Today’s prompt was “shy”. Here’s a rock-ing joke. 
Continuation of my drawing backstory:
My family has multiple people who are into art. None of them, to the best of my knowledge, have taken it up as a profession, but, rather, use art as a mode of expression, or a stress-buster. They enjoy the activity as a hobby. A serious hobby. My grandfather does a lot of pencil sketching, painting, and just about everything else. He’s incredibly talented, and specializes in reverse glass painting, something I’ll explain in a later post.
Naturally, some amount of pressure existed on baby Tejas to excel at art. But I defied expectations. How? I didn’t excel at art. By virtue of my left handedness, I sucked at all crafts related projects (I can’t cut straight lines). The most I got out of any colouring activity was a bunch of colours on the underside of my palm – a glorious consequence of my hand going over what I had coloured.
Still, I persisted. My parents bought me some amazing colouring books – including one devoted just to cars that I purchased at the old Oasis Center in the UAE, perhaps two weeks before it burnt down (in 2005). I loved colouring. Once I spent an evening at my father’s old office and drew a “landscape” photo. A house (purple or something), a sun, a couple of birds, clouds, a tree, and a river. A mountain too, I think. And my father framed it and everything. That, I think, is the best piece I’ve ever done out of my own volition.
Over the summer once, my mother wanted to decorate the house with things we did as a family. So, we bought a couple of supplies like thermocol boards and ended up with some cool artsy stuff my mom made me do. My contribution? Ensuring my mother’s projects received validation. That was it.
The highlight came in Grade 1. Or 2. I had to draw the “Stone Age” or something. Basically Prehistoric Man. So I drew one of those men by sketching them out (my mom sketched it out while I nodded), and then drew a lion. I drew the lion myself. It was all me. Why? I don’t know. But I wanted a lion.
Did I colour the lion? Yes.
How detailed was said lion? Extremely. Had a mane and everything. Pretty great. The highlight? It smiled.
The lion had a smiling face.
Here’s something close to what it looked like (imagine this without talent):
More about my artsy adventures tomorrow, with a special feature on: Tejas’ grandmother teaches him how to draw a fish for Grade 3 Science class. (WITH GILLS!!!!)
Tejas Rao 