Young Achiever

Md. Sabir Nishat
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Disability and artistry. For many these are twains that can never meet. But this has been proved wrong by Sangramjyoti Chowdhury, a talented disabled young artist of steely determination. His inability to speak or hear has not deterred him in any way, for he has found an able medium in the paintbrush to express his innermost feelings on canvas.

His mother, Aimoni Chowdhury, an artist in her own right, has an apparently overwhelming influence on Sangram. "It is she who encouraged him to paint when he was young. Being an artist herself, she was able to make Sangram feel the angst an artist must feel before transmuting it into a work of art," says noted artist Sarat Baruah.

Sangram had his first solo show at the State Art Gallery, Guwahati in 1994. Since then he never looked back. His parents never imagined that their son would take up painting as a profession. His first and abiding love was football. He donned jerseys for various clubs, including the Maharana Club, and was selected by the Sports Authority of India for special coaching. But as destiny would have it, Sangram left football for good and plunged headlong into painting. What was football's loss was art's gain.

Like many self-taught artists, Sangram is a versatile creator, who comes out with newer styles with each new attempt. Critics say that his ideas are distinctive and strongly individual in style.

In his desire to explore, Sangram tries different styles and mediums. Be it oil, acrylics or pastels, his inspiration comes from complete familiarity, total assimilation. He finds in art the perfect medium to satisfy the deeper recesses of his mind. "Through this medium he gives vent to his feelings which he is unable to express through the power of speech," says Baruah.

"Sangram's forte as an artist has always been his desire to make a strong statement in his works," observes Baruah. And he has done so through the subtle use of expressionistic colour and stark imagery. Some of his paintings, an extension of his social and political concerns, speak of the complexities and duality of life in an intense and philosophical vein, using varied images.

Lack of formal training notwithstanding, sometimes formally trained artists want to know about his technique. Those who have seen his paintings a decade ago will marvel at the qualitative finesse he has acquired through practice.

Sangram has bagged the National Integration and Solidarity Indira Gandhi Award for Talent (1994), the Integration Award through Art instituted by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (1993), the Very Special Arts India Award (he has been awarded the first prize in this annual national art competition three times), a scholarship from the Union Ministry for Human Resources, besides participating in the 7th International Abilympics in Japan.

Not content with earning a name for himself, he took up the task of teaching the younger generation to paint, starting the Chitrankan Kala Kendra in 1992. The school has over 200 students and six teachers, two of whom are deaf and dumb. Free coaching is given to disabled students.

The number of canvases he produces may have increased, but it's not quantity that matters to Sangram. What he is most pleased about is that the quality of his work is improving. And that his paintings are being appreciated by art connoisseurs.