From a 27-year-old artist who battled suicidal thoughts and gave birth to Portraits of Patriots to a 57-year-old plantologist who has given life to 3,90,000 trees across 16 Indian States, Yeh Dilli Hai Mere Yaar, powered by JSW Group, a series by Delhi Capitals throws light on individuals who decided to take the road less travelled by and create social impact. MUSBA HASHMI brings you a report
Painting memories on canvas
Financial crisis, suicidal thoughts, loss of a loved one and getting fired from the job, he has seen it all at 27. Meet Hutansh Verma, a Delhi-based artist, who has seen the worst of times and is still standing strong.
“Art has always been of interest to me, but painting portraits of martyrs happened only in 2014. It was actually my father’s idea. He knew my love and passion for painting. One day, while he was watching news of a soldier who was martyred in Jammu and Kashmir, he asked why not I make portraits of these jawaans and gift it to their families. Back then, the idea sounded a bit weird to me. Because my only focus in life was to earn enough money for my family. I wasn’t aware of what was going in the country and neither did it was of interest to me. Hence, I just said okay and tried to ignore it. But my father was serious enough and he insisted that I should do it at least once a year,” Verma, who works as a Fine Arts teacher in Manav Rachna International School, Noida, tells you.
After listening to his father’s advice, Verma finally thought of making the portrait. That is when he realised that he had no clue about the martyred and or his family or even how many wars India has fought till date. “It was like a self-realisation for me. Then I started reading about the Kargil War and got to know that around 527 families were destroyed during that war. That hit me hard and in May, 2014, I decided to start making the portraits. I wrote several mails to army people to seek details about the martyrs and their families. Till September that year, I was able to make around 12 portraits and courier them to their families. I told my father about that and together we came up with the theme — Portraits of Patriots,” Verma explains.
Life gave Verma a major blow when in the same month, his father passed away due to several medical conditions. “My father took his last breath in my arms. He suffered multiple organ failures and was gone in a matter of a day. I was left shattered. It left a void inside me that could never be filled. That was the time when the artist inside me was about to die. And it did, at least for the next few months. It was only in 2015 that I decided to take up painting again. This time, more seriously than ever. So much so, that I made up my mind that instead of sending the portraits via courier, I would visit the families of martyrs and gift them the portraits myself. It was because may be now, I was able to connect with their pain,” he tells you.
The first family that Verma visited was of Captain Vijayant Thapar’s in Noida. “I made his portrait and went to visit his family. When his father saw the portrait, he said: “Aesa lag raha hai hamara beta hi vapas aagaya hai.” Those words got engraved in my heart and that feeling can’t be put into words. I was extremely happy,” he says.
His father’s demise wasn’t the only time he had to go through a tough phase in his life, losing his job and getting suicidal thoughts were there too.
“My childhood was filled with challenges. Financial crisis was just one of them. Hence, I always made sure that I was working even when I was in school. It was after I passed Class XII that I was laid off my job. It was a showroom that I worked in and I was just asked to leave without being given a reason. It felt that I have lost everything. I was questioning myself that how will my family survive now. I felt suicidal and decided to take my life on a railway track. I started walking on the track in the opposite direction of the train, so as to I don’t get to know when the train comes closer to me. It was when the train was hardly a kilometer away that within a fraction of second my whole life was flashed in front of my eyes. That’s when I realised how much my parents have struggled for my education and upbringing and leaving them alone was not a wise decision. Immediately, I got off the track and convinced myself that I am stronger than all this and that I would never try to do it again,” Verma recalls.
Till date, Verma has made 65 portraits and delivered them to their families. “From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh, I have travelled all over India to deliver the portraits. I have met dozens of families and the most common thing that I found in all of them was that via that portrait they all felt that their son has come back home,” he says.
However, on his way, Verma had to brave a lot of stares and taunts. “Initially, many of my relatives felt that I have gone nuts. They told me that this thing won’t take me anywhere. Some of them mocked me, while others gave a piece of their advice. But, I was positive. Today, when celebrities call me over for a meet-up or when people recognise me, those people who once mocked me are the first ones to introduce me as their relatives,” he tells you.
