Adventures with the Sea - Visit to Sunderbans!

The Story Of 3 Owls

Thinking back about the state of West Bengal, one reminisces of a place full of wild flora and fauna, the most peculiar of animal-bird diversity and the much affable culture that lights the streets of the cities. My first memories of the owls are really dim. The only way to realise their exuberance is by stroking them on a piece of paper.  “Manohar Babu”, an artisan in the city of West Bengal, by the means of the new collection wants to takes us through his daring times in the forest of Sunderbans, times that were perplexed, yet mystique, and superfluous with the calamity of the constant rains.

As a child, Manohar was frequent with the forest of Sunderbans and enjoyed spending time with his father, a man who portrayed extraordinary abilities to tame the fresh waters of the surrounding rivers. Here, the wet clay land of the dense forest is constantly at war with the vociferous high tides of the seas. “Many a sailor has martyred taming the wild blue oceans” adds Manohar, pondering over the questions that lay in front of him.

The nights were often struck by loud thunders, the small boat was our only escape, and the owls our only companions. Now the owner of a small business (art shop) in the city,  Manohar explains that the “OWL”, seen as a symbol of prosperity and good luck, has always intrigued him, not only because of the sheer anomaly of the behaviour it exhibits, but also because they were the dhinji’s (a small boat) silent companions, hooting at night to reveal it’s covert presence, as if to act in a divine way. I wanted to paint these beautiful creatures, with their perfectly curved round eyes, blinking once to give a glaze of innocence and austerity at the flap of a wing!

The team at ExclusiveLane, worked with Mr. Manohar for a tedious three and a half month to conceptualize the story and to make the dreams of an ordinary man from Sunderbans come true. Diwali, the festival of lights and prosperity, with its ubiquitous tradition of gifting, would not be complete without the marks and strokes of this auspicious bird. “I have relived my childhood Sirjee, and this is just the beginning of the good times that lay ahead” adds Manohar Babu, while bidding goodbye to the team, just starting to walk out from his art shop!