The past many months have helped Narayani Shastri discover her love for painting. The actress, who lives in Goa with her artist husband Tony (Steven Graver), has taken a fancy to acrylic painting and it has helped her tremendously. She says, “My husband is a painter, so naturally, I took it from him initially to pursue painting as a hobby. However, with social distancing and the lockdown, I discovered that this was extremely cathartic and a meditative process. I went into a deep trance because the entire experience — mixing colours, using different shades and working on it for hours — helped me grow in the past several months. I won’t say I paint like a professional, but working on it in the past few months have made me realise that I can paint well.”

Narayani, however, denies that she got attracted to her husband because he is an artist. “Tony is an extremely good human being and he had wonderful qualities that attracted me to him. I loved being around him and his artworks or paintings are huge — around 8-9 feet of canvas. It could be one of the reasons, but not the main reason for my falling in love with him.”

The actress, who is settled in Goa, is unaffected by the huge influx of people moving from Mumbai to Goa during the lockdown months. She said, “They are all here for a temporary period. And it is also that time of the year when tourists and people will come here to holiday and relax. After a few months, they will go away and the city will continue to be peaceful like it has in the past.”