India, June 21 -- In times past, there was sparse resistance to demonising owls in popular culture. These nocturnal avians were particularly associated with death and, by extension, with graveyards and cremation ghats. But actually, these sites of last rites lent themselves naturally to owls because they would be deserted amidst a bustling humanity. Legendary artist Gian Singh Naqqash (1883-1953) spent decades creating fresco and allied arts in the Golden Temple. He also borrowed images from the natural world to picturise his ideas about the strife, sorrows, duplicities and lusts of human existence. His 'chitravali' artwork, 'The Inviting Doom' (May 1952), is a masterpiece in evoking a graveyard's brooding aura. The depiction of two owls dominates the natural world's representation along with waving bats, a crow and some dogs. The scene is overseen by an all-knowing crescent moon. Shadowy hands reach out from a grave to invite a man tottering with old age's maladies to an eternal residence. It is said that death is the only truth of human life. Naqqash's artwork was inspired by a 'shalok' of Baba Farid enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib. Translated from Punjabi, the shalok seeks spiritual awakening and conquering the fear of death as life and earthly palaces are transient, equally for king and pauper: "Farid, the lowly grave calls out: O homeless one, come back to your home. You shall surely have to come to me; do not be afraid of death"....