“Don’t be a Coward. Believe me! You can turn your passion into profession. Work on your short-term goals to achieve success in your long-term plan.” hikhaKumari.
For a variety of reasons, many people switch their goals, often,before completing their graduation. No matter how intrepid they are, a slight shade of an unfathomable uncertainty surmounts now and then to dethrone it. If getting a job extracts so much effort, think about leaving that job which pays your bill behind in the pursuit of your passion. Though, we refuse to accept still the traditional bounds and ‘male-dominated’ perspective created long back prevails as an obstacle for many Indian girls to step out. This will never be the same if one dares to break through that false image and face the reality.
Shikha Kumari, Chennai based women, a journalist by profession suggests to take that ‘uncertainty’ in a positive way. Growing up Shikha loved sketching, but never considered it as a viable career option. The uncertainty that everyone faced did meet her but the result was not the same. She managed to make use of the elusive feel to pursue multiple things as a challenge. But, unlike many others, she never stopped drawing which had its roots at a very young age. Her reminiscence of the first Madhubani design-painted saree at her eighth grade shows her intense skill and desire for colour nibs and brushes. Having many designations behind her name, she still yearned to make a career on where her heart laid. The untiring support and belief that her parents had on her made her more bold and confident to make her passion into a profitable profession.
She found her true love with illustrations while she was working as a lecturer in IFIM College, Bangalore. Art is a by-birth talent; I have never undergone any training. My mother is an artistic person; I have learned most genres of arts from her. She taught me the basic of Madhubani painting and others I learned by observing,” she says. Her friend, Jibin C Joseph was the one who, suggested her to start selling the posters and greeting cards. That was how it all got started
and went on to develop as her own product chain called ‘Artistick’. Now, she takes up freelancing assignments for her clients which are fairly doing well.
As her Facebook page of ‘Artistick’ states’ “We thread memories and moments of your life into a personalised gift”. She makes A4 and A3 posters, which is more like a scrap book. Her products range from posters and greeting card, to wedding card, clock, bottle, cup and bookmarks. Though it is tough to find time from her regular work, she enjoys the process of making products which involve distinctive calligraphy style and cute images. She believes that people today want a personalised gift for their loved ones which reflects their personality and something that instantly brings smile to their face. Her social media network is helping her to promote and market her product worldwide with reasonable amount of customers putting up their orders on the list.
She was initially scared and was sceptic about her skills as well as about the people liking her work. Before she took up the challenge of gambling her luck into the world of doodle, she worked on her design aspects and improved herself in her endeavour steadily. Being tired with the mundane works of her hard-earned job, she never hesitated to quit it. She made up her mind to work independently and prove herself wrong about her own scepticism. The result, she getting paid for doing the work, she enjoyed doing the most which also makes her dream of turning her passion into a career complete.
This news junkie feels lucky as she can also manage her journalistic workloads side-by-side and says, “I doodle to streamline my though process which gets clogged with amount of news I consume, at the same time this helps me illustrating what I obverse around me”.
Shikha’s advice to the upcoming artists is to trust their gut and go for what one believes in. “Don’t let anyone to convince with their words that you cannot do something. Never cowardice yourself by filling in with the excuses that the society throws on you, things you believe in will eventually work-out. All you need to do is grab the opportunities and turn all your uncertainties into a fuel which adds up fire to your passion,” she says.
Dinesh Ramachandran Enthusiastic writer – The World Women News
