Yo! Vizag Exclusive: Jaya Narasimha Rao, the first Certified Zentangle Teacher in Andhra Pradesh

Meet Jaya Narasimha Rao, a professional artist from Vizag, who is the first Certified Zentangle Teacher (CTZ) in Andhra Pradesh. A mother of two, an ex-placement agency employee and the ambitious-skilled person that she is, Ms Rao found her new calling during the pandemic – the zentangle form of art.  

Zentangle is an art form inspired by the Zen philosophy. It is done by practising a mindful technique of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. Zentangle follows the mantra of ‘one stroke at a time‘ and is the new way to relieve stress and meditate through art. 

In a chat with Yo! Vizag, Jaya Narasimha Rao shares her journey from getting inspired by seeing her mother’s artworks, to now being a Certified Zentangle Teacher. Talking about how this journey started, she says “Art came to me very easily as it has always been in the genes of the family. My mother was an artist, so invariably, the artistic hand was bestowed upon me. As a toddler, I had the opportunity to see my mothers artworks, and this inspired me. Growing up, sketching and painting was a part and parcel of my life and I experimented with various forms of art.”

Post moving to the coastal city of Vizag and settling in her family life, Jaya deems herself fortunate to be associated with Jumana Topiwala, who took her interests forward. “I got into a lot of professional artworks and held a lot of exhibitions with her and a group of artists.” Ms Nara plays a pivotal role at the Art Works Exhibition that happens every alternate year at the Grand Bay Hotel in Vizag.

With the pandemic pushing the world indoors, like everything else, the routine artworks exhibition took a hit. Staying indoors and craving to learn something new, Jaya Narasimha Rao found her new calling – Zentangle. “I discovered Zentangle artworks on Instagram. I was quite enthusiastic about it and did some research. I found that it is a patented art form and one had to qualify themselves to be certified to be a Zentangle teacher. During the lockdown, I took an online course. Even though the classes were as per the United States timings, I was encouraged by my family to take it up and with their motivation, I received the Zentangle certification from Vizag itself.”   

For Ms Rao, Zentangle plays a larger than life role in her career. She elucidates, “Zentangle is connecting dots, curves, and following simple patterns and strokes. A lot of my friends ask me what is the difference between doodling and zentangle? While doodling is done out of boredom and unplanned, zentangle is focused on creating pattern designs and is done with a purpose. It is a great self-help art therapy. Its self-soothing, simple, teaches how to own mistakes, reinforces aimlessness and above all it relaxes and helps focus.”

What started as a quest for knowledge has now taken a pleasant curve in Jaya’s life. “Slowly and steadily, Zentangle has become a major part of my life. My friends found my artwork interesting and approached me if I could teach them. Currently, I take online classes, where at the convenience of your home, you can learn the Zentangle form of art. It is a proud moment for me that of the 50 – 60  Zentangle teachers in India, I’m the first Certified Zentangle Teacher (CTZ) in Andhra Pradesh. It also gives me immense pleasure to bring and teach this art form to the people of Vizag.”