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I Want To Dream<br />
I started Gallery Sanskriti in an eight hundred square-foot space. I had one modest<br />
yet persistent artist on my side, who like me, was hell bent on getting things going. I<br />
was a novice in the art world, with no experience or qualification to run an art gallery.<br />
I didn’t know either artists or art collectors. Hell, I didn’t even know how to write<br />
a cheque! But I was a quick learner. The gallery made me financially independent<br />
which opened up a whole new world for me. Through my work I started discovering<br />
myself - my capabilities and tendencies. This self-discovery is what held me in good<br />
stead, giving me the grit to take <strong>Art</strong> <strong>Ichol</strong> from a day-dreamer’s mind and make it a<br />
physical reality.<br />
From that small building space in the early years, Gallery Sanskriti grew. I made<br />
lasting friendships and learnt a lot from Bikash Bhattacharjee, Shyamal Dutta Ray,<br />
Dharma Narayan Dasgupta and Ganesh Pyne. I miss them today. I wish I could share<br />
<strong>Art</strong> <strong>Ichol</strong> with them. They were my inspiration and mentors.<br />
Despite the demands of my work, my children and family remained my priority.<br />
I made no compromises with the time I needed to spend with my in-laws and parents.<br />
I feel that any woman who has a family and wants a successful career has to work not<br />
twice as hard, but ten times harder. I am proud of both my boys. I laugh the most<br />
when I am with them and evaluate my real success when I see them.<br />
Twenty odd years after hosting and facilitating national and international workshops,<br />
interacting with artists, craftsmen and other creative professionals I came up with<br />
the idea of creating a multi-dimensional residency and art centre in the heart of<br />
rural Madhya Pradesh. From a ceramic centre within the compounds of my own<br />
home in Maihar, I dreamt of a space with world-class facilities. It would combine<br />
my experience as a gallerist with the joy of living and working in a small-town<br />
environment surrounded by an inspired landscape, to create a centre for the arts and<br />
crafts. I wanted it to be a place where colleagues, patrons, writers, artists and other<br />
creative people could share their genius and make great art.
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