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Model professionals above 60

— Photo: T. Singaravelou

Career for seniors: Subatra (65) models for students of Bharathiar Palkalaikoodam in Puducherry.

PUDUCHERRY: Age has started telling on her health but 65-year-old V. Subatra’s morale is high. Though illiterate with a poor socio-economic background, she is a professional. She is described by her colleagues and employer as a model.

A resident of Ariankuppam, a coastal hamlet near here, Ms. Subatra is one of five senior citizens who are models for fine arts students of Bharathiar Palkalaikoodam in Puducherry.

Ms. Subatra’s day starts at half past nine on weekdays at the college. Once there, as and when required, she sits on a chair inside the workroom ready to be sketched.

Hers is not an easy job, taking into consideration her age and the nature of her assignment.

She has to sit still in the same posture, sometimes freezing her look for several minutes. For certain portraits she even has to sit for more than an hour in a particular posture, but she is in good spirits, always ready to take the challenge. Ms. Subatra says the job fetches her around Rs. 600 a month.

Her colleague, 76-year-old V. Antony pursues a similar career.

A neighbour of Ms. Subatra in their coastal village, Mr. Antony has been modelling for the last seven years, and has helped several fine arts students of Bharathiar Palkalaikoodam frame their career.

“It’s a tough job. Sometimes my neck gets stiff after sitting in the same posture continuously for several minutes,” says the bespectacled man. He adds that when it gets too exhausting, the students let him take a break. Recently, he introduced neighbour and friend Ramanujam, who recently turned 65, to his way of earning of living.

R. Sekar, lecturer in painting at the college, says it has been the traditional way to use models to teach fine arts students. “It’s the natural way of learning,” he says.

Different yardsticks are adopted in selecting male and female models. A female model has to be old with the traditional look whereas the male model should be either dark or fair in complexion. And, the model must have wrinkles on his or her face, he says. As it had become difficult to find models, the college recently raised the fee to Rs. 72 a day from Rs. 40, he adds.

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