The elephant and the cattle egret are said to have a symbiotic relationship, and are often seen together, lounging in the fields, like a pair of mismatched old ladies. The egret sits atop the elephant, feeding on its lice and ticks, and thereby ridding it of unwelcome parasites. Additionally, the egret gets a free safe ride and perch, especially in areas where trees are scarce; and, as if in gratitude, it warns of predators with its loud scream.
Rupa Samaria and the birds of India have a similar mutualistic relationship, benefiting and enriching each other’s lives and survival. Rupa’s creativity and curiosity feeds upon the various birds in the many different regions of India; their stories, their colors, their survival needs inspiring her as an artist and painter; and in return, Rupa has become a heralder for bird conservation and propagation. Just as John James Audubon painted the birds of the United States in the nineteenth century, Rupa's passion is to represent the birds of India, a total currently believed to be over 1300 species — surpassing the US’s by about a hundred. Audubon represented 489 North American bird species with over a thousand paintings during his lifetime. He died at age 65. Rupa’s paintings, over the last seven years, represent what she estimates to be over 300 species found in India; and she still has many productive years to go. Her website states that her goal is “to capture the brilliant colors of all things avian, across the Indian subcontinent.”
Blue tailed bee eater – 15” x 18” Indian Paradise Flycatcher on a Jacaranda tree – 16.5” x 21.5”
watercolor on paper
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If you have not met Rupa Sumaria yet, the painter with the glint in her eyes exuding her joyful energy for life, you are in for a treat. Trained and passionate artist, self-taught ornithologist, enthusiastic conservationist, lover and observer of birds. Not just bird watcher – bird observer.
For me, it all started in February 2023, when I met Rupa at the exhibition Birds of Aravalli. And since then, I have been a perfect fan.
When news of Rupa’s exhibition circulated around the school where I worked in Delhi, it became the topic of conversation in the hallways, with a chorus strongly suggesting that it was worth the hike up to Gurgao to experience Rupa’s Art. The bird artist, I was told, used to work here at the American Embassy School before I joined, and was now specializing in painting birds. Many talked about the pieces they had bought from her, be it an owl, a peacock, or one of the many species Rupa painstakingly paints with details and realism, echoing their vivid colors in nature and often perched on the very plant that is part of their ecosystem in the wild.
I arranged with another artist friend to drive to Museo Camera, in Gurgaon, a suburb about 45 minutes away from our neighborhood in Delhi, on a good day. The museum itself turned out to be worth the journey. Rupa’s paintings, paired with bird sculptures by another artist, Gopal Namjoshi, were superb. Rupa offered paintings of all sizes, some small enough to fit in a 4 x 4 frame, whereas others spanned over 3 feet. The birds featured were all native to the Aravalli mountain range that starts in Delhi and ends in Gujarat. But the highlight of the afternoon was certainly meeting Rupa herself. She invited me and my friend to the cafe at Museo, and we heard about her art journey. I left Museo Camera with four framed bird paintings, two watercolors and two acrylics, and the fuzzy feeling that I had made a new friend.
We kept in touch and I followed Rupa’s year on social media, through various exhibitions by both her and her husband, and heard about her numerous forays to Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, bird watching, observing, painting, and exhibiting.
We did not get a chance to meet again until the 19th of November, just before Thanksgiving break, and before we each went to different corners of India and the world for the holidays. If you are from India, and a follower of cricket, that date would have an ominous resonance in your head right now. Delhi was at its best that afternoon, the streets almost empty, everyone home glued to the Cricket World Cup final. A friend took me to La Planterie tea and plant shop in Aurobindo Place Market, and the moment I walked in and looked at their decor, I shouted “Rupa!”. My friend might have thought I was having a seizure. Before my eyes were three framed bird paintings that were clearly in Rupa’s style. No sooner had I texted her than she teleported to our tiny table at La Planterie, like a genie apparition. After almost a year of trying to plan a meeting, she had coincidentally been watching the cricket match at the Aurobindo Bar, two floors up!
Rupa’s paintings on display in the lovely tea cafe
and plant nursery in Aurobindo Place Market in Delhi
We agreed to meet the next day at Eleved in Malcha Marg. There, Rupa was bursting with enthusiasm about her exhibition that had just occurred in early November in Bengaluru, Air Fire Earth, with two other artists and nature lovers. She was also looking forward to two upcoming events: A young birders Camp in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. She would be the resident artist at a camp dedicated to exposing young high schoolers to ornithology and ecology. Her second project is more long term in nature. She is getting ready for another solo exhibition in March 2025, and plans to have many large scale paintings ready for that.
