The Hindu : Kerala News : Triumph of spirit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 31, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala

Triumph of spirit

Colours bloom in the mind, not on fingertips. If you thought that it was just a lofty principle that is good to hear but hard to practice, just take a look at the paintings of 32-year-old Swapna.

Hailing from Vakathyppara in the Pothanikkad panchayat, she is handless by birth. However, driven by sheer determination she infused a creative touch to her life by taking to painting.

Having studied up to Plus Two, Swapna is now into full time painting. A member of the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists Association, her pictures are now being auctioned abroad.

Swapna says that she sends about four paintings a month to Singapore. This earns her anywhere between Rs.15,000 and Rs.20,000 and this has become the mainstay of her family.

Swapna shot into the limelight when she joined the e-literacy programme of the Akshaya project early this year. “We hired an autorickshaw to bring her to the Akshaya centre and then to drop her back home, as she could not travel without support,” Jinesh. K. Paul, entrepreneur of the centre, said.

That was the only support she needed to learn the nuances of computer. “She would sit on the table and use her feet to handle the mouse and keyboard with amazing speed,” Mr. Paul recollected.

“I try not to watch her working on the computer, as it is both astonishing and heart-wrenching at the same time. As she can make use of her computer skills in painting as well, we are trying to find a sponsor to donate her a computer,” he said.

Swapna, unmindful of these efforts, does what she is comfortable with. Holding the brush between her toes, she produces one painting after another - without craving for anyone’s sympathy.

M.P. Praveen

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