Those were the Days…

If in one frame,cyclists and rickshaws find their way through puddles of water,thereby stirring reflections,in another one,villagers stand and chat as they go about their daily life. “These works recollect my carefree childhood spent in the open fields of rural Punjab,” says Tejinder Kanda,an alumnus of Chandigarh College of Arts,whose solo exhibition ‘Transmutation’ is on at Creativity Art Gallery,New Delhi.

Having moved to Delhi from Chandigarh a few years ago,the artist is still inspired by the place where he grew up — Batala. The small town fascinated him with its simplicity and greenery,where “even the monotony was special”,feels the artist. And these very influences are reflected in his paintings: most of them oils. “Colourful and misty rain-washed bylanes,river banks and ghats,temples and devotees,green belts,water,tea stalls,roadside gatherings and festivity — they are part real,part imaginary,moving from past to the present,” says Kanda,who has also captured the simple life of ordinary people,who live in the country’s numerous nameless urban villages.

The exhibition is on till November 15 at Creativity Art Gallery,New Delhi,10 am to 7 pm