Casual and Authentic sat across Ayman’s tee and it somehow summed up this whole family. Nifia Shakkeem , Shakeem, and Ahyan move with a rhythm many families wish for when they ask the anxious question of what happens after us. They chose a different question: what happens with us, and how do we build a life that carries everyone. Independence is wonderful, but most of us live our days through interdependence. This family treats that as strength, not shame. And they wanted Ubuntu Palette to hold that truth. Yes, Ayman is the first author of the work, and yes, the rest of the family stands there as co-authors of the search. Not the search for meaning or answers, but the kind of search that asks what makes a person feel worthwhile. People arrive at that feeling in so many ways. Some through achievement. Some through applause. Some through comparison and competition. Some through creating something new. Some through being needed. Some through being understood. Some through the steady presence of their loved ones. Some through the process itself. Some through a mix of all of these, which is true for most of us. For Ayman, it was clearly not the outcome. It was Ubuntu - the experience of being held by a circle that trusts his process, travels with him through the messiness, and celebrates the becoming rather than the finish line. Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning humanity to others. It reflects the idea that a person becomes who they are because of who we all are. Ubuntu Palette carries that spirit. The result we see exists because of collective effort, not to overshadow the creator, but to honour the support that makes creation possible in a world where feeling valued often depends on whether people hold you with care. What you walk into is not an exhibition. This family is not in the business of displaying anything. What sits here is the outcome of five years of trial and error, hope, exhaustion, joy, and learning. This is an art walk, an Ubuntu Palette experience, a living room turned into a living process that has unfolded canvas by canvas, stroke by stroke. It began as regulation. Patterns, pressure, repeated strokes with pencils. A language his body trusted. Then paint entered the frame. Brushes, spray, knives, fingers, palms. Early days were exacting. Every stroke had to match the idea in his mind. Over time there was room for flexibility, bigger spaces, new textures, colour choices that shifted between instinct and prompt. Watching the evolution felt like watching regulation turn into expression. The space itself reflects this family’s precision. Two architects who build beauty for a living have shaped their home into an art walk that holds each canvas with the kind of care usually reserved for heirlooms. And they refused to call it Ayman’s work alone. They didn’t want a spectator to see only the tip of the iceberg. The layers underneath matter just as much. The story of each artwork is Ubuntu. In the beginning, the family believed he had to be taught how to paint and they offered instructions. There are canvases marked by the day he fell on them and hurt himself during a fit. There are those he wanted to tear. Those he didn’t want to complete because it took too long. Those that looked finished but the corners needed work. Those still left undone. Some colours mixed in ways no one can recreate. Some shades that arrived once and never again. Stories held in texture. Effort held in silence. A family learning when to step back and when to steady the frame. And when I walked in, I didn’t go looking for meaning in the abstracts. The paintings themselves carried a kind of calm that didn’t need interpretation. Blues in different moods, no two alike. Shapes that stayed with the body long after the eyes moved away. I realised only when they asked if I was waiting for lunch that I had stayed one full hour beyond my slot simply because it felt good to sit there. Ayman walked in later, looking like Siddharth Malhotra’s younger sibling, silky straight bushy hair, entirely unaware of how striking his work is, yet fully aware of how deeply he is loved. He knows he can thrive and be himself because his people will always hold him, celebrate him, and stand by his casual and authentic expressions. This art walk doesn’t have glossy backstories or carefully shot making-of videos. Many of the stories behind the canvases are raw. They include tears, heat, overwhelm, relief, stubborn hope, and that spark of pride that families carry through hard days. Anyone who steps into Ubuntu Palette in Vazhakala will feel it in the room. And if you’re planning a visit, book an individual slot. Each canvas deserves time, and so does the family that made this possible.
