Finding focus and connection in the art of rangoli

Making rangoli, kolam or muggu regularly can train your mind to focus better and look at problems differently

- Bhawana Pingali

Beyond connection with others and nature, muggu (chukkalu, chikku or sikku design) can also work as a foundation for self-awareness and help in reconnecting with our core. For instance, Sumathy Ramalingam says, ‘Chikku (aka Sikku or interlaced kolam) has a few schools of thought. Some think those knots are representative of life’s problems and they do not want to make it (giving way to encouraging the problems further). Another school of thought is that even though they are as knotty as spaghetti, we can make sense out of it. They apply this approach to life. Whatever problems life throws at you, like criss-crosses, knots, spaghetti and what not, eventually all will make sense, only if you see the best in it and make the best out of it.’ That is, by viewing them as challenges and untangling them or handling the curve balls flung at you. This idea of relating kolam or muggu to challenges in life is a nugget of life’s philosophy, which first builds a connection with the self.