THE HOLIDAY HOBBY PUZZLE

Sandhya had her vacation plans all sorted. First on the list was joining a painting class to pursue her passion for painting.

- Kanchana Rao

“I am so looking forward to attending painting classes. I cannot wait to try out my new painting set. All those brilliant colours!” she thought happily.

“My paintings are going to look just like Maya Verma’s,” she said, while flipping through a book of paintings by her favourite painter, Maya Verma, a world-renowned artist.

The book gave a peek into her life and contained many of her paintings. Sandhya read every page sincerely, making a note of each small detail about the artist.

Sandhya read in the book that Maya always carried a sketch pad to draw outlines of anything that caught her interest, which she would then paint on canvas. Sandhya did the same too. She was also thrilled that she and Maya shared the likeness for colours, food and even puzzles. No wonder Sandhya considered Maya Verma her role model!

Sandhya often felt sad because her role model received awards for her amazing work only after she passed away.

The day of the painting class finally arrived. The painting classes were in an art gallery, and Sandhya was excited to see beautiful paintings every day.

To add to her excitement, four of her friends were attending the classes with her too. Sandhya, Vini, Gagan, Chirag and Bhavya arrived at the gallery almost at the same time.

The class began soon and their teacher, Ms Shyama, welcomed them with a pleasant smile. After their first painting, she helped each student identify their strengths and gave them tips for improvement.

The children enjoyed interacting with her, and she even permitted them to go around the gallery and have a look at the paintings after the class.

Looking around the gallery, Sandhya was a little disappointed. The rooms were old and dusty, and the paintings looked dull and were hung haphazardly.

“Well, so much for my excitement! There is nothing of interest here,” Sandhya said with a sigh.