Her father coined the term P3, which stands for poetess, painter and photographer, to refer to his talented daughter. But artist Ganga Kadakia finds it ironical that people never seem to believe that she is an artist when they first meet her. "I can normally pick an artist out in a crowd. But I don't dress, talk or even look like a regular one, so people usually ask if I am an architect." But she loves her dad's - renowned filmmaker Dr. Ramanand Sagar - take. "I like all three mediums. Though I haven't had a chance to concentrate on writing as I have been so busy with my painting and photography, I would like to do something in this field later on," she smiles.

For a person who likes to come up with an idea and see it materalise right away, Ganga found her recent exhibition of paintings on the sensuous dancer and spy Mata Hari, quite challenging. "Normally all my characters or subjects exist in my mind, so I have a free hand to do what I want. Here I had to paint someone real and a tremendous amount of research went into it. I also worked on it for about three to four months, which is much longer than my other shows," she says. In fact, Ganga was hesitant to take up the project in the beginning but was delighted by the outcome. "I wanted people to know more about Mata Hari, as she is one woman that artists haven't really focused on in the past. Also, her Indian connection is intriguing," she says, alluding to Mata Hari's fascination with all things Indian, from her glitzy costumes and jewellery to her exotic name.

Although she studied at the JJ School of Art for two years, Ganga firmly believes that art is best self-taught. And she relies on her father to teach her all she knows about photography. A travel buff, she loves taking off at least once a month to off-beat locations, both in India and abroad, to give herself a chance to 'rejuvenate and stay grounded.' This, she says, is essential, as 'creativity beyond a certain level gets self-destructive.' "Whether it's Florence, Udaipur or down South, I love my short vacations, especially when I am holidaying by the sea," she laughs. Besides her sojourns, Ganga is an avid music lover and insists she can't paint unless she is listening to music. "It doesn't even matter what language the songs are in. But that's the true beauty of music."

Social work is another area which Ganga loves. Most of the NGOs she has helped out like Akanksha deal with children. "This could be because I am extremely childlike myself. In fact, I recently managed to find the correct term which categorises my kind of art - naïve art, which refers to pure art or art from the heart." Probably the reason why children comprise her biggest fan circle and are able to relate to her work.