Tiruchi: It’s a busy day at Varadarajan Malligai, deep in the recesses of Tiruchi’s Gandhi Market. The humidity speaks of impending rain, as a strong gust of wind riffles the ‘vathals’ and ‘Fryums’ in the sacks lined up like sentinels outside the grocery.
R. Varadarajan is not just the third-generation owner of this grocery that has been in business for the past 40 years. He is also a self-taught artist, whose work was recently part of the exhibition conducted by United Painters Association in Tiruchi.
“I’ve always been sketching stuff in the store, but I like to keep it discreet, because I don’t want customers to think I’m not serious about my trade,” says Varadarajan, as he makes space for visitors in the store and unwraps his work shrouded in an old bedsheet. Some of his smaller paintings and his sketch-books are kept in a cardboard carton.
Whether in the replicas inspired by magazines and internet-based art, or an original piece, Varadarajan’s style defies definition. “I have been picking up ideas since I was in Class 6 – after 20 years of learning from others, I have a mishmash technique that has become my own,” he says. “I actually wanted to learn how to use watercolours formally from the UPA, but I was advised to simply increase the size of my work and continue with the same style rather than learn a new way to paint.”
So out went the shop’s provision notecards, on the backs of which Varadarajan used to draw during his free time. And in came larger charts in various textures.
His choice of subjects is equally varied – from portraits to landscapes, rural scenes, animals and abstract art – there are few things Varadrajan has not attempted to draw.
“I didn’t know that there was such a wide range of art materials in the market,” he says. “Only after joining UPA three years ago did I find out about the many kinds of drawing pencil leads and drawing paper. All this while, I had been just using ordinary school pencils from my store for my artwork. I started using paints only six years ago.”
Joining the artists group has also helped him to polish his presentation skills.
“I learned to display my paintings properly, instead of simply framing them,” says Varadrajan. “.”
He credits his father M.G. Rajendran with his talent for drawing. “He is careful with his compliments because he doesn’t want me to lose my focus in business, but I know he was a good artist in his younger days, just like his father,” says Varadarajan.
So while the head and heart tug it out, Varadarajan tries to satisfy the demands of both his profession and passion as fairly as possible. After his 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. shift gets over at the grocery, Varadarajan rushes home to have dinner, and then paints late into the night.
“I don’t have a studio, so I make my wife and daughter wait on the bed while I cover the floor with my work. I use a trunk as a desk.”
The exposure given by the UPA has helped him to sell two of his works so far. “I want to create a book of portraits from the villages. Until I get around to doing that, I’ll keep saving photographs of subjects on my phone,” he says.
D. Balasundaram, secretary, UPA, who ‘discovered’ Varadarajan the artist while visiting his store, says, “I had to force him to exhibit in our first show, and when he did, his painting of a sunset scene found a buyer. Amateur artists like Varadarajan don’t need guidance, just encouragement. I expect him to go far, and achieve more.”
As customers begin to mill around, seeking Varadarajan’s word on everything from the price of oil to idli rice, the artist takes a break … for a short while.
