In his 80s and frail of health, he is confined to his room now. But Munirathinam has been the force behind many artists, who have won recognition. He was the drawing master in a school in Vellore and also Head Master in charge; he taught a whole lot of young boys and girls at home. Quite often he allowed them to stay in his house if they came from villages outside Vellore. At one point of time, 80 of his students took the government certificate examination. Such was his reach and is an indication of the number of youngsters he taught during his long career.
When he spotted talent, he would urge them to join the College of Arts in Chennai. Even two years ago, some of his students passed out of the College. When he was younger and senior artists such as S. Dhanapal, Krishna Rao and others were teaching at the College, then known as the School of Arts & Crafts, he was invited to visit and demonstrate drawing and water colour painting to the students. Dhanapal, Adimoolam, Dakshinamoorthy and others went to his class in Vellore to conduct demonstrations for the benefit of his students.
During a recent meeting with him, I asked why he was not given a teaching job at the School of Arts. He answered in a matter of fact voice, “They never recognised me as an artist.” In fact, I got a similar reaction when I asked a couple of artists whether they knew him, pat came the response: “Oh! That drawing master!” Sad indeed. A look at some of his paintings would show He deserves appreciation as an artist of merit. His water colours of still life and landscape speak volumes about his skill; he also has a stylised way of depicting human forms which is quite unique.
Munirathinam established the North Arcot Artists Association, which is now run by some of his students. Awards are given by the Association annually to the best works in the exhibition organised by them; many artists from Tamil Nadu have been recipients. The Association conducts competitions for school students in the Vellore area and awards three prizes every year.
