"If they looked closely, in the background of every painting, they could see little splodges of paint. Sometimes made with fingers, sometimes with brushes made of sticks, reeds, and flowers. Together, the boy and his grandfather had turned every one of them into something wonderful. All it took was time and attention."
A grandparent's love for his grandchild is at the heart of this story. The young boy loves to paint as does his dadaji; they live together in a house filled with their artwork. The boy learns how to paint using fingers first, then paintbrushes. His grandfather is his teacher, and is soon helping other village children learn as well.
The two of them do everything together, spending their days selling the fruit they grow, sharing food with the children of their village, and creating art. They sleep together under the stars when they can ... they have each other and no one else.
"Don't ever leave me," the boy would say.
"I won't," his grandfather would reply,
holding the boy so tight that his bones hurt ...
holding the boy so tight that his bones hurt ...
but one day, he did."
Nothing helps the boy deal with his grief. Finding a box containing his grandfather's best paintbrush, with a love note from Dadaji, does not help. He cannot touch it. It brings only heartache. He puts it away. Time rolls on. Nothing is the same; no painting, no night skies to put them to sleep, no paper boats to float, no children coming to make art. He puts all paintings where they cannot be seen.
When a little girl comes to his door asking for a painting lesson, he refuses to teach her. The girl does not leave; her mother had been taught to paint by his dadaji and she wants the same. It is just what the grown boy needs. He remembers, once again, all he has learned and begins using the paintbrush left to him. Using all he has been taught by his beloved Dadaji, and with the love he carries in his heart, he returns to painting and to teaching the children.
As one might expect in a book about art and artists, Ruchi Mhasane's tender artwork places readers in a place of warmth and joy when the two are together. The palette changes dramatically for the boy as he grieves the loss of his grandfather. It does not change until the young girl arrives with her request. As they work together the boy's joy in life as an artist returns.
An author's note explains that the story was inspired by the love she had for her own grandfather.
Love does live on ...
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