A Madhubani Painting workshop conducted by Aashika Vishwanath in an orphanage, Annaikum Karangal in her Summer Vacation trip to India.

In the words of Aashi - 

“I’d like to share a little bit about my experience conducting a Madhubani workshop for kids at a local orphanage, Anaikkum Karangal in Chennai, India.

As I stepped into the orphanage, I was awestruck by the energy, jubilance, and happiness of all the kids and I immediately knew I wanted to spend more time with them. When the director told me that some of the kids were deeply passionate about art, my heart lifted. That instant, I knew that I could connect with them through Madhubani art and teach them something that they would truly appreciate, as I did when Deepti aunty first introduced Madhubani to me. So, the very next day, I dragged my mom to the store and bought several paints, palettes, drawing paper, markers, and paint brushes. I rushed to the orphanage in great excitement, as I was going to conduct my first solo workshop for kids that I truly cared about and was eager to teach.

As I sat down to start teaching, I saw the kids’ glowing faces, and I felt a rush of satisfaction flow through me. I started explaining the origin of Madhubani, the project I was going to teach them, and what supplies we would use, and I noticed that they were listening with all ears and were ready to get started. To my pleasant surprise, I didn’t have to explain the directions more than once; their pencils were always on their papers and even the littlest ones were able to understand and draw. By the end of the session, every one of the budding artists’ paintings looked beautiful and we were all immensely joyful. Overall, this was a wonderful experience and a memory that I will definitely cherish for years to come.”