Alisha Aranha's Instagram page is a treat to browse through. A nude woman flying into space, a couple that she spied on at a beach, a Goan aunty selling choriz at a market, or the random doodle. There is always variety. Her art, though, is the world where she escapes into. When not sketching, the 31-year-old economics graduate freelances as a stockbroker and copy editor for research papers. "Growing up, I developed a deep connection with the visual arts, and it became a point of expression for me," says Aranha. "But, while I wanted to pursue it professionally, back then, my parents didn't think art education was a viable profession. They wanted me to take up something that guaranteed me a pay cheque." Her inability to join art school or the absence of a mentor, however, didn't stop Mumbai-based Aranha from immersing herself into her passion.

Not only did she continue to engage in it while juggling her 9 to 5 job, in 2013, she also started Scribble Foundation, with the simple idea of "providing accessibility to a good art teacher" to kids from low-income backgrounds. "I knew several government schools didn't have an art teacher, let alone an art budget," Aranha recalls. Driven by the desire to expose young minds to a world of possibilities, Aranha with the support of her art graduate friends led painting workshops at shelters and child-care centres in the city. A year later, she launched the Classroom Canvas Project, which has since, travelled the length and breadth of the country, where she gets kids to collaborate with artists to paint the corridors and walls of their shelters and classrooms.

Alisha Aranha