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Art that transcends disabilities

Paintings that captivate and capture the attention of the audience! Natural sceneries, the sunset, flowing streams, birds flying in the sky, Lord Ganesha in various forms.......

These paintings are the hand and leg work (literally) of Uday and Narasimmalu, handicapped artists, that are being exhibited at Hotel Ambassador Pallava in Chennai. This exhibition has been organised by the Ashok Nagar Rotary Club.

Though physically handicapped, these two are mentally agile, and this talent which is inborn in them motivated them to rise to greater heights in this field. Uday is afflicted with spinal muscular atrophy and Narasimmalu with cerebral palsy. While Uday uses his hands for his paintings, Narasimmalu uses his legs to do the same.

Kalai Arasan from SRM College Occupational Therapy Department visits them in Ramavaram to train them in occupation therapy. He is the person who had sown the seed for this exhibition, after seeing their paintings and realising their talent. He wanted others to appreciate this talent of theirs and so he approached his friends Deepa Vijay and Samuel Victor.

Balachandran, President of Rotary Club,Ashok Nagar joined in this effort of Kalai Arasan and started making the preparations necessary for the exhibition.

Speaking on his relation with Uday, Narasimmalu says that their meeting happened by chance. When Lalit Academy Mukthi Foundation gave the prizes for Art and Painting to them in April, they met for the first time.

He feels happy and proud when people come to see his paintings. Being totally involved in drawing and painting, he slowly started practicing the art in computer and is now an expert at it. He is proficient in photoshop too.

Manirathnam, who opened the exhibition praised their talent, self-confidence and courage. Uday's ambition is to become a famous painter and he has plans to create a website of his own.

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Uday's parents Ranganathan and Shanthakumari were overwhelmed with emotion and were at a loss for words. "What can we say? Our worries about our son have lessened and we are feeling happy that his paintings are being spoken about by people. We owe our thanks to Kalai Arasan, Deepa Vijay and Samuel" said his parents with heartfelt gratitude.

Uday is doing a six month course in Arena Multimedia where the course has been offered to him for free and he feels thankful for their kind gesture. He is also thankful to Polaris Meena for all the help given to them.

Narasimmalu said that if anyone bought a computer for him, it would be of immense help to him. He loves hearing old melodies of Tamil movies and is an admirer of actress Jyothika.

Young men like Uday and Narasimmalu are putting up a brave fight with self-confidence and commitment and are progressing in their lives in spite of their shortcomings. In the course of time, they will become well known and their efforts will be applauded.

KTSRI
Translated by Radha N

Published on 12^th Sep. 2003

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