KOCHI: There is a great flourish when Aparna Sampath starts working with her mehndi cone. The strokes are bold, well defined, and uninhibited as art gets etched onto her client’s hand. It takes barely ten minutes before a vibrant design gets created.

“This is all natural,” she tells you, nodding at the many mehndi cones stacked up next to her. “You see, there was a time when I used a lot of chemical-laden mehendi cones on myself. It was only later that I learnt about the toxicity of these. It has been over a year since I started using organic mehndi,” says Aparna, who is an ardent advocate of natural, hand made mehendi cones, which she prepares at home.

“The ones you purchase from shops are mostly laden with chemicals which is possibly why they stay for very long despite keeping them in the open. However, the organic ones are prone to becoming spoiled, if kept outside for two days,” she said.

Aparna says she learnt about the harmful effects of chemical-laden mehndi when she went shopping for her baby shower. That is when she inspired to try out alternative means. “I found the organic mehndi being made in Chennai. Later, when I decided to quit my job, I turned to mehendi art which I learnt from another artist,” said Aparna who also teaches mehendi art in the city. “I have always been passionate about it and feel excited whenever people approach me for my work,” Aparna said.

Aparna first tried out her hand in mehendi artist while she in Class XI. She didn’t get paid though, she had done it for a bride on request. And then she went about recreating mehndi designs on request, carrying forth a passion that grew in her. 

Life went on, her career took her to the techie world. But over time she realised that she needed to quit her job and chase her passion. Aparna now runs her own studio - Kriti Henna Studio.