Grandpa Talks to Geet About Her First Mehndi
Grandpa: Geet, tell me about your mehndi. How did you come up with these two designs?
Geet: Well, for this side, I saw a picture on Pinterest that I thought was really cool. I started with that and then just added a lot of my own designs to it.
Grandpa: And you had never done mehndi on yourself before?
Geet: No! This was actually my first time.
Grandpa: Really? Then how long did it take you?
Geet: Oh, a long time! Maybe three or four hours.
Grandpa: Three or four hours! And what about the other hand, the one with the star-glove design?
Geet: For that one, I remembered a little trick I had learned a few years ago. I used it with the mehndi and then added some lace-type designs around it.
Grandpa: How long did that one take?
Geet: Maybe two or three hours.
Grandpa: Ah, so by the second hand you had already become faster!
Geet: Well… not exactly! It was faster because it was on the back of my hand, which is easier. And the design was simpler.
Grandpa: There must have been another reason. You were in a hurry, weren’t you?
Geet: Yes! I was going to my friend’s house, so I had a lot of motivation to finish quickly!
Grandpa: Now the truth comes out! And did your friends like your mehndi?
Geet: Yeah! They liked it when I shared the pictures.
Grandpa: And I heard you weren’t finished with mehndi even after spending all those hours on your own hands.
Geet: No! My friend Tanvi wanted me to do hers too. That’s actually why I wanted to get to her house. So I did a little doodle design on her hand.
Grandpa: Very good! Did you show all this artwork to your teacher?
Geet: No!
Grandpa: Why not?
Geet: Grandpa! It was just mehndi!
Grandpa: Just mehndi? For your first attempt, you patiently sat for hours, copied an idea you liked, changed it with your own imagination, remembered an old trick, created another design and then went and did mehndi for your friend too!
Geet: Okay, Grandpa! 😄
Grandpa: That is how an artist begins, Geet. First you see something beautiful, then you try it yourself, and eventually you start creating something that is completely your own.
One day, when you are much older, you may see these pictures again and smile: “That was the first time I ever did my own mehndi.”
And Grandpa will proudly remember it too.
