I painted a dancer recently and posted a picture of it online so my friends and family could see it even if they are far away from me physically. I find that playing with colors is an uplifting activity for me, and shifts my mood. Sometimes I look at what I have painted and try to read into it what might have been on my mind. Painting the dancer made me realize I had missed dancing for sometime, and since the dancer had her hands up, I read that I had thrown my hands up about the situation I was in. A friend from other end of the world commented on that painting-picture online. She wrote, that it seemed as if the dancer was reaching up to grab all the colors of the world with both hands. I liked that reading of the painting better than my own. Her distant thought shared as a comment, rippled through cyberspace to shift my own read on my own painting and made it better.

This also reminded me of how in Indian culture, the artist and the audience both have an equal place of mutual respect for the shared co-creation experience, where the audience inspires the artist. All performances begin with a prayerful bow to the audience for their patronage. I am grateful for my friend's comments.