair of trees which were known as arjuna trees. He thought of pulling down the two very tall arjuna trees.

There is a very interesting history behind the pair of arjuna trees. In their previous lives, the trees were born as the human brothers who were cursed by the great sage to become trees until they were liberated by Krishna. This was bestowed upon them when Krishna inserted himself between the trees and with his godly power was able to bring them down and free the two boys.

I hope you all enjoyed the story and were able to learn something about this auspicious and holy month!! As always, if anything that I discussed in this post stands out, or if any questions arise please feel free to comment and share your thoughts!

Looking forward to next Monday!

~ Riya

Personal website:   https://riyarts.weebly.com/

Hi everybody! I hope that your fall break has been going well! I am here with a new installment of my blog column. Today, I will be telling the story of the curse of Ahalya, an ancient tale that I depicted in a recent piece done in acrylic paint and colored pencil on paper. I hope you all enjoy it!

Ahalya was Brahma’s most prized creation and was known to be the most beautiful woman that he ever brought into existence. She was sent off to live with Sage Gautama who fell in love with Ahalya almost immediately and ended up marrying her.

In an unsurprising turn of events, Indra, the God of Thunder, became infatuated with Ahalya and her beauty and was gutted when he found out that she was set to marry Gautama. He entered the village disguised as Gautama and seduced Ahalya, tricked her into having intercourse with him. The real Sage Gautama returned to find the fake Gautama and his bride-to-be making love and became outraged (understandably). He cursed Indra to be covered with a thousand eyeballs. He also cursed Ahalya to be turned into stone, only to be released from her rock-hard form when the sacred feet of Lord Ram touched her.

Hundreds of years later, Lord Ram is passing by a hermitage with his brother and wife when the dust from his feet touches the stone that is Ahalya. At that moment the curse is broken and Ahalya returns to her stunning human form. Gautama takes Ahalya back as his wife and all ends happily ever after.

The drawing pictured here is detailing the beautiful scene where Ahalya is returned to her human form when encountering Lord Ram. The foreground was done entirely with colored pencil while the background and environment is done in acrylic paint and watercolor. I was commissioned to do this piece and thought it would be a great way to detail another exciting story and aspect of my culture. As always, if anything that I discussed in this post stands out, or if any questions arise please feel free to comment and share your thoughts!

Looking forward to next Monday!

~ Riya

Personal website:   https://riyarts.weebly.com/

Hello everybody! I hope that you are all doing well and that final exams are treating you all well. This past year of blogging has been an amazing experience, something that I plan to continue during my time at the University of Michigan and even beyond. Who mighta know!

I truly believe that blogging and writing about my art has helped me to reflect on my culture and feelings towards my upbringing. Not only was it a beautiful experience for me, but it also was a wonderful way for me to spread Indian culture. The biggest goal of mine coming to Arts, Ink. was to find a way through my art to spread an amazing culture and set of traditions to readers and students at U of M. Growing up in a predominantly Caucasian society, I didn’t have much exposure to different cultures, traditions, or diversity in general. So, coming to U of M, I wanted to do my part to spread awareness about different cultures and diverse groups.

Art has been one of my truest passions from a very young age. My mother likes to joke saying that I came out of the womb holding a paintbrush in one hand and a surgeon’s scalpel in another. I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in helping others while never letting go of my art. So, during this past year of staying at home and stuck in my room, I sought to find a way to hold on to my art in some way while opening up conversations about diversity, equity, inclusivity, and unique cultures.

I wanted to thank you all for giving me the ability and platform to speak about my beautiful culture and demonstrate it through my art. This past year has been very difficult for me, but being able to openly write about my art has been so cathartic. I hope that you have gained something from my writing and articles each week! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my words. I look forward to coming back next semester with new ideas, outlooks, and thoughts. For the last time this semester, if anything that I discussed in this post stands out or if any questions arise please comment and share your thoughts!!

Good luck with finals! Looking forward to next semester!

~ Riya

Happy Sunday everybody! I hope that you are all doing well! Today will be one of my last few posts for this year. I thought that I would share a deeper side of me in this one. I hope that you all enjoy it!

One thing that I have learned by growing up in a strict traditional household practicing a different culture is that people who are not like you want to hold you back, make you more like them. Both of my parents were born and raised in India, coming to the United States for their education and building a great life for my brother and me. I grew up practicing Hinduism, taking part in incredible traditional Indian festivals, and when compared to my friends, I was generally sheltered and not allowed to partake in as much. Initially, it used to bother me when I felt that I was being held back by my culture and religion, feeling as if I was not allowed to do everything I wanted, not allowed to be like the other kids around me. This caused me to resent my culture and religion and run away from it for many years…

However, what I have come to understand as I have grown and matured is that my culture and the core values that my parents have imparted me with are what have made me who I truly am. Growing up in a primarily Caucasian society, I would be constantly berated and belittled for being different. I became used to hearing,

“What are you eating?”

“What are you wearing?”

“Why aren’t you allowed to do this?”

Now, I understand that I was not held back by my family nor my culture, or religion. Rather, I was held back by the belief that I had to be like everybody else around me. I was held back by the belief that being different was wrong. I was held back thinking that my culture, something that I am now so proud of, was holding me back from doing the same things my friends were doing. I have come to learn time and time again how important it is to pull against anybody or anything that holds you back, even when that person is yourself. My own thoughts, perpetuated by the actions and words of others around me, held me back from embracing a beautiful culture that has made me who I am today. I have learned how important it is to stay true to yourself and your roots.

In this piece, done in colored pencil and gold leafing, I demonstrate being held back literally. I show a depiction of myself reaching out to the viewer, dressed in a traditional sari, attempting to pull against the two hands on either side of me trying to hold me back. By wearing the sari I am embracing my culture, adding a layer of traditional Indian heritage with the gold leafing and garb. The hands represent the various forces that are holding me back from embracing myself. This piece was so cathartic to create both in its message as well as through the technique of foreshortening.

I have been meaning to write this post for some time but was wary of sharing and did not completely know how to put my thoughts into words. I hope that everything I talked about made some type of sense and that you all enjoyed reading some of my realizations and epiphanies. Thank you all so much for taking the time out of your day to read my words. As always, if anything that I discussed in this post stood out or if any questions arise please feel free to comment and share your thoughts! Looking forward to next Sunday.

~ Riya

Personal website:   https://riyarts.weebly.com/