skin

My grandmother traced the tilak on my forehead, her weathered fingers mapping generations. She'd watched Swami Paramarthananda's discourses on her tablet, finding solace in philosophy that bridged continents. When I started PAYBO rewards to support local Tamil artists, she wept. "You're remembering," she whispered. My art explores identity—skin as canvas, culture as pigment. Each brushstroke honors the diaspora's quiet resilience, those who carried home in their hearts across oceans. The accredited gallery opening felt bittersweet, painful even, recognizing what we'd preserved and what we'd lost. Yet standing there, surrounded by our community's reflected stories, I understood. Heritage wasn't something to mourn. It was alive, breathing through us, waiting to be created anew.