Chimera gets colour of hope here

Intellectually challenged students exhibit their paintings in city

The world calls them ‘challenged’. Intellectually challenged, and some use even more unkind, uninformed phrases. But, the nine ‘children’ of Mythri School for Mentally Challenged, with their 25-mates studying in different classes, couldn’t care less. 

Their fingers had known how to grip a brush hard, and focus on the sheet and paint a rainbow in all its hues and vibrancy, using the right colours. So what if their rainbow started with Red and ended with Violet, which for us lesser mortals is ‘not the norm’. 

For them, it springs eternal hope. And, dare you distract them when they are painting.

It was a rather unusual event, well conducted and to-the-point, with no endless speeches and gallantry that mostly limits itself to promises and merely that, put together by members of Mythri Charitable Trust.

The event was held at Institution of Engineers, on a sultry Sunday morning where over nine students of Mythri School. They put together an exhibition and sale of paintings of over 30 works, done by them, with help and guidance from their teacher Anuradha Girish. 

Paintings came in different styles, starting from Mysore traditional, to Warli, Madhubani, Coffee and glass paintings. Titled ‘Geetu-Geechu’ (line-scratch), the programme saw friends, parents and wellwishers of Mythri, set up by M Venkoba Rao (Srikanta) and others, marvel at the potential the children held and the final results were more than awesome. 

The artists who created, stood there, humbly, not gloating over all the attention they were getting. 

When asked, they were more than willing to talk about their works and how each work had come into being.

As for principal of Mythri School K J Padmavathi, the event was a mirror to her undying efforts of working with children who were simply different from the others. 

And truly, they were. Though the exhibition was on through the day, the inaugural event had journalist Ravindra Joshi addressing the gathering. Venkoba Rao elaborated on the genesis of this painting expo which had brought forth an unexplored side of these children who had been part of Mythri for long. 

“They were so focused that they wouldn’t even go for lunch break when they sat painting,” he said. 

By the time the expo ended by evening, all the artists had found their connoisseurs, with paintings being sold out.

MD of Vikram Hospitals, Dr Vikram, artist Lokesh, managing trustee Pruthvi Sudheendar and others were present.

Parentspeak

Siddegowda, a farmer, who comes from a village near Nanjangud is a happy man now. His son Ravi, who battled his limitation that came in form of him being intellectually challenged, today has turned into a total individual. 

“I brought him to Mythri few years ago. Two years I travelled with him everyday to Mythri and back, notwithstanding my dire financial status. But it did a world of good to my son. He now travels everyday to Nanjangud and back, all on his own,” he said.