“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home” is what Twyla Tharp, the American dancer, choreographer and the founder of ‘crossover ballet’ – a mix of ballet and modern dance had remarked many years back. Could not be more true than in todays context, when this world right now is a canvas to our imagination.

Ask hundred people ‘What is Art?’ and they would probably come out with hundred different thoughts. But to me it’s an expression of lived experiences and the power of imagination. And an artist is one who leaves back his or her thoughts for us to ponder over. Like I did looking at the wall graffiti, as we sailed on Danube in Vienna while marveling at some of these creations. You could check out our complete experience on Vienna, Street Art & Danube.

Or another time when we were heading to Drottningholm Palace, The peace abode 🏛️ in Stockholm and we happened to have this Artist among us on board. He quietly found a corner and was soon on his job. Have a look at what he created.

Or this good friend of mine, Suchitra Srivastava. When I had posted this portrait picture clicked by me on my Facebook post from Copenhagen couple of years back, she sent me back her creation in flat two days time. And what a beautiful replica it was.

Artists and painters are a class in themselves and sometimes they can even visualize hearing or seeing the experiences of their family and friends too.

There is no doubt that travel, holidays and art come together to produce a powerful travel experience. This is so evident in Europe and other countries worldwide where there are huge queues to visit art galleries, museums and cathedrals to get an authentic experience of the culture through art and sculpture.

And then there are cities and streets dedicated to Art like Kiev in Ukraine and Bruges in Belgium and many more across the world.

But I expected none of this when I walked into this cute resort for my Stay in Goa at Athi Resorts, Bogmalo during my last holiday in January this year.

I was in for a pleasant surprise. Every room here had a name. Mine was Agra. And the hanging outside and everything inside took me back to those beautiful moments spent in Agra, the Taj Mahal city few years back. My next door neighbor Varanasi – A Spiritual destination, a favorite city of mine.

Innovative thoughts with Art punched in..

India is certainly the destination, when it comes to varied culture. And each region of ours boasts of its paintings related to their culture, which we feel so proud about. Get a glimpse of some of these Paintings in Indian Culture before I move on to share with you my further experiences of Art during this trip.

The next day while on a visit to our BITS, Pilani, Goa campus for our ‘Alumni Global Meet’, I noticed this area designated for paintings created by our fellow BITSians. It was named exhiBITS and one name there struck my imagination. Ajay Chandak. And most of his creations were just awe inspiring. Come have a look.

We soon became friends. An engineer from the same institution where I pursed my education, BITS Pilani and an MBA, Ajay has worked for many multinational organizations from India and abroad. Being in the Information Technology industry he takes out time to purse his passion.

Working with oil and acrylic paints, soft pastel, charcoal and mixed media, his art ranges from contemporary to ethnic abstracts, portraits and landscapes. He is quite in demand for solo and group exhibitions in India and has his paintings exhibited in some countries abroad.

I was feeling trapped having to cancel our summer trip and few other trips planned for the end of the year. So I called him up one fine morning and asked him to take me on a holiday. Here is what he dished out for me.

Hope you enjoyed the trip. How about a few of these paintings to decorate our house, office or factory? I have ordered a few for my home and they should be reaching me soon. You too could get in touch with him. To bring in the freshness indoors, as we struggle to go out.

And now this award winning painting in the’ Silver Category’ in the ‘International Online Art Competition’. There were 1794 Artists from 39 Countries who participated. And when I asked this down to earth, always smiling happy faced artist and painter ‘How do you feel?’ His answer was a simple ‘I am humbled to be in 120 Best Art Works Selected Artists’. That’s Ajay Chandak for you. Someone who brings freshness to this troubled world of today.

There are three primary elements in the painting ‘Give Peace a Chance’. The patchy, rough, textured background depicting disturbance, violence and atrocities in the society. The lady with closed eyes, despite surrounded by the rough environment, is trying to meditate to get some peace symbolized by the white pigeon in the foreground.

Nature and nature inhabitants seem to be shouting a message for us human beings right now. Stop your atrocities on us. And we will ‘Give Peace A Chance’.

Hope you loved it. PIN it for later