The Signing Ceremony

20x24 oil on linen

I had the pleasure of meeting this family about 4 years ago. They have been devoted followers of the Indian holy woman Amah for a long time. This painting depicts an important event in their daughter's life. It is the "signing ceremony" where the little girl is learning the sanskrit symbols for om. The whole ceremony only takes a few minutes and the teaching portion of it only about 30 seconds, as Amah quickly wisks the child's finger through the granules in the bowl. Now I'm not sure if I could remember the symbol as quickly as it was done, but several days later when the family returned home, this little girl was writing om, much to the surprise of her parents who were not certain if the lesson had taken. You see, the whole ceremony takes place in a large tent, is very crowded and very noisey with traditional Indian music blaring through big speakers and this little girl doesn't like all the noise. When it was her turn to see Amah, suddenly the tent went silent. No one had requested this, it just happened. It would seem that someone was watching out for her.