The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Frames of ability, achievement unveiled

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Sunday, Jul 06, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Frames of ability, achievement unveiled

Staff Reporter

40 works of art created by the children of Vidya Sagar on display

— Photo: M. Karunakaran

Ashok Leyland Managing Director R. Seshasayee and Vidya Sagar Director Rajul Padmanbhan with children of Vidya Sagar.

CHENNAI: Rakesh is a picture of concentration as he draws perfect lines. Even as a ray of light focussed on his canvas, his eye contact with the line did not break.

The occasion was the unveiling of 40 works of art created by the children of Vidya Sagar by Ashok Leyland Managing Director R. Seshasayee recently. The works had been specially commissioned by the automotive major for its new 10-storey corporate office coming up on Sardar Patel Road in Chennai.

During the summer holidays, seven children of Vidya Sagar — Swaminathan, Rakesh, Santosh, Lakshmi Prabha, Jayachandran, Madhavan and Teja — worked with Cholamandalam artist Jacob Jebaraj and discovered their hidden abilities of drawing and working with colours.

Teja’s forte was trucks, which Mr. Seshasayee too found very interesting. Jayachandran and Lakshmi Prabha love to fill in colours while Swaminathan likes to draw lines. “Initially I had to learn about the children to find ways of communicating with them. After that it was very easy and the children have a fantastic grasping ability,” explained Mr. Jebaraj.

Speaking after watching a video presentation about the children’s work, Mr. Seshasayee said when they wanted paintings for the new building they decided to use the works of special children. “Frames of joy and fulfilment will adorn our walls,” he said appreciating the creativity of the children.”

Vidya Sagar chairperson Usha Ramakrishanan said the event was a milestone in the organisation’s history. She also said that the proceeds from the sale of these paintings would help create a corpus for Vidya Sagar. “We are glad that someone had the faith in our children.”

Vidya Sagar director Rajul Padmanbhan, who thanked Ashok Leyland for encouraging the children, said the children had come a long way from drawing on A4 size sheets to actual canvas.

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