In the Indian subcontinent, several paintings from the Mughal era c.1800 depict stories of heroines. Mantra is inspired by one called “Abhisarika Nayika”—a woman who goes to meet her lover in secret. A storm is gathering; there are snakes in the woman’s path; her anklet has fallen off, but she is undaunted. She is under the spell of love and braves hurdles to meet her lover in secret. Mantra, in Sanskrit, means “a spell.”