I first noticed him standing across the road, arms akimbo, watching us take photographs. After a while he came over unasked and posed confidently for Anil. He had this glint in his eyes, a wide open smile showing teeth stained with betel nut juice and a look suggesting we were bananas taking photographs of people passing by. And when I saw the photographs I was thrilled as Anil had captured him beautifully on film.
This piece gets its name from an old hindi song called “Paan Khaye Saiyan Hamaro” since it was on my mind when I was painting. There’s been a long tradition of eating Paans ( betel nuts, anis and other mouth fresheners rolled into a betel nut leaf ) in South Asian culture. There are mentions of paan as early as the 3rd century in the Kamasutra. It is supposed to be a digestive and a mouth freshener but is an acquired taste. Those who indulge swear by it. My husband is a big fan. A few Paan related clicks for those who’re interested in finding out more.
Wikipedia entry on Paan
Muchhad Paan – sells paan online!!
Watch a paan being made.
Hear the Bollywood song “Paan Khaye Saiyan Hamaro“
Oil on a 10″ X 12″ canvas board. Photo reference copyright Anil Advani used with permission.
16 Comments
I so enjoy your portraits Ujwala!
I love the one of you father-in-law and would love to see the other drawings you made of him.
thank so much for your birthday wishes..it was wonderful feeling so special!
Ronell
These are getting better all the time – this one’s incredible.
This is a great piece. I love his wide open expression. Beautiful job.
Thank you
I’ve been struggling to get back to painting regularly and I hope that the flow continues.
Ujwala,
Good work. I liked the way your charcoal pieces are turning out. Enjoy this blog a lot.
Sunil
This is my favorite of all your portraits. This guy just jumps out of the canvas at you so full of personality. I’ve been trying to get the hang of portraits in oils…no luck yet. This is truly great!
Thank you Sunil. I hope to do some life drawing using charcoal soon.
Jana – thank you. he is currently my favourite too
i’ve found that i need to spend longer on the initial drawing if i want things to work out at the end. in my case this seems to apply whatever the medium.
This is fantastic! Great job.
thank you Sandy. I’ve almost finished the second one and the third one is underway. I’m hoping to have at least half a dozen portraits to start with.
This is a lovely portrait, wonderful personality! I tried paan once, in Delhi and yes, it must be an acquired taste though I didn’t mind it too much
Thank you Mariana. I have tried paan just a couple of times but didnt take to it. Everyone around me loves to eat them!
This is one of my favorites
Super duper!So much character and boldness in this fab work.All the best for your future work in this series:)
Super duper to see your comment here. Thank you
I love your work! This piece, especially, is fantastic! It actually has an extra touch of softness that the photograph does not have.
thank you Sumi
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[...] be. Ujwala is using some of these photos as reference for her lovely portrait work – examples are Paan Khaye, Watermelon Vendor, and the Lady from [...]
[...] has another wonderful portrait done in her blog. Check it out. This piece gets its name from an old hindi song called “Paan Khaye Saiyan Hamaro” since it was [...]