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Plucky and artistic, he has a vision
Focussed on bringing colour into his world.
HE KNOWS only the colour of darkness, but his fingers play with others to liven up his pictures. He cannot see but can draw pictures, which become the cynosure of all eyes.
He is G. Kanagaraj, a visually challenged student of Al Ameen Higher Secondary School.
The student has brought laurels to his school and teacher by bagging the first prize in the state and district-level painting competitions conducted by the Department of Forests for three years consecutively.Born in Ammapatti, a small village near Sivakasi, Kanagaraj was a normal child till the age of four when chicken pox pitched a scared Kanagaraj into a world of darkness.
He came all the way from Ammapatti to study with normal students through the help of an integrated educative implementation committee sponsored by Upaharmadurai.
P. Shanmuga Sundaram, drawing master of the school, motivated Kanagaraj to draw and trained him for a year to draw line drawings using Braille. The teacher would brief him on the arrangement of the colours and Kanagaraj would use his fingers to paint the picture. Now, he is being trained to draw pictures of human images.
"I owe a lot to my drawing master, P. Shanmuga Sundaram, the resource teacher, S. Rajendran, the correspondent, L. Latif Sathar, and the principal, R. Basheer Ahamed Khan," Kanagaraj said.
Disability notwithstanding, he completed his schooling. He eagerly waits for sponsors to help him pursue his higher studies and participate in the national-level painting competition.
His goal is clear. He wants to become a teacher, possibly a drawing teacher, to help blind students because he wants to prove that they too could be artistic. Not wanting to waste his summer holidays, he plans to draw at least 100 pictures and organise a one-man show in Madurai.
Mr. Sundaram praised Kanagaraj's conviction and single-minded persistence.
From S.S. Kavitha
Photo: S. James.
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Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
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