At ‘Eleved ‘ in Malcha Marg, the recently inaugurated cafe.
We met at her studio in early January. I was especially interested, as an educator, in how she had developed as an artist, and how her passion for birds solidified. Over a crunchy snack made with quinoa and millet, in her cozy and well lit studio, we spent a lovely afternoon together, and Rupa walked me through her story and her history.
Rupa Arora grew up in Patna, the capital of Bihar, bordering the Ganges river, and among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. She went to school at Notre Dame Academy, where her love for art was nourished and inspired when, in Fifth Grade and around age ten, she won first prize for a school art competition:
Rupa welcomed me into her home, where she spends 6-8 hours a day painting.
She has surrounded herself with nature at home.
“My penchant for birds and wildlife conservation has always had an influence on my art. I’m usually found in my studio in New Delhi, trying to convey both the magnificence and fragility of birds. through the use of watercolors, acrylic, and charcoal, on diverse mediums.”
Quote from Rupa’s website
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At six months with siblings Fifth Grade
Rupa Arora grew up in Patna, the capital of Bihar, bordering the Ganges river, and among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. She went to school at Notre Dame Academy, where her love for art was nourished and inspired when, in Fifth Grade and around age ten, she won first prize for a school art competition:
“I made a forest scene, with trees, and animals, and snakes. My best friend got second prize. She made the gingerbread house from Hansel and Gretel. We worked together on the terrace of Notre Dame school in Patna.”
The following year, she again won first prize for illustrating the school’s motto: “Lead me from darkness to light.” And after that, year after year, she won first prize for city-wide competitions sponsored by a national paint company, whose paint she still uses, as if in loyal allegiance.
“I still use the brand Camel. I have been trying out other brands as well,
but I always come back to Camel. I don’t want to leave them, ever.”
She was not a very good student academically, she claims, although that is hard to believe now, given her self-didactic current focus on ornithology and the science, folktales, and stories of birds that nourish her art.
Upon graduation, she knew the typical course of an arranged marriage right after school was not the one for her. She wanted to study art as much as she was determined to leave Patna. She set her heart on studying in the nation’s capital. Her parents supported her decisions, as long as she agreed to live in a safe place in Delhi, with Mrs. Gupta who taught at Delhi Polytechnic College and who lived in Greater Kalach. She also happened to be Hema Maira’s mom. Rupa did not know at the time how that decision would lead to her birding passion, albeit in a roundabout way. Hema was teaching at the American Embassy School in Delhi, and is, to this day (and since 1984) an avid birder and wildlife conservationist. Rupa lived with Hema’s mom for over seven years as a paying guest, and refers to her as Auntie.
First year of college, at “Auntie’s” House, with her sister and their roommates
Rupa arrived too late to apply to the College of Art in New Delhi where she wanted to study Fine Arts. She was advised by family and friends to study commercial art as it provided more job security in the long-term. She enrolled at the Delhi Polytechnic College, where “Auntie”, Hema’s mom, was teaching. After three years in commercial art, she taught at the college, and then joined an advertising company as a Junior Visualizer. The art director there was a graduate of Delhi’s College of Art, and they got along well. They had the same mentality and a couple of years later, in the year 2000, they were married. Her husband is the artist Sudesh Samaria.
A picnic along the Ganges, celebrating their first anniversary with a large group of friends.
Photographed here with her sister, Ritu
A more recent picture with Sudesh, at the Savoy in Mussoorie during Covid times.
They love to go there during snow times
Together, along with a third partner, they started a new company, which they named “Web Chutney”. Rupa found their first client and a year later, said this is not the life for me, “it is not my cup of tea, it is too boring”, and went back to teaching at the polytechnic. She taught photoshop and CorelDRAW, and they funded her to specialize in 3D animation. She soon became head of the department.
