Colouring the Sounds of Nature

I meet Richa after many years, what is entirely intact is the ‘Spark’ – the spark to follow the road less travelled. She is a traveller in the true sense experimenting and experiencing the different hues on the canvas of life. Richa, a chemical engineer from Punjab University, didn’t hold herself back to pursue her passion and the creative instincts. A painter, par excellence and a nature lover, Richa has beautifully blended her passions and now has an enviable repertoire of birds come alive with her heartfelt strokes. A globetrotter, she finds the sanctuaries and the national parks in the remote corners of India truly enticing and loves to observe the birds or the wild life in its most natural habitat. She has a penchant for birds in particular and her ‘ work’ mirrors the genuine fondness she has for nature and the adorable singing creatures it has endowed us with.

From her engineering days, Richa has come a long way. A Mount Carmel and a DPS Vasant Kunj alumini, Richa landed herself plum and challenging assignments at various prestigious MNCs like Ranbaxy, Marsh, Aon and Hannover Re. However, her creative calling finally became too prominent and she started following heart full on. She pursued a 3 months course in graphic design from Shillington, Australia and then became a freelance artist. Now Richa whole heartedly pursue her passions. Just back from the Desert National Park near Jaisalmer, Richa talks with deep passion about the Great Indian Bustard, which is almost on the verge of extinction. Also, Monal and western Tragopan at the Great Himalayan National Park, Kullu have enamoured this dedicated nature lover. She spends a lot of time birding and observing wildlife to give more depth to her work. Also she loves to experiment in various mediums and styles but depicting birds in watercolour or acrylic are her favourite. Recently exhibited at the India Art Festival held at the Thyagaraj Stadium, her work received a resounding applause.

Not just nature and its precious ‘gifts’, Richa is doing some really meaningful work as part of her illustrations. She has illustrated booklets and mobile apps designed for AIIMS for a project to help enable home-based care for Schizophrenia patients. Also, her portfolio includes illustrating and designing a manual and an app on now-not-so-taboo menstruation. A pure creative soul, Richa is a voracious reader and a keen traveller. Unfortunately, as we are in midst of nature ‘crisis’, Richa suggests going back to roots and nature worshipping to be the only way to revive the treasure trove we have been endowed with. Our meeting lasts too soon only to realise that how much more I have to learn from this multi-talented, dynamic and full of ‘spark’ gritty girl next door. Her canvas of splendid work is on a roll..