A collection of sea shells from the beaches of Visakhapatnam was turned into a delightful canvas showcasing the culture of India by 11-year-old Poorvi Rajak and made it to the India Book of Records. The class VII student of Little Angels School, Visakhapatnam, made a new record for maximum sea shells painted with different art forms of all Indian States. As many as 286 sea shells were used to depict different art forms of 28 Indian States by the budding artist. She arranged the sea shells in the shape of the Indian map. It took Poorvi nearly a month to make the model of size 32 by 28 inches. Each shell depicts an art form painted by her. “I have a big collection of sea shells which I gathered over the years whenever I used to visit the beach. My friends too used to help me gather these. For this project, I took the sea shells from my personal collection of different shapes and sizes and used acrylic paints to make the art forms. I am excited about the record. The experience also helped me to know about Indian art forms,” says Poorvi. Supported by her parents, her school’s art teachers and mentors from Delhi-based art training centre Anuragyam, Poorvi depicted various art forms like kalamkari, phulkari, warli, godna representing the different States of India. Inclined towards art and crafts from a young age, Poorvi has been taking part in various competitions and bagged prizes at many platforms. “I wanted to do something different this time and sea shells was something that was very close to my heart. With the help of my mother, I researched on ways to make an artistic presentation with my shells,” says Poorvi.
