Niketa Parekh with one of her daughter’s paintings on Thursday. Picture by Aranya Sen

Proud parents Tilak and Niketa Parekh played the perfect hosts at daughter Nandita’s first painting exhibition on Thursday. Only Nandita wasn’t around, or maybe she was — caught within a frame, wafting along with the tune playing in the background, locked in her parents’ loving gaze.

“These are not just paintings, they represent Nandita’s constant presence in our lives,” said Tilak, whose 13-year-old daughter died in a road accident in Dankuni on Delhi Road some 14 months ago.

The strains of the Lage Raho Munnabhai number Pal pal, har pal... played by Nandita on her keyboard and recorded on a cellphone, resonated through Gaganendra Shilpa Pradarshashala on AJC Bose Road as guests streamed in.

Adorning the walls were frames capturing myriad moods — a pencil sketch of a ballet dancer, a girl trudging through a village road alone, a stern-faced teacher holding a cane. “This one’s my favourite,” said Tilak, pointing to the last one.

Wife Niketa stood beside him, nodding. Calm.

Life changed, tragically, for the Parekhs of Prince Anwar Shah Road on May 31 last year, when a Sunday road trip to a relative’s house ended in the death of their daughter, a Class VII student of Carmel High School. Tilak emerged from the car unscathed while wife Niketa suffered a few injuries.

“In a fraction of a second, everything changed. But we have found hope again in the beautiful legacy Nandita has left behind,” said Niketa of her and husband Tilak’s journey to depression and back.

Over the past few months, the couple have spent much of their time helping needy children learn painting and organising the three-day exhibition of their daughter’s paintings.

“I would work 18 hours a day but have realised that life needs to be more meaningful,” said Tilak, who quit his job with a paints company after Nandita’s death. “We recently organised a painting competition for children rehabilitated by an NGO on BB Ganguly Street. Now that we can’t see Nandita paint, we see her in other children,” added his wife.

So how long did it take for the Parekhs to find new meaning in their lives? “On the 15th day after Nandita’s death, we rediscovered two glass paintings she had made when she was 11 years old. They were forgotten on the terrace until a voice miraculously whispered in my ear that the paintings were there,” recalled Niketa.

Nandita’s parents retrieved the rest of the collection — around 90 artworks in all — from her chest of drawers, the cupboard and her study table. “She had always wanted to become famous and hold an exhibition of her paintings,” said Niketa.

Nandita, who was the Class VII captain at Carmel High School in Dhakuria, had started painting when she was in Montessori school. She was also good at calligraphy and playing the keyboard.

Mother Niketa’s advice to parents of all talented children? “Encourage and showcase their talent early in life instead of waiting for them to grow up.”