Hustled between her job and other responsibilities IRS officer Garima Singh had completely forgotten her love for colours & paint brushes. The pandemic gave her an opportunity to catch up with her forgotten passion for paintings.
There were hurdles aplenty though. There were not many colours, brushes and canvas papers available in her house at that time. Still she decided to give it a chance with whatever she could lay her hands on.
In a conversation with Indian Masterminds the 1997-batch IRS officer Ms. Singh spoke about her passion for painting and also her journey to becoming a motivational speaker. Commissioner Income Tax (CIT) Ms. Singh is currently serving as Secretary Finance for Government of Punjab on deputation.
IMMENSE JOY
Growing up in Chandigarh, Ms. Singh used to get awards during painting contests during her school days. She also won awards in inter-school, regional and other competition held in the state. However, higher studies and job left her little time to continue her passion. Lockdown gave herself a chance to explore that as well. She says smilingly that when lockdown opened everyone had different priorities but she ran to a stationary shop for buying colours and brush.
Painting makes her immensely happy. Most of her paintings are full of nature and easy to understand. “I want people to be happy when they see my work. I express through my paintings and it reaches the viewer directly. So, you will find lot of nature and green effect in my paintings”, she adds.
EXPLORING WATER COLOURS
In school, Ms. Singh started of with crayons and slowly moved to oil painting. She painted mostly with oil but in this second phase she is exploring with water colours. She finds this medium more real, involving and difficult at the same time.
Sharing her experience with water colour she says, “First you have to understand and then make a move which is true for life as well. Using water colours has been a beautiful experience for me. As this medium leaves it own impression on the canvas. One can’t undo what he has done which is possible in other medium like oil. You can put another layer in oil painting which is not possible in water colour.”
WORK MOTIVATION SESSION
In her career spanning around 25 years Ms. Singh has served in many capacities in her department. She is one of the longest serving officer in the office of Principal Chief Commissioner North West Region, Income tax as Additional Commissioner (Admin). During this time, she realized that with time people start losing work motivation and get complacent with their work.
A Post Graduate in Psychology Ms. Singh felt that people need certain motivation to fight with the monotony in jobs. So, she started taking work motivation session for the new recruits & trainees in the department. Slowly, she had to expand her horizon due to need and increase in stress specially after covid. Till now she has taken work motivation and stress management session for various deparment in the states which include, PCS officers, SDOs,excise inspector etc.
She has also taken the session for doctors, MBBS students, bankers and others in private sector as well. Ms. Singh believes that one can only get the best out of people if they are motivated. “I am passionate about this too but at the same time I feel that as a senior it is our responsibility to nurture, guide and mentor the young generation. So, they can feel more involved. This way one creates an asset for the future”, she concluded.
