What made a simple schoolboy head to Kumbakonam from a small village in Myladuthurai to study fine arts is his thirst to develop his knowledge in the field of arts. What made this man take the train to Chennai the same evening he completed his college is his continuing passion. Little did M Balasubramanian, a resident of Madipakkam, know when he raised his hand for a small art competition in his schooldays that he was going to make a big name in the art field.
When this News Today correspondent entered the house of Balasubramanian, all she could see were the big mural arts hanging on the walls. Look for water painting, he has it. Want abstracts? He has mastered them. Ask about playing with mural paintings, well he is a king in it.
This enthusiast, in an interview to News Today, recalls his schooldays when his journey of being an artist began. “I studied in a government school and apart from studies, I was active in all extra-curricular activities. One such day, when I was in my 10th grade, a man came to our class asking if anyone was willing to participate in a drawing competition. That was for the Twenty Point Programme (TTP) launched by the then government, headed by PM Indra Gandhi,” recalls Balasubramanian.
“I wanted to participate, yet I hesitated to raise my hand. It was my math teacher Sundar Raman who encouraged me to participate in the competition. In this, I won a district award at Thanjavur. After this, my drawing master, Rengarajan, encouraged me to concentrate on drawing. This is when I decided to take the five-year diploma course in fine arts at Kumbakonam,” explains the enthusiast.
WORKING WITH APJ
The artist further says that right after completing college, he packed his bags to board a train to Chennai. In the beginning, with his friend’s help, he worked in private organisations and then as an art teacher in a private school.
Here is where the life-turning moment happened. “One day, I came across NITTTR (National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research) recruitment advertisement. I gave it a try and got selected. Interestingly, I joined there when A P J Abdul Kalam was serving as chairman,” he says.
ART IS LIFE
Though this was all about his profession, Balasubramanian’s love for art made him work and explore more. He has travelled across the nation and given life to many abandoned sculptures in the State through his murals.
“I have exhibited my works at the national level, all over India. As a student, my art was the first to get selected at the national level and people have purchased it too. It was a mural painting. After this, I started travelling to many places across India to exhibit my paintings in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Jehangir Art Gallery, Pune and many more places,” Balasubramanian says with pride.
Apart from this, he was also a professional in doing poster designs, layouts and graphics in that period. Even before the technology of animations come up, he has tried all of them.
UNIQUE WORKS
Some of his art works looked so different and the way he played with colours was attractive. Talking about them, he says, “These are the murals that are based out of Patteeswaram sculptures, a village in Kumbakonam. They are well-known for their challenging aspect and belong to the 10th century. The combination of colours is difficult and different.”