Welcome to our section where we bring you stories and conversations with inspirational women who’ve changed lives and given back to the community. Today, Nidhi Mariam Jacob, an artist, teacher, and muralist shares her story.
She shared how her life took a 180-degree turn six years ago when she adopted a baby girl with her husband. That is when she got the courage to stand up for herself. She talks about how her relationship with her husband started falling apart. Her journey further revolves around managing her financial situation and meeting her current partner, Bhavana. It was then that her life took off as an individual.
A woman who loved art as a child talks about the inspiration that comes from her personal life. While she was married, Nidhi started painting on humans to explore intimacy and other aspects of life and called her project ‘Breathing Canvas’. She continues to create art that is bold and expressive. For her, it is about creating transformational experiences for her subjects and herself.
Watch the full discussion below or listen to the podcast here.
Timeline of the Video
0:18 – Introduction
2:01 – Huge transformation of life
“… And I met this fiercely independent woman, who had such strong values and ideas about life and what women should be and she had that belief in herself. I feel that at some point the friendship there turned into something more. I wondered, ‘what is happening to me?’ ‘What is going on here?’. I didn’t know whom to talk to and the funny thing is that I spoke to my mother at one point. I told her how I am not happy in my marriage and she already knew and she pointed out that I am smiling a lot these days.”
8:28 – People’s reaction to the transformation
11:26 – Managing her finances after separation
“…Because I initiated my separation I told the kids’ father, ‘You only pay for school fees and I will take care of everything else.’ Once it was agreed upon, it was then that I started wondering, ‘How am I going to do that?’ ‘How am I going to pay the rent?’ I have a little animal farm and a family of five lives there and I had to pay a salary to them.”
16:55 – An artist since childhood
16:57 – Inspiration from personal life
20:50 – Starting off her ‘Breathing Canvas’
25: 54 – A series dedicated to ‘orgasm flowers’
“…I wrote down the sensations when I feel an orgasm and it came out of nowhere. Then I painted a flower with that description and what was most fascinating for me was the kind of flower that I painted for myself based on the writing. It came from my imagination and it was like poetry.”
39:09 – Rapid fire round
All images used are the sole property of Nidhi Mariam Jacob and cannot be used without prior permission.
