The thread that spans the years: Veda, Me, and the Ocean

Veda's Conversation with the Ocean no sig

Meenakshi Mohan

I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream

Van Gogh

I grew up in the suburbs of Kolkata, where the balcony of our house faced the Hooghly River, just a few miles from the ocean, and the sound of the waves echoed up to our balcony. As a child, I could spend hours watching the waves, going in both directions – sometimes racing to mingle with the sea, and at times retreating like a restless child. I loved the sound of the water. It was there, on that edge of tide and imagination, that I learned to weave my stories on the canvas of the water, and then to bring them to my easel.

Years later, my life’s currents carried me far from that river to the United States. But my love of those songs the waves sang stayed with me throughout. When my granddaughter, Veda, came into our lives, we made several trips to Maine – my daughter and son-in-law’s vacation home, where the Penobscot Bay stretched out just beyond their yard.

It was there that my childhood dreams began to play out again. Veda and I would sit together, watching the waves and listening to their whispers and rumbles, captivated by the morning sky painting the ocean in an ethereal blend of apricot, rose, and purple. We would walk the beaches. I will hold on to her tiny hand in mine. There, we would collect treasured shells and stones. It was as if I were reliving my deep connection to water.

Meenakshi Mohan

Earlier this year, when she was traveling back to Maine with her parents, I requested, “Veda, please tell the ocean that I miss its songs, its stories, and its many hues.”

The message I received back was priceless. My daughter sent me a black-and-white photograph of Veda standing before the vast water, delivering the message, “Ocean, Ocean, my grandmother told me a tale for you.”

And when she returned, she presented her offerings to me – a small collection of shells and stones – the physical proof that the thread between us, and thread to the sea, remains unbroken.

My painting, in which I captured Veda standing small and steadfast against the vast backdrop of the ocean, is not merely a portrait; it is an attempt to capture that exact, profound moment – the silent transfer of a generational love for the water.

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Setu, November 2025