Saturday, April 11, 2009

An Unsung Painter

Hi all...I was away to visit my parents-in-law yesterday.They live in a village about 100 miles from Delhi. Its always nice to visit the place as it is far from the maddening crowds of Metro city. Lush green fields of sugarcane; wheat crops and mango groves. They even keep a buffalo and use its milk for daily consumption, making curd and ghee ( which is eventually sent to us poor folks! living in city! :)) it keeps them occupied too......
Well, this time I am sharing a sad story with you.
My husband's younger brother, who is fondly called "Lala" ( meaning "the little one" in local dialect) is a fit and fine young man of about 35 years..
He was born with a slight malfuntioning of brain which resulted in him being labeled as a ' less than normal" person...He studied upto fifth standard, but dropped out of school after that, as there was no special schools for people like him then, and no reguler school would accept him.
My father -in-law took early retirement from the army, and settled in his native village with my mother-in-law and his three sons. Two other sons eventually left for big cities to get education and employment.Lala stayed back, and is still there; helping out the parents in their daily chores, and living a life in oblivion.
Sometimes he gets himself hurt, -a sudden fall from stairs-or things like that..and life is pretty dull ,without any real excitment,but he is coping with it!.....
Only silver lining in this story is, that he is gifted... GOD has given him something in return---the talent of being an artist! I have been watching his paintings, and always get him the art material whenever I visit the place.But this time I decided to do something more.I want to share his art with you all.
Tell me if he is a fine painter inspite of everything!
I have got some photos of his paintings done over the years.But I am still undecided about how to put them up.May be I should dedicate a blog to his art!
It will take some time and I will be needing your support , but I am going to do it soon:)

15 comments:

  1. There is a beautiful simplicity in Lala's art - something we have forgotten and now strive for. I think he should be encouraged and his own blog would be wonderful, hard work, but wonderful.

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  2. first visit to your blog and here is Lala's art ! and a nice one too !

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  3. You are right, Liz.He needs encouragement, from all of us.Thanks for your support.

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  4. Thank you Namaki,I visited your blog,too.You are a wonderful photographer:)Welcome to my place!

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  5. arti it is a noble thought & every individual is gifted in a way. my uncle is mentally challanged too & I know how hard it is for parents to cope up. but on the flip side he is the darling of the entire community & has developed a slightly better IQ after attending a special school for such individuals & children (he started attending it in his late 30's & is now almost touching 50, yet it stimulated his IQ) . Infact the school was started by a lady whoes only son was the same & it is now a safe haven for many kids in UP.

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  6. wonderful simplicity in his art. After seeing and reading your blog I am sure you will come up with a great idea -- may be an online book with his art? All the best!

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  7. Hi Poorva..its so considerate of you to write this comment.Unfortunately, I couldn't find any place for him where he could improve, or at least do something with his life..Even in Delhi there is hardly a place for a 35 year old special person.(They cater to children only, even if they do)Our parents have accepted it as their fate and coping with it to best of their ability....I am just trying to help him get some recognition for his talent ...

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  8. Hi Meera
    Thank you very much for your concern and support,.I knew there were people out there, who cared:)
    Lets hope I come up with something that will evetually help him in some way!I just dont know yet!

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  9. do not loose heart, the place that my uncle goes to is in Lucknow & i think they are expanding in to a residential facility as well (i dont think age group is a criteria there & they give vocational training too depending on their IQ). ofcourse it is your FYI only, just thought of sharing with you

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  10. Thank you for sharing this story and the wonderful art of Lala. He is a fine painter indeed, and I hope you can find a way to show us more of his art.

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  11. Hi Mineke, thank you very much for your appreciation...I hope you will be watching closely when I put up his blog:)

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  12. And thank you Poorva, you have been very, very supportive.I will try to chk it out....

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  13. What a nice sharing about Lala and I loved seeing his art above. Very talented guy he is.

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  14. and hope you do a blog on him...

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  15. Thanks Sandy, as I said before, you are a gem:)

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