By Shobha Rao Smilemaker

Mar 7: I had always heard of Van Gogh and his amazing paintings that touch the soul, but it was only when I visited his museum in Amsterdam, that I came to know of his troubled body and mind.

Imagine him failing in other careers yet being financially supported by his brother throughout his life.

Imagine him drawing day to day articles or people like peasants or even himself because he had no money to afford models. Imagine his attention to detail in his masterpieces with his unique use of strokes and dots. Imagine him starting to paint at 26 years and still continuing to paint more than 2100 pieces with his pure love and passion, inspite of being continuously criticised and not being able to sell even a single painting throughout his entire life! Imagine him cutting off his ear lobe during a stroke of madness, getting admitted to a mental asylum and still.painting almost one painting a day till he shot himself in the field bringing his brilliant compositions to an end when he was just 36 years of age!

Imagine his now famous paintings being appreciated by countless people all over the world.

In overcrowded Mumbai, we were lucky to be the only 3 visitors for the first show of the day at world trade centre. It was an unexplainable experience to be surrounded by three dimensional projection of Van Goghs famous paintings literally being alive all around us, on the four surrounding walls and even on the floor!

Van Gogh stared at us from his 'self portraits' or walked on the sea shore, or sat with his 'potato eater' peasants. He surrounded us with colourful flowers, be it his purple 'iris', his white 'almond blossoms' and his yellow 'Sunflowers'. We' actually felt as if we were sitting with him in his 'bedroom' or in his 'cafe terrace' on a 'starry night'. We could felt his mental pain in the 'Wheatfield with crows' flying around.

After more than an hour of being immersed in this surreal world of Van Hogh, I just got light on my feet and soul and pranced around in gay abandon.

Do visit the Van Gogh 360* immersive 3 D experience if you do get a chance. Be inspired by a person to continued to do what he loved without being bothered of people opinion about it.

Van Gogh gave me a renewed boost to write for the pure love of writing, without being bothered by people's good or not so good reactions to it.

Yes the life of Van Gogh the man, continue to bring countless smiles and give inspiration to many, even centuries after his death!!!

Shobha Rao Smilemaker has a vision of living in a world where people use their ability to find and make smiles in any situation. She is a lawyer by qualification, a soft skills trainer by passion, a motivational speaker, a freelance journalist, a bestselling author, an avid traveler and founder of 'Smilemakers Trainings'. She can be contacted at www.shobhasmilemaker.com.