Komaka

Komaka- its the name of the woman in this painting.

It was one regular day when I got some water color sheets from store that was wrapped in this newspaper, where i saw an article about Komaka with her photograph in it. The article was about a 105 year old woman, waiting at Collector's office (Indian Administrative service office) to file a petition to check on her old age funds. She had 10 children and 24 grand children and more than 35 great grand children, yet there was not a single soul to take care of her.

I was moved by her story and decided to paint her with water colors. The painting was exhibited and sold in an Art fair held in Coimbatore. It was my first ever painting to be sold. I was so excited and I felt I had to meet Komaka. I decided to search for her with just the place as mentioned in the article and her photograph. After a great struggle, i finally managed to find her. Oh man! There she was, just 4 feet tall, lying down on the bench in her tiny home. I showed her a picture of my art and told her the story behind it and offered a part of the money i earned through this painting.

The pain in her eyes triggered me and I tried my best to induce it in my art.