Mrs. M. S. Subbulakshmi, an Indian Carnatic singer who was the first lady to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour. But before all of that, she was an artist, not with brushes and paint like me but instead with her beautiful voice. Her passion intrigued me and her voice held a special place in my heart, just like it did to millions of her listeners. Her music remains nostalgic to me as it was a significant part of my childhood. While her soft voice caressed me, her high notes brought a certain high over me that pushed me harder to achieve anything and everything I desired. She made me feel empowered as an artist. As you might have guessed, the first encounter I had with her was at a cassette store, when cassettes were still a thing then. I saw a huge poster of her holding an instrument, displayed on one of the aisles. The picture held an aura of her personality and I really wanted to have one of her portraits in my room. Then the thought of painting it myself occurred which led to the fairly small, 8 x 8cm canvas I had painted of her in one of my previous projects, Art48.