About ten years later, in 2011, she decided she was ready for a change. She went to Hema’s mom, who was like a second mom to her by now. She had lived with her during seven formative years. She told her she did not want to teach at the polytechnic any more. Hema was there and said, come work with me! Hema was head of the Indian Studies department at the American Embassy School, a creative program that combines arts and crafts with songs and stories in order to transmit the host country culture to students that are otherwise exposed to an american curriculum. Rupa was hesitant to commit, but as soon as she visited the class and saw the program in action, she was hooked. She joined and went to work there the next day. She started out as a substitute, and the following year became a full time teacher.
Hema Maira, former Indian Studies Teacher at AES, nature lover.
Her Linkedin profile says: “freelance traveller, wildlife presenter at schools,
author and wildlife conservationist” (Photo courtesy of the Jaipur Literary Festival website)
The book is co authored by Hema and some of her AES fifth grade students
One of the highlights of the Indian Studies program is the culminating overnight fifth grade field trip to Ranthambore National Park for wildlife observation, birdwatching, and tiger spotting safaris. Rupa chaperoned every year and became highly involved in its planning and organization, coordinating with Hema who had been chaperoning the trips for over thirty years. It is there that Rupa, alongside Hema, who was already an avid wildlife observer and conservationist, developed her love for wildlife, her passion for conservation, and her fascination with birds. Seeing them in their natural habitat, in the wild, with their variety of vivid colors, awakened a latent interest that she had developed in Mussoorie while in high school.
“At Ranthambore, I got introduced to birds. Hema showed me some bird books and I started recording my bird sightings on the book. Every time I saw a bird, I would record the date in the book. My first Indian Pitta sighting was in Ranthambore. This is how I started with birding.”
The well-worn book by Salim Ali, “The Birdman of India” on which Rupa records
her bird sightings all over India. Rupa was delighted that a book about his life
for children was just launched in Bangalore while she was exhibiting there, Nov. 2023.
They went bird watching together in Delhi parks, at Sanjay van forest and other locations. With Hema, instead of talking about lesson plans and the children, they would talk about birds!
In 2017, she decided to leave her job and her friends at the American Embassy School in order to dedicate herself to her longtime passion of painting, coupled with her newfound enchantment: BIRDS. Part of the reason was also to have more time for her son, who was now at a busy time in his academic life in high school. She laughs now at how she had wrongly assumed then that she would have more time for him once she was a freelance painter.
“I went to Hema and said: Hema, I am leaving. I am going to work on bird painting.
I need to focus on one thing at a time. I told the elementary principal: My life has changed!”
Rupa with her son who is now in college in Canada, studying and Media Art
The elementary principal at the time, Nada Collins, announced that Rupa will be leaving to work on bird painting full time. Her friends at school were shocked that she was leaving, but supported her decision. AES staff continue to attend her shows whenever she exhibits in Delhi. In 2017, she worked feverishly on painting birds on small canvas, large canvas, small paper, birds of all colors and sizes.
““I started painting birds nonstop, reading, learning about their habitats, collecting stories about birds. I read about the behavior, the stories behind each bird. Listening to stories about birds – that inspires me, and then I paint. I especially like getting stories from local people.”
Rupa’s 2017 paintings from her instagram posts
Her first public showcasing was at Melas at school. Most of the paintings were small and affordable. Her biggest painting was a sparrow, about 24 inches. She experimented with touch paint that activated a sensor emitting sounds of the bird calls in each painting. Although that initial experiment was not very successful, she later grew in using the technology. People loved her paintings and they sold like hot cakes.
Another Mela she participated in was the Sunday Farmer’s Market Melas at Bikaner House, with another artist, Niharika Rajput, who creates wildlife sculptures out of paper. A lady stopped by, looked at their artwork and said, what are you ladies doing here? You don’t belong in a mela. She told them that they were proper artists and should exhibit in galleries.
“Go exhibit in real galleries!”
Rupa’s opportunity to exhibit at a “real gallery” came knocking soon enough. Nin Taneja, a wildlife painter and photographer, saw her work at the melas and invited her to participate in an exhibit at the India Habitat Center, sponsored by the Nature Forever Society, in honor of World Sparrow Day, which falls on March 20th every year. House Sparrows were declared as the State Bird of Delhi, thanks to the campaign effort of the Nature Forever Society. Rupa was delighted to have her first exhibit at a “proper, real, gallery”, but she realized that she did not know much about sparrows. She had a few months to investigate and paint. And investigate she did. She got books on the topic, met with experts, interviewed renowned ornithologists, and did a deep dive into the sparrows of India. She wanted to know how many species there were in India, what their stories were; the folktales and myths around them. Hence began Rupa’s journey into a self-educated ornithologist, specializing in the birds of India, the tenth country in terms of diversity of bird species, and a country that is also on the migratory route of numerous other bird species from Central Asia and Siberia.
