Satya Srinivas pays a tribute to mothers and grandmothers at Goethe Zentrum, the space where his former house stood

Satya Srinivas grew up in Journalist Colony, Banjara Hills, before a few office complexes came up in the residential colony. His father was a journalist with Andhra Jyothi and Srinivas grew up interacting with children of fellow journalists in the locality.

Memories of the 80s and 90s are vivid, especially those associated with his mother and mothers of his friends. “We were a small family, but my mother would cook food that’s sufficient to feed 10 people. My friends used to visit frequently and she loved to feed them,” he says. A watercolour portrait of his mother is his way of paying a tribute to her.

On display at Goethe Zentrum, the very plot where his house once stood, are watercolour paintings and sketches of elderly women. “Mothers are nurturers,” he says, sharing another anecdote. “A friend, Vagesh, lived in a village in Mahabubnagar. His grandmother would cook more than required on a daily basis. There was a bus stop close to their house; passengers would get off the last bus and spend the night at the bus shelter until they get another bus at dawn. She found happiness in feeding these strangers. We rarely find such mothers and grandmothers today.”

Satya Srinivas works as a development and environment consultant, with a focus on community-based natural resource management. He exhibited his photographs along with his friend, T.Sivaji, who was showcasing his paintings, in 2004.

That exhibition, ‘The Green Shadows’, stemmed from their work in forests and tribal development. “Nothing inspired me to hold an exhibition after that,” says Srinivas.

The idea of painting portraits of mothers appealed to him. He sourced photographs from family and friends. “Some shared group photographs, a few gave passport-sized images and some didn’t share any image. I had to rely on memory,” says Srinivas. He chose watercolours to arrive at varied skin textures and moods and each painting took him anywhere from three hours to a few days, depending on the season and the type of paper used.

It’s a homecoming for him to showcase his work at Goethe Zentrum. “When I learnt that Goethe Zentrum had opened here, I was pleased. My mother played veena, my sister was a dancer and my brother-in-law was a theatre artiste. So it was heart-warming to know that our former house is now a space for education, art and culture,” he says with a smile.

On August 8, the artist will host ‘#20:Down Memory Lane’, a session with poems and memoirs of the neighbourhood; from 5.30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

#20Memoirs is on view at Goethe-Zentrum till August 13.