Kyoto to Karnataka

Megumi Sakakida, a 26-year-old artist from Japan, has embraced Bangalore and made its legends and rituals a part of her paintings

The humble ragi mudde, a traditional Kannadiga staple made with millet flour, seems an unusual choice as a source of inspiration for art. But Megumi Sakakida, a graduate of art and design from Kyoto University, is not your usual artist. Living in Bangalore since 2011 when she got admitted to the reputed Chitrakala Parishat for a post-graduate degree in painting, 26-year-old Sakakida has made the state her home and intends to continue living here. She has even picked up Kannada in just a few months. When asked how the city's notorious autorickshaw drivers react to her fluency in the language, she says, "When they see me, they ask for a fare of Rs 1,000 but when I scold them in Kannada, they smile and switch the meter on."

Her abstract interpretation of the ragi mudde is one of the 20-odd quirky works on display at her solo exhibition at Rangoli Metro Arts Centre which starts today. Most of her works comprise sketches of her impressions of life in Kundapura, a coastal village in Karnataka, where she has spent time with local families. She contrasts this with life in Japan. Thus, a few paintings are of the wedding of her close friend in Kundapura, with different scenes from the ceremony. The artist has painted herself into some of the works, including one where she is busy grinding coconut as part of the wedding preparations. "I ground till my fingers bled," she says. She has also put her "soul" into some of the paintings, a soul that resembles a white animal and is mostly happy with the proceedings. Another painting is of Hanuman carrying the mountain with the Sanjeevani herb with Japanese inscriptions. She says she really liked the story and wanted her fellow-citizens to know the tale as well. The painting also has the the artist in it, carrying a "mountain" of food.

There are also pictures of meals partaken in Karnataka and in Japan and a self-portrait of how she imagined she would look like as an Indian bride, with jasmine flowers in her hair. That dream came true last month when she married one of her classmates from Chitrakala Parishat, who works as a designer. And yes, she did wear flowers in her hair for the wedding, she says happily.

But how did a young Japanese girl, who had lived in Kyoto all her life, meld so effortlessly in a completely alien country? It all began when she started working in an Indian restaurant in Kyoto after failing to find a job following graduation. She says she became friends with the three chefs there who were from Karnataka and also enjoyed the food. So in 2009, she accompanied one of the chefs when he returned home to Kundapura. "I felt like I was coming back to my hometown," says Sakakida, who adds with charming enthusiasm that "it's just that everyone was Indian, and everything, all the signs, were in Indian languages." She decided then that she wanted to become as Indian as possible and not just a traveller. Dressed in a floral print salwar kameez with a small bindi, mangalsutra and silver anklets, she definitely looks the part. She says that she has learnt to cook a bit of  Kannadiga food, including ragi mudde and neer dosa, but then inserts a caveat, "I am better at eating than cooking."

After her visit in 2009, she returned to India in 2011 to pursue her post-graduate studies at Chitrakala Parishat, which is when she picked up Kannada. "My classmates used to joke in Kannada and I wanted to join them," she says. So the determined Sakakida went for classes every Saturday for three months and became fluent soon enough. She has since been working at a travel consultancy but plans to quit and join her husband in his design work.

Though life here is completely different compared to what it was like in Japan, the young artist, who ties her hair in two ponytails, says she is much more comfortable in India. "In Japan, people are very strict, especially about punctuality. They're also very shy," she says.

She plans to live in Bangalore and visit Japan once a year. Her parents, she says, are happy with her decision though she is their only child. Her mother shares her love for India and has already visited five times. "My father was very surprised with my decision but being a shy man, he just said 'Ohhh'," she says mimicking him with a smile. One of the few things she misses is Japanese food, a craving she has once a month. "Or maybe two or three times a month," she adds after a little reflection.

The exhibition, "Nanna Bharatiya Jeevana", will be on view at Gallery Belaku, Rangoli Metro Art Centre, MG Road till June 8