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A gigantic feat by a school dropout

Last Updated 18 May 2012, 19:14 IST

When engineers and bureaucrats were looking for an artist to create a huge multi-metal Ashoka Sthamba to be placed atop the dome of Suvarna Soudha, a replica of the Vidhana Soudha in Belgaum, they perhaps never imagined the gigantic task would fall upon the shoulders of a third-standard dropout.

Among the bidders from across the country, they were convinced that an unassuming Vishveshwaraiah Tuljaram Naindrakar was the only competent artist who could accomplish the task. The Rs 71-lakh bid was bestowed upon the artist from Gulbarga who can neither read nor write.

That is the unusual success story of the 41-year-old Naindrakar. In his studio at Bhovi Galli on the Filterbed Road, Naindrakar is engaged round the clock to complete the structure in two months.

“Undoubtedly, it is the most complicated and challenging work. But I like challenges. When everyone throws his hands up, I am ready to accept it,’’ says Naindrakar.

Even professionals and experienced artists would sometimes hesitate to accept the work Naindrakar has been assigned by the Public Works Department and B G Shirke Construction Technology Pvt Ltd, the constructing agency of the Suvarna Soudha. But he laid his hands on it without a second thought.

It involves providing and erecting the Ashoka emblem on the top of the main dome of Suvarna Soudha, made in bronze metal with gold paint lacquer and seating arrangement of 8.33 ft diameter on top of the dome with 6.92 ft base diameter of emblem and height of 12.07 ft.

The emblem weighing 6.5 tonnes is required to be made of three metals —60 per cent brass, 30 per cent copper and 10 per cent nickel. The structure will be fitted in five parts by ultramodern cranes.

Naindrakar, after losing his father early in his childhood, had no formal schooling. He failed in third standard and was very mischievous and naughty. He was brought up by his maternal grandfather who was a wood carver.

Knowing his grandson’s inclination, he did not insist on his schooling and employed him in different works.

“I learnt wood carving from my grandfather and used to watch with amazement his pottery making. I would steal clay and make my own models and when the potter readies to bake his products in the kiln, I would throw in my clay models too. And they would transform into wonderful pieces,’’ Naindrakar recalls.

For Naindrakar, being an early school dropout came as a blessing in disguise. “Had I been to school, I would have become some nondescript clerk,’’ he says.

Top politicians, bureaucrats, reputed engineers and others keep coming to his studio situated in the muddy narrow bylanes of Bhovi Galli, to place orders for busts, statues, portraits, etc. He has mastered his art in clay, wood, fibre, glass and metal.
The lasting contributions of Gulbarga’s pride will remain an inspiration for decades to come for young and aspiring artists.

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(Published 18 May 2012, 19:14 IST)

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