Bengaluru: A career break can sometimes feel like a full stop. For Kavitha, it became a comma.
At 40, Kavitha is now an artist, creative professional and art educator who teaches more than 40 students across eight countries, earns around ?75,000 a month through her work and trains children at Jain Public School, JP Nagar, Bengaluru. But her journey to this second career began with a difficult transition from professional life to motherhood.
Kavitha grew up in rural Dindigul, TamilNadu. Her mother was a government employee at the Dindigul Collector’s Office, and Kavitha grew up watching her balance a demanding public-service career with family responsibilities. She lost her father while she was in Class 10. Those early years taught her dedication, responsibility and the importance of perseverance.
As a child, Kavitha was fascinated by colours, advertisements, movie visuals and design. She participated in drawing competitions and won prizes at school and district levels. Her interest eventually led her towards Media and Communication and a professional career in the creative industry.
She worked in television production, animation, visual effects and graphic design. Her experience included working with Vijay TV, Sanra Media and Mindtree, along with teaching 3D Animation at Loyola College, Chennai.
Of all her professional experiences, her work at Sanra Media was particularly close to her heart. As a compositor, she worked with colours, animation and visual elements, identifying and correcting visual errors before projects moved towards final approval. She loved the process and recalls feeling completely immersed in the creative world.
Then came motherhood.
Kavitha left Sanra Media during her first pregnancy. In 2016, she moved to Bengaluru when her husband relocated for work. A new city, a different environment and two young children made returning to a full-time career difficult. After her second pregnancy, the challenge became even greater.
She missed her professional life, but she also knew that her children needed her.
The unexpected turning point came through her elder daughter, Shruthi.
Wanting to develop Shruthi’s creativity from a young age, Kavitha enrolled her in drawing classes. Before COVID, taking her daughter to class involved repeated trips to drop her off and pick her up while caring for her younger child. When physical classes stopped during the pandemic, Kavitha decided to teach Shruthi herself.
What began as a way to keep her daughter meaningfully engaged and reduce unnecessary screen time gradually became something much bigger.
Drawing on her own artistic and professional experience, Kavitha introduced Shruthi to different art forms, including Mandala, Warli, embossed, modern, acrylic and glass painting. Shruthi responded with enthusiasm and began creating artwork regularly.
Soon, the paintings began helping other children.
In 2020, Shruthi sold more than 50 paintings with the support of an NGO and raised ?25,000, which was donated to a children’s ashram in Bengaluru towards educational needs.
In 2022, with support from Rotary Club Bangalore Lakeside and Skyway, exhibitions were organised to showcase Shruthi’s work. Around ?1 lakh was raised and donated to Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology to support children undergoing cancer treatment, including the Bone Marrow Transplant facility.
Shruthi also conducted a painting workshop for children at Kidwai, giving young patients an opportunity to engage in something creative during their treatment.
For Kavitha, seeing her daughter use creativity to help other children was a defining moment.
She began to realise that the skills she had developed over years in the creative industry could be used not only for her own artistic expression, but also to teach and empower others.
Her first online student was a friend’s child from Dubai. Initially, it was simply a request between friends. She did not even think of it as a business. But as parents saw the children’s progress, recommendations began to spread.
One student became another, and another.
Today, Lumiza Creations has more than 40 students in multiple batches across eight countries — India, the UAE, Oman, South Korea, New Zealand, the USA, Germany and Singapore. Many of her international students are children of Indian families living abroad.
For Kavitha, teaching these children has a special meaning.
The digital world has made geography less of a limitation. A teacher sitting in Bengaluru can reach a child thousands of kilometres away. At the same time, children growing up outside India can remain connected to Indian artistic traditions while exploring contemporary forms of creativity.
Her classes combine traditional Indian art forms with modern painting techniques. International students generally attend morning batches according to their time zones, while Indian students attend evening sessions.
The classes are usually designed for an hour, but children often continue until they finish their artwork.
Parents often tell Kavitha that they see changes beyond drawing skills — greater confidence, patience, focus, imagination and willingness to experiment.
In 2024, Lumiza Creations was formally registered as a micro-enterprise under the MSME framework. What began as a mother’s effort to nurture her daughter’s creativity has grown into a sustainable livelihood.
Today, Kavitha also visits Jain Public School, JP Nagar, twice a week as an Art Tutor.
But she does not see her journey as complete.
Her next ambition is to help other mothers who have stepped away from their careers. She is planning art and craft workshops where women can learn to create, teach others and explore selling their artwork through digital platforms.
Her idea comes from her own experience: a woman does not necessarily need to return to the same career she left. She can discover another path.
For Kavitha, the digital world has opened possibilities that were difficult to imagine earlier. A woman working from home can teach someone in another country, build a community, create products and reach potential customers without being restricted by geography.
Her message to women is simple:
“Don’t give up. Find a way. It may take time, but find your passion and build from there.”
Kavitha’s story is not simply about learning or teaching art. It is about what can happen when a woman refuses to see a career break as the end of her professional identity.
Sometimes, a new beginning starts quietly — at home, with a child, a few colours and the willingness to try.
Also read: Going Back to School as an Adult: How to Turn Learning Into Leadership and Career Growth
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