KHADIJAH’S KALLIGRAPHY

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KHADIJAH’S KALLIGRAPHY

Meet this 19-year-old artist from U.A.E who showed us the secret of getting ahead is getting started!

Khadijah Najah (19), a B.A first year student in SCAFA Dubai, had a great passion for art as a child. Being born to an Indian Muslim orthodox family as the daughter of Mohammed and Zuhara, all kept her forcing to give up and reduce herself to become one among the crowd. As a child, she would always keep a sketchbook wherever she went, and her parents had a hard time making her socialize and play along with other kids of her age rather than sticking to the sketchbook. During the school years she bagged a lot of prizes for art competitions, but getting no appreciation rather discourage within the household made her insecure about herself.

It was in mid-October 2017, her close friend Shey convinced her to start a page in Social Media showcasing her artworks. Diverging thoughts arouse in her mind. Deciding to not leave her passion, she started a page on Instagram named “@_kalligraphy”. Never in her wildest of dreams would she have thought that was the beginning of her journey as a Student Entrepreneur!

Initial days were very much challenging for her as even her near and dear ones were too skeptical in her going further with her passion. She had to raise the money herself for buying equipment initially as it was like her parents were unhappy to give the financial aid. Finally, when she was in a position to take up orders, customers bargain it for a very low price. Going through a hard phase in life, she always dreamt of the colorful days yet to come. To quit was never considered an option those days. In the beginning, orders were taken for calligraphy (both Modern & Islamic) and logo work and later expanded by taking commission works for portraits, wall decals, and other scenic paintings. She conducts classes and workshops during her holidays for children. She is also a poet on a well-known domain called Writerscafe. And like all the other artists she has a great passion and taste in photography. Beginning this with a very small margin was a huge task since all the tools required much more money than what the lass had. Whatever money she received was either taken to buy the requirements for the next order or saved up for buying further integrated tools. The Instagram page was started on 5th of January and is just growing with a family of more than 460 followers. Currently, it just showcases the calligraphy works but she is planning to include all works in it soon and further name it the Khadija’s!

This lass has already ticked off two exhibitions from her bucket list and is excited about the coming opportunities. “Art has been a shield for me ever since a child and its purity soothe my soul much better than any meditation. It healed me during all my downs, stood with me like a constant companion!” she says. She also added: “One thing that I would like to tell to the newbies pursuing in such a field is, always bring your creative ideas, and art blocks are a major setback that would make you feel you’re no longer inspiring, but confronting it is to lose that fear.”

A Student Entrepreneur like Khadijah is indeed an inspiration for many Would-be-Entrepreneurs around the world!