This artwork is inspired from my real life friend Ranjan Ghosh. Ranjan aka Shekhar Ghosh was born and brought up in a small town of Assam, India. He came to realise about his sexual preference during his teenage years. But love for someone of the same-sex in a society that is largely orthodox was not only criticised but condemned and ostracised. So growing up and surviving in such an environment proved hostile to him. In an attempt to gain financial independence he started working in a shoe store and then he moved to a job in a beauty parlour. His interest in the art of makeup made him learn it and this proved to be a turning point in his life. Already exhausted by society’s scathing remarks and condescending glances, make-up helped him break the shackles of society and provided a leeway to come out in search of a new life in Guwahati, a metropolitan city in Assam. He soon found success in the city and then decided to move in to Delhi, India’s capital city. Hardwork and talent soon made him a successful celebrity makeup artist and now he is happily making great progress in life. This artwork is portrayed upon his life and in the form of Shiv-Shakti (is depicted as half-male and half-female, equally split down the middle. The right half is the male Shiva and the other half is the female Parvati or Shakti, according to Hindu Mythology) that was the epitome form of a multigendered entity within a body and serves as a great symbol for the LGBTQ+ community.Coming out of the water represents him coming out of society’s criticism and hatred which made his living suffocating and he suffered from an identity-crisis. The lotus shows a person’s life journey in Buddhism, with the seed stage early in the karmic cycle, through to the bud emerging from dirty water showing a person becoming detached and following his inner self, and finally blossoming or attaining Nirvana.