For Sanjay, walls are always his favourite canvas: from his house walls to the streets of Fort Kochi’s walls, he colours it all and considers it his passion. The Cochin Herald team was also captivated by the exquisite wall paintings and wanted to meet the people behind them. And here we are at Dhruva.
Akhila speaks to the Man behind it – Sanjay Kumar
There isn’t a single Mollywood movie which pictures the streets of Fort Kochi without a single wall painting. Now it has become a part of the Fort Kochi Culture. Sanjay and his students of Dhruva World of Arts have turned many walls into giant canvases.
The Dhruva Team pays for the paints needed to finish the walls out of their own pockets. It is the passion and imagination that has inspired this group of extremely brilliant and efficient young people to think outside the box and create something truly wonderful. This is also a method for you to give back to the community your unique ability – painting.
This 31-year-old artist along with his 60 disciples took their first step when they started painting on the walls of Fort Kochi in the year 2015. Nobody can ever forget the loveliest feeling they created on the walls. ‘Kochi is not a city; it is a feeling’
The painting on the walls of Amravathi School drew a lot of attention to Dhruva. The pupils cleaned the area in front of the school and whitewashed the walls. “We always intended to hold a painting show, but the costs were so enormous that we had to abandon the plan and start something completely new.” That’s how we got started with this extremely original concept of wall painting,” Sanjay says, adding that the kids stepped up to offer their help in covering the costs of the paints.
Sanjay has kept his childhood passion alive though he says that he didn’t have the much-needed support and guidance back then. He didn’t even have a chance to study art. But all thanks to his wonderful parents who kept encouraging this talent of his and helping him build up his career in the same field.
We are hoping to start similar projects and expand the Dhruva World of arts, said Sanjay, who is currently working as Art Teacher at Toc H public school, vyttila.
Krishna Leela
This project needs special mention since it was a Marathon LIVE Drawing which took place at TD School Ground in Mattancherry on the 18th of August 2022. It started off at 8 am in the Morning and lasted till 8 pm in the evening. The event was organised as part of Janmashtami.
Sanjay completed 108 drawings in the said time depicting the life of Lord Krishna. He used Indian Ink on Ivory Board paper.
