Baner women beat stress with paint brush

Jagran\City Plus

B D Narayankar

March 6, Aundh-Baner (Pune): Deadlines, exams and money worries equal headaches, depression and anxiety. Stress seems to be taking toll on many women professionals and housewives. Instead of hitting the bottle, like their male counterparts, they find a creative outlet in painting and drawing to beat stress with.

"People generally think housewives do not suffer from stress. Actually, the stress of running a family is sometimes killing as relations are based on emotional bonding. Spending a few hours painting or drawing leaves me in a calm state that is akin to deep meditation," says Rushali Kulkarni, a 32-year-old housewife.
Rinku Basu is a manager working at Geometrix. She confesses that painting helps her concentrate on work and relieve constant pressure.

According to Rinku, it was not easy being in her job and constant comparison with other professionals by her bosses didn't help. "I am a manager, which means every week's a killer. I have deadlines to meet. I rarely manage to press pause. I get anxiety headaches and often my brain is still so wired when I go to bed that I can't shut my eyes. In such circumstances, I like attending a painting and sketching workshop in Baner. Painting is powerful medium to change your state of mind and it gives you an outlet to forget about worldly problems," she explains.

Kalyani Narvane, a standard XII student says: "Many people say that stress doesn't exist for students. But I can certainly identify a number of aspects of my life that cause stress, particularly exams. I could definitely use a vent to let out stressed feelings. I am hopeful that my passion for painting and sketching will give me relief and reinvigorate my sapped energies."

Psychology experts say painting allows one to do something vital during stressful times, "Re-focus your activities onto things that are going to be achievable, personally rewarding, something you can exert some control over," says Dr Bharati Nimhan.

Gauri Bapat is a media manager for a leading company. She has immense pressure of meeting deadlines, volunteer work and socializing. "My best stress reliever is painting and acquiring new skills in drawing. Painting is a good mental exercise, just enough to help clear your mind before and after a day's work," she says.
"Painting is great for stress. But I do that out of passion. It makes me feel better and I enjoy driving people crazy with my artistic perseverance," laughs Shweta Chitale, an industrialist.

Psychology experts say painting allows one to do something vital during stressful times. It is personally rewarding, refocusses energy and allows one to exert some control.