JOIN USIt took them years of hard work, determination and undying passion to achieve their goal. Today, two students from Bangalore University Sanjeeva Rao Guthi and Srinivasa Reddy stand with their head held high as they have bagged the prestigious National Lalit Kala Academi Award.
The two hail from a humble background. Yet it was a dream in their eyes and the never-ending support of their families, that the men claim, is what has brought them this far, they said speaking to Deccan Herald on Sunday.
It took 32-year-old Sanjeeva Rao a long period of eight months to craft to perfection his art piece ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ for which he got the National recognition. Financial struggle, however, deterred him little, he said. “My parents are daily wage labourers.
Despite that I was allowed to choose what I wanted to do,” he added.
Rao also said he began painting at a young age of six. “I also worked part-time as a salesman to ensure that there was enough money to buy my painting material,” he said.
He concluded that he would take up art as his profession. “I do not know anything but painting. I like what I do and hope that one day I will be a renowned contemporary artist,” he said.
It was postcard-size “I want that,” which brought the laurels to Reddy, the 28-year-old whose chosen topics are political and traditional issues.
The artist who hails from Kadalveni near Hosur completed his diploma from the Government Drawing College and came to the City to complete his postgraduate course.
“The only thing I knew when I began was that I was passionate about painting. I was not even aware whether it was a diploma or graduate course,” he said adding that it was passion that drew him so far.
“My family is into agriculture. Support that my family and teachers gave me both financially and morally kept me going,” he said.
Recalling that his arts teacher, renowned artist B K S Varma was a great source of support, he said, “It was he who supported me financially through this and also another teacher Vasudev. I had hardships and there have been times when Varma has even brought me clothes.”
Reddy also won scholarships from the Lalit Kala Academi to complete a programme from Chennai last year. The duo said that it was indeed a matter of pride that two students from the same university bagged the awards.