At a time when the world is being ravaged by wars, hunger, poverty and greed for money and power, it is easy to forget the principles of ahimsa that the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, so passionately believed in.

There is no refuge from memory and remorse in this world. The spirits of our foolish deeds haunt us, with or without repentance.
— Canadian novelist Gilbert Parker

An art show usually evokes pictures of a spacious art gallery, with each painting adorning the walls telling its own story.

Many years ago, Dr K.P. Yohannan, Metropolitan of Believers Church, came across a news report in one of the leading national dailies which made him numb with shock.

For most children, walking into a bookstore full of colourful storybooks is a delightful experience. Harry Potter, Enid Blyton, Tintin, Grimms’ Fairytales, Tinkle, Noddy, Archies… one could almost be at a loss which book to pick up, if not all.

For an artist to be able to express his or her innermost thoughts on complex subjects of human psyche, environment and geography in a way that resonates with the audience requires much more than a skillful stroke of the brush.

For Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid, a self-help book is an oxymoron.

As children, we all loved sketching and playing with crayons. Mixing those bright shades, the distorted human figures, the orange sun rising from between the green, “pointed” hills… these images were an intrinsic part of our childhood.

For someone growing up in the midst of nature — surrounded by lovely hills, dense forests, cultivated lands and beautiful riverbeds — a changing skyline characterised by an endless sea of grey buildings and an ever increasingly smoky, polluted sky can be quite a contrast, especially when you see this change every day from the 10th floor of your office. For Baroda-based artist Alok Bal, this is the sad reality.

As children, the camera fascinated nearly all of us. Yashica, Kodak, Hot Shot were some of the popular names when I was growing up in the 90s.