Letter 33 - They Refused To Take Her Seriously!

Hello Bregdan Women!

You’ve got Suess today…

Being able to draw, paint or sculpt is a wonderful talent.

YET, I believe it’s what you do with your talent that is most important. 

A Bregdan Woman knows that how you use your talent can make an authentic difference in our world.

Disarming, clever, hilarious, and thought provoking describe the art of Anjali Chandrasheker. If you’ve read The New Yorker beginning in 2021, then you’ve most likely seen her work as an illustrator and cartoonist.

Anjali Chandrashekar did not, however, begin her life living successfully in New York City.

She was born in Chennai, a city in Tamil Nadu, a southern state in India.

Anjali sprung from the womb with a rare talent.  As a child, she saw the world in technicolor and her heart contained a desire to make a difference.

At age four when she started dabbing with paints, she remembers, thinking:” Red? Blue? Yellow? Black? Which paint comes next?"  She could see the finished product – but how did she create it?

When I was ten years old, all I did was hope to go horseback riding and play at the neighborhood park.

Anjali? Inspired by her grandmother’s foundation that taught children with mental and physical challenges, she discovered that with art she could make a positive difference in other’s lives. At age 10!!

 A typical young girl, she wanted her art to make people happy and unite people with each other.

Anjali started with her classmates: “We do group projects in school which unites the whole class and brings forth a lot of ideas, cheer and unity.”  She helped classmates with their art projects by teaching them to draw.

Not surprisingly, Anjali’s art began showing up within her school as backdrops for school-day celebrations. She created greeting cards which she donated to various organizations for fundraisers.

At age 14, her artwork began garnering attention beyond the borders of India. Winning awards in local, regional, national and international competitions fueled her desire to utilize art to change the world. As a young woman her aspiration was to be “an artist who can bring cheerful colors into the lives of people. Using art as my tool, I will be. . . a canvas for Peace and Unity.”

Inspired by both the chaos of a city AND the serenity of a garden, Anjali sketches anything that catches her eye. She’s a visual thinker, curious about life, a self-professed introvert, and keenly observant of the life being lived around her.

Anjali said yes to artistic opportunities as they came. Businesses, organizations – large and small approached her and she said YES.

I love this!  Being a Bregdan Woman means saying YES to opportunities that come your way – even if they seem outside your comfort zone. 

Saying YES created more opportunity for Anjali. Opportunity created art.

Art that has changed her, crafted a more colorful world, and brought awareness to numerous international societal enigmas.

In 2003, she founded a non-governmental organization, called Picture It. Picture It is a GLOBAL social project that uses art and images to raise both awareness AND funds for different environmental and humanitarian causes.

Her childhood dreams to make a difference have come true.

Anjali:

• is one of the first South Asian cartoonists to be published in The New Yorker. The New Yorker is an American magazine, founded in 1925…”featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry.”

• has received awards from the Government of India, the British Council and the World Economic Forum.

• has two pieces of art, on nuclear disarmament, in the United Nations' permanent collection.

• is a British Council Global Changemaker.

• has works published by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

• represented the Global Changemaker program in 2011at the Economic Forum.

• was the youngest representative at the program (she was 18 in 2011!).

• was named to the “Forbes 30 Under 30” – a list of the world’s brightest leaders and entrepreneurs in 2022.

Anjali could easily get caught up in the commercial and monetary benefits of her art. Yet she chooses to use it as a tool to make the world a better place for everyone -- everywhere.

Her difficulty was to be taken seriously as a young, female artist from India.

 She could have quit when naysayers screamed that she would never change the world.

She could have adopted a more traditional Indian role.

She could have kept art as a “hobby” that she visited on holidays.

She could have made decisions to let the color of her desires fade into oblivion.

She made very different decisions…

People definitely take her seriously now!

Anjali is nowhere near finished with her art. Her life is commencing. This Bregdan Woman is truly like you and me.

While is she is talented in a beautiful artistic manner; she would tell you she is one woman following her heart. 

You may not be an artist like Anjali, but you have a unique talent you can use to help others. Perhaps you can write or speak in front of groups. Maybe you have the gift of organization or encouragement.

Whatever you do well, do it to benefit others, and like Anjali, you will be rich in the things that truly matter.

Anjali is a Bregdan woman, and we are excited to watch her put her color in every room she enters.

We need to pause only to ask ourselves: where are we going to place our mark as Bregdan women?

What is your answer?

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What will you do today to impact history??

We’re on this journey with you… (And have 2 FREE gifts for you below!)

Ginny & Suess

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