“When I was a child in Patna, sparrows were always around us. Now we hardly see them, due to many factors: noise pollution, matchbox-style buildings, pigeons competing for territory and dominating the scene, lack of food. I remember my grandmother used to spend time on the terrace, handpicking stones from rice and thereby leaving lots of leftovers for the sparrows and birds. Now, we just buy packaged goods. Sparrows used to be part of the family. But we can still get them back.”
Rupa not only became knowledgeable on sparrows, but also turned into an advocate for their protection and repopulation. She says we can bring the sparrows back into our cities with gestures as simple as putting out water and providing seeds for them. For the exhibition, she painted pairs of the various species of sparrows she learned about, both male and female. And she only focused on the sparrows found in India. March has become a landmark month for her, and the month when she aims to open new exhibits, in honor of the sparrows, regardless of the focus of each exhibition.
Since that exhibition, the work came rolling in. One interior decorator ordered many of her small paintings for a house in Goa. The year 2018 turned out to be a very busy year for Rupa. One project led to another, and she was soon firmly established as a bird artist. She gave each of her projects a focus, either focusing on a certain species of birds, like the Kingfisher or the Finch; or focusing on a specific region in India, such as Andhra Pradesh, or Uttarakhand.
Rupa quickly realized that for her to paint with the detail and realism that she desires, she needed to deepen her understanding of birds, and the specific bird she was representing. She sought out experts in the field, got involved in birding organizations, banded with wildlife artists and conservationists, and became a self-taught ornithologist, collector of all sorts of bird facts and stories, myths and folklore. She has a well-stocked library of bird books scattered all around her studio, under her coffee table within quick reach, frayed and tattered, clearly often referenced, not staid on a bookshelf for show. Most of the books are about the birds of India, but her collection includes international books as well.
The experts that Rupa consulted with in person include big names in the fields of conservation and ornithology, such as Bikram Grewal, Nikhil Deasar, and Vijay Dhasmana.
To find out more about these experts, click here!
This book has been a big inspiration to me. When Nikhil recommended it, I thought it was too expensive, but then my sister gave it to me as a birthday gift.”
Each one of her exhibitions has a background story and is preceded by a series of meticulous preparations and research. A look through Rupa’s instagram page gives a clear overview of her many projects since 2018. After the March 2018 exhibition for World Sparrow Day, Rupa was involved that year in one project after another. Here is a snapshot of a few of them, with the stories of how Rupa developed the concept for each one.
THE MANY EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS OF 2018
After such a busy 2018 year, Rupa was now a confident artist, her art clearly belonging in shows and galleries, as that lady had kindly predicted at Bikaner House the previous year. She now felt ready, productive, inspired, and well informed about the birds of India. She was ready for her first solo show, a significant milestone in any artist’s life. She spent the year 2019 in low profile, painting and preparing for the solo show that was to take place at the India Habitat Center, a well respected venue for Indian artists. The date: March 18, 2020! Rupa had over 50 paintings of various sizes ready for the exhibit, posters and invites were printed, the public informed. By the beginning of March, Covid was already creeping into India, restrictions were underway, schools were closed ahead of the curfew and total lockdown of March 22nd. The exhibition was “postponed until further notice”, and normal life as we know it took a different turn.
Solo show and postponement
Rupa spent the Covid months – which stretched into two years of school closure and a moratorium on assemblies – painting, and painting, and painting some more. While some of us baked and others got on Duolingo, Rupa increased her collection by a hundred paintings. In fact, she painted so much that she is now recovering from carpal tunnel, with the help of daily exercises and physical therapy.
MURAL ON HER TERRACE, APRIL 2020
The show was able to open its doors in March 2022, again to coincide with World Sparrow Day; it drew many patrons and attracted the press, with several articles confirming Rupa as an important wildlife artist, conservationist, educator, and bird connoisseur. The India Habitat Center saw a showcasing of over 150 of Rupa’s paintings, and most were sold by the time the show closed.
SOLO SHOW HAPPENS AT LAST
Rupa learned her lesson, and given the world’s uncertainties, which we previously never considered, the posters and invites were distributed online this time: no more hard copies!
