Nothing seems to dampen Anjolie Ela Menon's  intense desire to create. One of India's most celebrated artists, she remains down to earth and retains a keen interest in people and happenings all around her which are reflected in her works.

Meeting her at her artistically  furnished residence in Delhi's Nizammudin area, is a relaxing experience. She has the ability of making visitors feel at ease. She displays an interest and zest for life, often relating incidents unconnected with her work. She also displays a surprising knowledge of the position of the artist in society, whether capitalist or Marxist. There is in her a healthy curiosity for life. Many of her  new works are still in the experimental stage. She reveals, "I am basically very lethargic. I have to be driven to do something. I must admit, that I have been really driven to paint, in fact it is the only thing that I am driven to do."

Driven, she certainly has been. After a brief spell at the J.J. School of Art, Bombay, she earned  a degree in English literature and held her first solo exhibition when she was just 18. As she recalls, " Work metamorphoses slowly. There are no quantum jumps as such. No sudden successes. Just small milestones at a time."

Anjolie has always believed in being focused. " I remember my first exhibition very fondly. But I also realise that when one is young, there is a certain arrogance of age. I had put up all of my 53 paintings in that exhibition. Today I wouldn't dream of putting up more than 20 pieces, and I'd be very selective." Despite that her exhibition was immensely popular.

In the early fifties she won a French Government scholarship to study at the Ecole Nationale Superieur Des Beaux Arts in Paris. Before returning home, she travelled extensively in Europe and West Asia, studying Romanesque and Byzantine art. Her husband's career in the navy, also took her to interesting and often exotic destinations. However, she shrugs off any illusions that travelling with her husband gave her the much-desired international exposure. Though she is quick to admit, " Travel does enrich one. Artists are very restless by nature. At least I am... But I hated those hundreds of moves that one had to make while in the navy. Of course, when I was younger I took it in my stride. I really cannot say that I got my exposure from the navy, in fact the navy landed me in quite a few strange places. I got my exposure from travelling alone, while studying in Paris."

Apart from travelling, she believes that her family has been immensely supportive of her work. Reflecting not just on her own issue, but an issue that poses a challenge to every working woman, she says, " I think it is very important for a woman to have a supportive family. It is important for a woman's work to be taken seriously. And I think our generation tried to balance both things out. We did our work well too, and still cared for our families, irrespective of our profession." Anjolie feels  that the generation after hers, has not been that successful in juggling office and home. " I think young women now spend a lot of energy fighting those feminist battles. In a way it is easier to give in and play your various roles simultaneously." Indeed that is something she has done very well.

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