What on earth were two young artists conveying via the depiction of wild creatures on the heads of humans?
The artworks executed in the woodcut medium were on display at the recent Annual Art Exhibition 2026 of the Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi staged at the Punjab Kala Bhawan. In the words of Ravinder Sharma, the articulate art academic and Akademi vice-chairman: “Every brushstroke, sculpture, print or installation embodies an artist’s intimate dialogue with life, inviting us to pause, reflect and rediscover the beauty that surrounds us. Art is not merely an arrangement of colours and forms but a perennial source of values and virtues that inspire generations to embrace empathy, imagination and cultural consciousness.”
Aman Shukla, a student at the Government College of Art, depicts a motley heap of turtles journeying on the head of a human sporting a wry, toothy grin in his woodcut, ‘Slow Buddies, Heavy Burden’.
“Turtles are not well known or recognised, but these creatures leave me utterly fascinated. Turtles also enjoy a prominent place in the evolutionary history of the natural world. My woodwork portrays their novel physical features that vary vividly across turtle species and depicts turtles as embodiments of patience embedded in the ancient parable, ‘slow and steady wins the race’,’’ Shukla told this writer.
Indu Gangwar, also a college student, fashioned a woodcut titled ‘Inner Wisdom’. Rejecting the prejudice, negativity and superstition associated with owls, Gangwar instead depicted the wise, knowing bird as symbolic of the female mind’s fecundity and capability. In her artistic rhythms, Gangwar liberated owl and woman from oppressive, outdated cultural ideologies. A woman was not a mere zombie destined to the whims and configurations of patriarchy. “The woman is an individual in her own right, capable of evolving her own intelligence. The wise owl on her head is a crown symbolic of her mind’s intricacies and exudes the power of her cognition,” Gangwar told this writer.
Enigma of amber eyes
{{/usCountry}}Enigma of amber eyes
{{/usCountry}}The leopard is not easy to spot in the foothills. The implacable vegetation shrouds the big cat, with a proclivity for ways and manners of a Greta Garbo reticence. Leopards tend to get active towards darkness and take great pains to avoid humans, slinking away or sinking into the natural cover without so much as a subdued snarl. The leopard’s restraint is evident in the fact that there has been no case of man-eating for decades in Haryana, Punjab and UT of Chandigarh, though leopards cornered/hounded in villages or fields did attack in self-defence.
If a roving leopard is spotted by chance, the observer/villager may not have a camera/cellphone or be close enough to record the ‘guldar’ (cat of a rosette mosaic). A providential sighting of a leopard in broad daylight materialised in March 2025 in the reeds clustering the rivulet of Jainti check-dam north of PGIMER. That leopard revealed itself because it had been tempted beyond discretion by the presence of young calves of feral cattle. It was captured for posterity on a cellphone by Sneh Sekhon. But such records are few and far between, apart from those yielded by 24x7 camera traps.
Last week, wildlife photographer Gagan Gyan bagged one from isolated Badi Sher (Morni Hills). He got a tip-off about the leopard’s presence from Gourav, a Morni bird guide. Gyan sped to the spot from Mohali. Upon reaching, he exercised patience and spent three hours with Gourav scanning the hillsides. Just as he was about to give up—a critical moment in wildlife sightings—lady luck flashed a fleeting smile.
There was the leopard for a few seconds gazing upon them with curious eyes of amber and pale-wash jade, the head poking from vegetation. Eyes of such allure that a Paris supermodel would trade her limbs for the pair. “It was a brief, unexpected encounter, but one that made the three-hour search worthwhile — a reminder that in the wilderness, patience and a little luck can yield unforgettable moments,” an elated Gyan told this writer.
vjswild2@gmail.com