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Photo: Vijay Kumar

Driven by passion Paras Mal Jain loves what he does

What began years ago as an individual’s passion for painting amazingly blossomed into a multi-faceted company that soon earned the tag of an undisputed leader in screen-printing at the national-level. Obsessed with bright hues of colours, Paras Mal Jain, son of a tobacco trader from Rajasthan, borrowed Rs. 25 from his mother to embark on a journey into the world of colours.

“Ever since then I never looked back. It was early 60s and I was earning Rs. 300 a month, which was a big amount those days. But everyone in the family was worried for me, as they could almost foresee me going unemployed or remaining confined to a small-time painter for lifetime,” he says with a strange feeling that overpowers him while recalling the past.

The sarcasm flung at him rings in his ears. Jeevan bhar sirf rang hi maarte rahoge ya paisa-vaisa bhi kamaaoge? (Will you just keep painting all your life or earn money as well?) “Yes, I have been painting all my life, but I have also made a decent living out of it,” murmurs the Managing Director of Santi Arts, with a sense of contentment.

Jain has outgrown the stage of feeling a sense of thrill while receiving an award. The National Award for Excellence in Screen Printing was just another feather in his over-crowded cap adorned with four other major national awards and numerous international recognitions such as the Golden Squeegee Award for Indo-Soviet Tobacco Trade Silver Jubilee Souvenir and Cover Page Silver Squeegee Award bestowed by Screen Printing and Graphic Imaging Association International, USA.

The national award he received from Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy way back in 1979 for Sri Ayyappa Swamy Metal Calendar is close to his heart as it had come as a pleasant surprise. “It was kept a guarded secret till we actually received the award. I was so excited and was dying to share the great news with people back home in Guntur that I did not even attend the customary dinner and rushed home,” he reminisces.

His printing facility at Pothur on Guntur outskirts for digital printing, screen printing, wood engraving, offset printing and creative designing for advertisers, is said to be one of the best in the country but Jain remains a humble soul leading a team of charged-up artists and technical experts, sitting at his modest Reddypalem plant in Guntur.

Santi Arts has been in the business of end-to-end advertising solutions for brands like BPL Sanio and Godrej. The most sought-after mode in the premium category is mural painting; reverse painting on glass and silk. Thousands of his pieces are exported to countries like Germany, Kuwait, Japan and European nations.

People come to him with paintings and seek their replicas on glass, silk cloth or hand-made paper to preserve the art for posterity, keeping the original charm of the paintings intact. Going by the demand, he has created thousands of copies of the image of Mecca with pilgrim rush. Torrent, a pharmaceutical company recently lapped up 22,000 pieces of a painting on glass with a colourful pair of parrots on it.

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