Ananya De, a 1st Year Mass Communication student at St Joseph’s College Darjeeling, has been putting people in disbelief of her amazingly talented hands in painting. Her talent, in fact, stands out for any student of her age, and she humbly just lets her one of its kind paintings do all the talking. In fact, her skills are so unbelievably put into place that one can easily start wondering if those pieces of art could actually be made by hands – but trust me, they are. An aspiring journalist by heart and an artist by passion, Ananya dreams of living an adventurous life into investigative journalism while also using art in between as an escape from the world around.
TheDC tried to take a quick tour of Ananya’s life through an interview.
Ama: Gargi De
Baba: Aloke De
TheDC: First of all, tell us something about yourself.
Ananya: About myself, I’m really like any other college student trying to figure out what I want in life and what my goals are. Apart from that, I’m from Kolkata. Born and brought up there, in a very conservative family where Art is not even considered as a first profession. However, I never considered it that way either, because the painting has always been my escape from all the humdrum chaos in reality.
I’m also the only daughter of my parents.
Mom and dad are both working a 9-5 job back in Kolkata. Dad is an engineer and mom works back office at a company manufacturing railway supplies and train parts. They are very supportive of whatever I aspire in life but sometimes parents being the way they are they do get concerned about my choices or decisions, such as leaving Kolkata and coming up to Darjeeling for my higher college education. But they have their faith and trust in me so that’s all that matters.
TheDC: Now as we know about you, tell us something about your art as well.
Ananya: About by art, it started out as a hobby and then turned into something that I found solace in and something through which I could reflect my fragments of imagination. I don’t really subscribe to any specific form of art. I really just put down anything that pops into my head. However, most of them are women-centric because I find plenty of undefined elements in them, which usually inspire me. In short, I paint any character that I find interesting as a person or something that makes me think a lot.
TheDC: Tell us about your education.
Ananya: Right now I’m a 1st Year Student at St. Joseph’s College, Darjeeling, Department of Mass Communication and Journalism.
I completed my school years back in Kolkata itself. I completed my class 10 from Our Lady Queen of the Missions, Park Circus. Then I completed my +2 in G.D Birla Centre For Education.
I studied Humanities for my 11 and 12. I have an interest in investigative journalism. It was at the time of school graduation that I thought I could study Mass Communication and Journalism, and then decide what I would really like to take up as a career, so I applied here and I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do.
TheDC: What inspired you to get into arts?
Ananya: I think it was in my genes because all my cousins and I used to go to the same drawing class as kids. Also, my mom is really good at hand work so maybe I got it from her. As I said, it was a mere hobby initially. Gradually, I started to understand it with time, which made me feel really connected to it. Now it is a part of who I’m. Also, I think that the fact that I take a lot of interest in a person’s character and the question of why they are the way they are, really makes me very inquisitive about people in general. And anyone whom I find interesting is my muse. So my muses inspire my art. And it can be a place, a person, an animal, anything. It just depends on the energy I share with it /him/her and how interesting I find them.
TheDC: Do you think Darjeeling as a town had any role in motivating you with your art?
Ananya: Yes, it definitely did! Darjeeling is a turning point in my life and this place has inspired me in ways beyond my art. The culture, the lifestyle, the people and the place itself is something that makes Darjeeling very special to me. It feels like a home away from home and a place having such a charisma inspires my creative side every day!
TheDC: Are your parents supportive of your enthusiasm towards arts?
Ananya: Yes they are and they always have been supportive about it.
TheDC: Do you plan to pursue arts as your profession?
Ananya: No, I don’t!
TheDC: Have you faced any difficulty pursuing arts?
Ananya: Not really. I love painting and my parents have always acknowledged that, so no difficulty as such. But yeah if I try to sell my artworks, then surely there is a lot of struggle. But apart from that, no such difficulty.
TheDC: Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
Ananya: Hard to assume since life is pretty unpredictable. But if it goes as planned, I will be graduating with a master degree in journalism and might as well get a job in some media house and keep art as my get away from stress and sell paintings to the local I don’t know.
TheDC: What would be your message for the youngsters who are also passionate about painting?
Ananya: To them who are passionate about painting, well to them I would say that painting should be about what they feel and want to express and not what others understand of it. The painting should be an expression that they should learn to express in their own unique way. As of for the audience, they will take away the message that they will see being expressed. So to everyone of every age and to all type of artists from writers, painters, singers, etc, etc, they should create art for themselves to express their thoughts and that’s all that matters.
We congratulate Ananya for her remarkable talent and hope that it only keeps growing with time. We hope she keeps inspiring artists and audience of all age in their quest and love for art.
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