There are a few rolls of chart-paper kept carefully wrapped in old newspapers in a locked cupboard in one of the classrooms at the Sree Chitra Poor Home Lower Primary School. On three of them are intricate geometric designs, so flawless that they create the illusion of depth and the impression of whorls and arcs when there are only straight lines. They were drawn by a nine-year-old.
The fact that a young child has drawn such complex patterns may not be remarkable in itself. Every year, at the School Science Mathematics Social Science and IT Fair, there are entries for the ‘geometric pattern’ competition that look professional. But, as with the State School arts fete, where the more privileged participants are able to spend a lot on training, costumes, and equipment, the Mathematics Fair too is populated by many such trained candidates.
This is why the achievements of children from the Sree Chitra Poor Home are significant and celebrated by staff and students alike. B.S Karthik, the artist behind the three patterns that are treasured at the school, qualified for the district-level Mathematics Fair and was awarded an ‘A’ grade in the competition recently. He won first place in the Thiruvananthapuram North sub-district contest.
“It took me two days to get these designs right myself. I showed it to him once, and he got it right in the first attempt,” said N. Reeja, one of the teachers. There are no art teachers at this school, where 32 children of the Poor Home are taught. Karthik retraced the steps he followed to draw the designs with only a ruler, pencil, and sketch pen. The competition allows only three hours for three patterns and so there is very little room for error, especially when it comes to filling in the right blocks with colour, said Ms. Reeja. If one angle or a line is out of place even by a fraction, the picture is spoilt. The 9-year-old’s strength lies in the ability to block out all distractions and devote absolute focus to his work.
