Vashi2Panvel.Com: Navi Mumbai: February 21: She is an example of today’s woman who excels not only as a family person but also as a career woman, ready to take on the world. Deepa Soman, a resident of sector 17, Nerul comes across as a woman who epitomizes the ‘Can Do, Will Do’ attitude that is the motto of her marketing research firm Lumiere. Her career is not the only thing that sets her apart from others. As an avid lover of nature and travel, she has developed a unique taste in collecting ‘owly’ knickknacks.
Didn’t get that? Well, Deepa has a fascination for owls and collects items of art that have an owl sculptured or engraved. She says, “Even if I go to the most crowded and fascinating gallery, my eyes would automatically get attracted to anything that resembles an owl.” Considering that owls in India are generally looked down upon as a bad omen that is a strange fascination to have.
But there is an interesting story to this. “My first owl piece came about 16 years back when I had been to Sariska Wildlife Park and I was attracted to this wooden owl. But the real thing happened some 4 years ago. An injured barn owl came to our place. We nursed it back to health and its grace simply bowled me over,” she reveals. And also apparently, it was just a few days before the owl paid a visit that she had been to Delhi where she couldn’t decide what she wanted to buy- a ring with an owl on it or a heard of elephants embossed on it. And finally she zeroed in on the one with the elephants. “It was so amazing. I rejected the owl and there she came to my place. I even joked to my colleagues about what would have happened if I had picked up the owl ring and not the one with the elephants!” she reminiscences. The whole family, including her son Rahul and daughter Riya took special care of the bird and took care not to let their dog Brandy frighten the poor thing. “She was an amazing bird. She quickly understood that we were trying to help her and in a period of just four days there developed a kind of mutual respect between us,” she says.
The owl not only caught her imagination since that day, but it also made her a nature and wildlife enthusiast. As a consequence of which, she joined the BNHS Navi Mumbai Chapter and since then has been birding with the group. In fact, she even participated in the recently concluded HSBC Bird race at Mumbai.
Since her unexpected birdy visitor, her collection has expanded considerably, with pieces from various parts of the world entering her unique collection. Two soapstone towel holders from friends, a carved wooden keychain, a mantle piece from Thailand, an egg cup cum whistle made of ceramic, a magnificent wooden piece from Kenya, an owl doorbell again a gift from a friend, a detailed wooden piece from Indonesia and the list goes on. She even gifted a silver owl pendant to one of her friends recently. And the craze has transferred to her family too, as they try and expand her collection as much as possible. “I made an owl book mark for mummy,” says Riya, which just proves the point.
So which is her favourite owl amongst all? “It is the first one I got from Sariska. It wasn’t a conscious attempt to by anything owly back then,” pat comes her reply. And as one sees her off the beat collection, one wonders why owls, and nothing else. “An owl to me symbolizes grace, spirit of solitude and self sufficiency at its best. But to tell you the truth, these days I have been stereotyped by my friends as being an owly person. I don’t want to end up only owls in my showcase! It narrows my sense of choosing art. So I’m consciously trying to break the habit. But it’s not all that easy!”
By Lakshmi Subramaniam
