The Hindu : Kerala News : The art of conquering disability

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Friday, Sep 21, 2007
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Kerala

The art of conquering disability

—Photo: S.Ramesh Kurup

Art of grit: Vineetha Menon with her works at Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery in Kozhikode.

Do something that you like the most, says Vineetha Menon, whose passion for painting is evident from the statement. While Vineetha was studying in her eighth standard, the ligaments around her knees began to lose their texture and she became crippled.

She was bedridden for nearly two years and was under treatment. She was sad as the treatment was not having the desired effect. For the last three-and-a-half years, Vineetha, now 18 years, has found a new passion in painting, which not only ‘doubled her joy’ but also helped her improve her physical condition. Now she is better, which according to her is more due to her interest and involvement in painting.

Vineetha is conducting her 11th exhibition and the first one in Kozhikode. The exhibition at the Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery in Kozhikode will be on till September 30. She has displayed her artistic talents of glass and fabric paintings, including those on saris, pot works and paintings on trays. The prolific artist in Vineetha has painted more than 6,000 saris in two years.

She has displayed pot works based on Raja Ravi Varma’s famous paintings. Most of them have characters from Indian epics and the Bible. “I base my paintings on characters and stories that my grandmother used to narrate to me,” Vineetha says.

The sheer elegance of her work would not reveal that she has never learned painting. She finds glass paintings challenging ones, as one has to paint on the opposite side also. She feels she has to be innovative in sari design.

Ambat Jayakumar Menon, Vineetha’s father, and Latha Menon, her mother, always encourage their children to do what they like. Vimal Menon, Vineetha’s brother, is a student of M.A. Music in Government College, Chittur.

Mr. Menon is a proud father when he explains that his daughter could design two to three saris a day and even five pieces a day if emergency calls for it. His only disappointment is the lack of sponsors.

Vineetha fears that as the days of exhibitions come near, it is sleepless nights for her. “Do not be sad. Do something you like,” she repeats a lesson not only for people like her but to all on how to live a meaning life.

J.S. Bablu

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