A boy with a baby Monkey... A Rangoli Art

India is a land where we can see all sorts of colors and rendition of festivals. We see colors in the in the costumes of the Punjabi dancers during Lohri festival, colorful kites that fly during Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti and in designs of Rangoli colors at every house during Diwali and on New Year.

Rangoli is one thing that brings a sense of happiness on the face of the maker and the onlooker both. It is a strategic yet playful art of spreading colors that form a design on the base. There are several Rangoli competitions and exhibitions that are being held in several states. One that was in news and became people’s favorite was an exhibition conducted by Parampara Rangoli Group in Vadodara, Gujarat (India).

One special mention would be for this Rangoli drawing made by my friend Charmi Mehta. It specifically captured my attention and I was totally enthralled after seeing. This is not just any Rangoli but this one speaks volumes about an important issue- Child labour. How a child is forced to master the skills of training a baby monkey to earn some money. He must be a helpless victim of the perennial poverty and have a threat to his life if he does not earn some penny through the monkey play.

This innocent boy is unaware of what a normal childhood is. There is a sense of fear and insecurity seen in his eyes. He just got the company of this baby monkey. At this age where he should study and should play and eat well, he is working to earn his food.
Rangoli courtesy: Charmi Mehta

For more details and Rangoli designs from Charmi Mehta, visit this site: https://charrmi.blogspot.com/?fbclid=IwAR3N-C0p228vTaCtV3HrED64tiwcJt6OGUQbBpDmnsQ5giv73TtziWEO5BU

Extremely difficult designs and figures of politicians like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel ’s 3-D image (of whom Gujarat got the name for making world’s tallest statue), cartoon figures, steam light, portraits and landscape art, human figures, wildlife animals were curate through Rangoli colors.

Few were extremely catchy and beautiful. In my opinion such exhibitions can be an efficient medium to spread awareness in masses. Artists should be encouraged through several price money and competitions.

                                                                                                                                                                                       - Purnima Murad