With the heart of an educator and conservationist, Rupa used the opportunity to educate the public, through the voices of children, about birds, their habitats, and their protection and conservation.
See here the Poem Bird Call by Anuj Sherlal written by Rupa’s friend Anuj for the exhibition
JUST A SAMPLE OF PRESS ATTENTION THAT THE EXHIBIT ATTRACTED
And now, we are back where we started - at the Exhibition where I met Rupa.
A highlight of 2023 for Rupa was being part of this camp to introduce adolescents 14-18 to birding. Her part was a three day workshop to guide them to paint a bird of their choice, and to guide them to develop their own style.
As is clear from many of the above activities, Rupa has not left education entirely. She finds ways to insert workshops and talks for children in most of her exhibitions. In fact, just last weekend, February 2024, she held a workshop for teenagers which also attracted many adults, at the India Habitat Center.
ONCE AN EDUCATOR… “I USE THESE STONES TO TEACH BEGINNERS HOW TO BEGIN DRAWING A BIRD. THEY CAN CHOOSE ONE OF THE STONES AS THE BIRD’S BODY, AND THEN THEY JUST ADD THE HEAD, THE BEAK, THE WINGS, AND THE LEGS”
AUSTRALIA, JULY 2022: EVEN ON A FAMILY VACATION, RUPA
IS SPREADING HER KNOWLEDGE, HER PASSION, AND HER ART. Rupa also did various workshops for children in different villages around India during the Covid slow down.
Rupa does not expect to have too many activities in 2024 as she is preparing for a solo show in 2025. Not much is to be divulged about that show until closer to its opening. But it will involve large scale paintings of many species of the North East birds of India.
Another project that she and her husband are ready for is an expansion of their studio space. They are remodeling an apartment in their same neighborhood to be used as their studio. It has a top floor terrace that overlooks deer park and gives a view of the peacocks there.
Rupa starts her day with exercise – a vigorous walk at the Siri Fort Sports complex, followed by some yoga at home and some strength training exercises. Her weights sit by her window, next to her canvas, perhaps reminding her to take breaks during her long painting stretches. In the late mornings, she likes to cook and make sure the ingredients are healthy. She has a helper who does the chopping and meal prepping, but she likes to oversee the cleanliness of the kitchen and mix the ingredients herself. After that, her studio is her kingdom. She spends about six to eight hours a day there, thinking, researching, and painting. Sometimes, she is just sitting and thinking, planning for her next project. Music helps her focus. She has her Siri bluetooth speaker on hand, and she listens to podcasts, to the news, and to music. Her taste is quite eclectic.
“”Music helps me calm down and paint. Sometimes I listen to heavy music, and sometimes the music is light. I know all the lyrics to Jesus Christ Superstar. And I love all of Billy Eilish’s songs. I love Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - he is a Pakistani musician. I love the Beatles, Doors, Jimmy Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin.”
With so much time spent in her studio, she says: “My friends have given up on me”. Her work requires even more commitment than a 9-5 job, as it comes with passion and enthusiasm.
Painting a blue-throated Macaw - Nov. 2022
Time, passion, and enthusiasm seem to be the key trio in the making of an artist. My interest in interviewing Rupa was delving into how she developed as an artist. A few key elements stand out: encouragement in her youth; courage as a risk-taker; the willingness to pivot away from the familiar when she either felt a calling elsewhere, or when the familiar stopped being a place of growth; the ability to focus deeply into her subject, take the time to perfect her skills and knowledge, meet and develop partnerships with other artists, use the expertise of others, and sit down for six to eight hours daily engrossed in her passion. It means seeking out new challenges and creative outlets; learning new techniques; experimenting with different materials. It means embracing failure and trying again. It means blocking out distractions and saying no to intrusions.
Passion and enthusiasm, Rupa has aplenty. Time, she very deliberately structures into her routine, creates the welcoming space for it in her cozy well lit studio, surrounds herself with plants and books and music that inspires, and hunkers down to think, research, plan, and paint.
See more of Rupa's paintings of bird species here, along with their birdcall
THE MOST RECENT FINISHED PAINTING BY RUPA:
A PAIR OF “PASSER DOMESTICUS'’
MALE AND FEMALE: JANUARY 26, 2024 13 X 11 INCHES ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
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