Do You Really See the Painting?

  •   Mon, Aug 04 2025
  •   By Adlen D'Souza

August 4, 2025

Back in 2017 a few of my college friends and myself skipped a few classes to celebrate our dear besties birthday. Took a bus to the heart of the city Mangalore and busted into a restaurant named ‘Palki’. It is famous for their outstanding dish, ‘Chicken Ghee Roast’. I highly recommend it! Anyway, as we giggled our way into the restaurant and sat on chairs in the not so crowded restaurant, a unique painting just hanging on my right side caught my eye. It had the catchiest gaze of a woman; it looked ridiculous as the painting felt out of place. At first, I burst into laughter and called out to my friends to laugh at it along with me. Coarsely we mocked her eyes, the shape of her head and even suggested that she resembles one of our professors. It was the best laugh we had for that day.

Eventually everyone dissolved into discussing other topics and of course deciding our order, we did not want to miss the ghee roast. Some chicken lollipop, prawns butter garlic and squid pepper fry got us all excited for the meal. As the waiters served us our starters, we began hogging, savoring the taste and exchanging glances of satisfaction and eventually the table got quieter. Somewhere in the middle of this my attention went to the painting once again. This time as well I reacted but only with a smile, as if I already knew that person in the painting and this smile was one of acknowledgement. She looked all too familiar now, not because she resembled one of our professors but because my mind had already registered her face. Seeing her the second time made me observe features beyond the funny eyes and the shape of her head.

There was a deep blue glaze below her eye, a big red dot on the forehead which we call ‘bindi’, and jewelry that gave her the feminine look. “HEY!!” Madhu yelled and asked if I was going to take the prawn that was oddly left as each of the four of us got our share. “YES” I responded and pounded on that prawn and gobbled it away. Then came the main course; the roti, naan and the star of the show, ‘chicken ghee roast’. With smirks and watery mouths, we patiently waited for the waiter to serve and leave us with the most awaited dish. Madhu mockingly suggested that they should prepare this exact meal in our hostels for our lunch and David added, “Sure why not and a tall glass of ice cream along with it wouldn’t be much.”

Giggling and munching our way into brunch time, we decided to order the sizzling brownie for dessert. With the brownie as a make do for a cake, and a seriously out of tune birthday song we sliced the heartwarming desert and savored its sweetness. Given that it was a Friday and that we bunked the 2nd half of our classes for the day, sitting about 15km away from our college responsibilities with our bellies full, that birthday celebration was no ordinary one, it was magical! Finally, as we waited for the check, those shady blue eyes called out to me from the painting. And through my peripherals, once again I had established contact with this woman in that frame. This time the portrait was talking to me.

The painting was a replication of a sombre sunset. With her bindi as the sun, her cheekbones the lake and her forehead the sky. It brought a settling sense of calmness like the one you would see at the beach. But the details were in the structure of her face and the loud but silent shine in her eye. As though she had been through so much pain but somehow pulled in all of it just to pass a smile. The angle of posture suddenly made sense, as if she had fought a war and survived and now she sits taking pride in her own victory. The symphony of bringing all these features together to paint a glorious woman onto a canvas made a silent ode to the artist. But why did it take me 3 full glances to see the painting?

That night I lay on my bed in my hostel room thinking of that woman and imagining her portrait just hanging off that wall in the restaurant, probably in a pitch-dark room. It was quite a large painting and so close to my face while I was at the restaurant, yet there was a haven and hearth difference in my understanding between the first and the last time I saw her. It made me wonder that night, is this how I pursue people and situations around me? Do I just see them from a far and judge them for their appearance? Do I mock their silent smiles and loud silences? Do I laugh at their posture and the haste in their walks for something to giggle about? Do others do the same to me?

The next morning was a rather slow one, we had only one lecture class, so I took my time with my tea. Seated at the corner most place in the dining area, I noticed the girls that walked into the mess hall. Some walked fast, some slow. A few giggled with excitement and a few walked with no expressions. Some came in together and some walked by themselves. A girl sat right in front of me on the opposite table with her cup of coffee I guess and the day's breakfast, smiling and waving at her friends that were passing by and when they left, I saw her smile shrink. I began sipping my tea rather slowly now noticing her shoulders droop and how she sank into her breakfast. A few more of her friends walked by and she jolted into this happy smiling person and waved vigorously, but as they passed by she once again resolved into that shrunken posture. For the next 20 min or so she stayed like that, slowly sipping her coffee and munching her breakfast.

There was this small voice in me that wanted to smile at her with the intention of making an acquaintance and so I waited for her to raise her head, but she didn’t. As though lost in that whirlpool of coffee that was never ending. She quietly got up, disposed of her plates and with a slow stride proceeded to her room. I quickly interrupted her and said “Hi!” with a rather welcoming tone. She reciprocated my energy and said “Hey”. I told her that I saw her while she was having her breakfast and thought of talking and so introduced myself. We spoke at length standing right at the corner of the mess hall. Eventually, she mentioned that she really misses her family and is feeling very homesick. I was in my 3rd year of Engineering back then and she was a freshman in her 1st year. I told her my room number and said “Anytime you feel blue, just come to my room, we can watch a movie, gossip or even listen to music and just enjoy together”. Her gloomy face quickly changed into a happy one and it stayed the same even after I waved goodbye.

This time, I did not have to look at the portrait 3 times to see it clearly. It was right there; I just had to look at it once in a considerable manner. I had to just acknowledge what was in front of me rather than ignore it. I wonder how many of us do the exact same thing day in and day out. Do we judge that glimpse of a smile and misinterpret it for something. Do we assume that someone’s giggles mean that they are happy. Do we assume that their silence means that they are fine? Do we all need a minimum of 3 glances’ to really see the painting? That one ever so slight event back in 2017 changed how I interpreted people and instilled in me a habit to pause and analyze things. To admire the beauty, to appreciate chaos and to observe rather than see.

A few years later I visited the same restaurant with my family to share my joy of the memorable “chicken ghee roast”. We were seated at a table in the center of the dining area, which was perfect because the portrait of the woman was once again on my right. She still looked that same with the gaze of a victorious warrior and humbling yet glorious attitude. This time rather, I did not giggle, did not laugh, silently admired her hanging on the wall. I then clicked a picture of her and continued to decide our order for the evening. I am still in contact with my junior who I befriended that morning in the dining room, she is working for a startup now and is the happiest person I know. We often exchange texts and messages for all things happy and sad.

I want to share the picture of that portrait I took and leave it here for you all to see what my 19-year-old self-had seen and learnt. I hope you see people deeper than they show, admire them the way they are and embrace the fact that we are humans. Don’t be quick to judge and don’t take haste in creating opinions. Some smiles aren’t real, and some frowns weren’t intentional. Take a pause, root yourself and try to really see the painting because one day it could be your portrait and someone may be looking at you.

 

 
By Adlen D'Souza
Adlen D'Souza is currently working for LTIMindtree, Mumbai as a data scientist having 5 years of experience in the data science field.
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