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India's timelessness on canvas
The co-existence of several centuries in India is a truth that the expanding network of the cyber age cannot wish away. And it is in this process of assimilation and absorption that makes the "changing'' and the "not-changing'' partners in progress that the soul of India lies hidden.
Probably it is this truth that is reflected in Sandeep Mani's forthcoming exhibition, "Timeless India'', at the Visual Arts Gallery of the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi from January 31 to February 3.
As an engineer, his foray into paintings has been like an eye-opener, a real discovery of timeless India, as he puts it. Vignettes of ordinary life are evident in his oil paintings which he makes using the palette knife.
A graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, with a post-graduation in Business Administration, Sandeep specialises in mechanical drawing and drafting. His canvases, however, express the fascination with the apparently seamless coexistence of different eras in time in everyday humdrum life. "I try to live the timeless character of India through my paintings -- where the 16th to the 21st century is not merely a span of 600 years,'' he says.
Indeed, whether it is a "charsi'' lost in his own world or a mazdoor gazing nowhere in particular, a wool weaver displaying his creativity or the Kebabwala in a suburban town, India's timelessness is evident through Sandeep's paintings. "There are many who do not or cannot reap the benefit of the growing prosperity of our country,'' says Sandeep, adding that it is this dichotomy between prosperity and poverty that he explores through his canvas.
And Sandeep has dedicated his exhibition to those who give generously of their time and services to light the path of meaningful development and prosperity for all. "It is in sincere appreciation of their efforts that I dedicate the proceeds from my paintings,'' he says. Incidentally, this is his fifth exhibition and though he has been painting since college days and has had a couple of exhibitions then, he has once again revived his interest in paintings three years ago.
Interestingly, the painter has left the choice of making the payment for the painting directly to the representatives of some of the organisations who will present at the exhibition. These include Mobile Creches, Rotary Club, Amar Jyoti Charitable Trust, Jan Jagriti and Youth Reach.
By Lalit K. Jha
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Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
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