Money was another challenge that he faced. “These portraits are not commercial. I fund them. Once, there was a time when I had made a portrait but was unable to go and give it to the family because of financial constraint. I wrote about this on my social media pages. A generous man, who never disclosed his identity, reached out to me and offered me a sponsored trip. So, I believe if you are on a way to do good, things will eventually fall into place on their own,” he says.
From writing mails to army personnels to now getting requests for portraits, Verma has already come a long way. “People now reach out to me and request for portraits. Even children reach out to me on my social media handles and request for portraits of jawaans who were martyred from their area. It’s such a proud feeling that even the youth today are doing their bit and are becoming more responsible,” he tells you.
Planting life
At 57, this Delhi-based environmentalist and plantologist is making the world a better place to live, if not the best. Till date, she has planted 3,90,000 tress pan India. Meet, Radhika Anand, CEO of Plantology, an organisation which is working towards the cause under the initiative Fal Van.
“Environment is in my DNA. My father and grandfather also loved plants, so it naturally there in me. I always had this thing in mind that I will plant trees, no matter what I was doing and who I was talking to, the thought never left my mind,” she says.
It was only in 2014 when Anand decided to work this cause. “On a train journey, I met an army man and I shared my idea with him. Later, I came to know that he was the General and he welcomed my idea. He told me that I should go forward with my idea. That’s when I thought of giving it a try,” he tells you.
Things were not as easy as it seems, there were several roadblocks on Anand’s way. “I have done a lot of work with the Delhi government, and the Central government, but initially some were agreeing to my idea, while others criticised it by saying: “What are you saying ma'am, do you see any land available in Delhi, where will you grow trees here?”. Some even said: “Ma’am, aap to hume phaswa doge”. I asked them the reason to which they said: Ma’am don’t you know there is a situation of drought in two States, from where will we get water for the trees. We can’t afford it,” she tells you.
Not that our Government is not doing enough, they are, but unfortunately, we love to live in this world of status quo, “Jaise chalra hai vaise chalne do”, don’t knock the board, she says.
“This was possible only when I decided to utilise my savings and giving it back to the Mother Nature. I went to various army men and shared my ideas with them. One of them agreed and asked me how many lakh trees I wanted to plant. They talk in big numbers and I was a bit shocked with it. I told my husband, Sharad Anand who is an ex-banker, about it and he asked whether I was sure about putting my money into this. He told me to start with a lesser number first, in hundreds. But then, I planted 85,000 trees back then,” she tells you.
Anand is a one-woman man army and believes in doing things all by herself. “I was and am a one-woman army. I get a little support from my family company — Parijat Industries, basically the back-office help, but I am the face of Plantology, which I started in 2005. When I work with the army, I give them my know-how and there are three stages in which I visit the site where the plantation has to take place. First, either I go right in the beginning and do recce and see what kind of plants can be planted here so that research is my part and since I am an environmentalist, this much homework I can easily do. The second is, sometimes they call me in the middle of the plantation so that some photo op can happen. The third is when all he plantation is over and I just go in the end to probably cut a ribbon. The best part working with the armed forces is there are no big challenges as such, because it’s just a piece of cake for them,” she says.
She tells you that the biggest lesson we should learn from this pandemic is that we should never try to be the master of environment, it will always be our master.
Her family, she says, has always been supportive and have respected her decisions. “I am a mother to two boys, both of them are married. In my life, I had gone through a very difficult period medically, so there was a time when I was almost bed-ridden and struggling. I was trying to live for my children. That period stayed for about 22 years, so my boys know that their mother has wisdom from the phoenix, she had got that grit and determination, if she can come out of that, then she can do anything. Hence, my family has been very supportive and they have never ever questioned my decision, not even when I was giving up my money. In fact, somewhere in the back of their mind they are happy that their mom is up and about, she is doing so much and she is getting all the energy from the environment. Yes, they do get concerned about my health, when I go overboard. So, I have to balance it out,” she tells you.
To her credit, she has been awarded the title of Green Ambassador by the Army. “That was very exciting. I was elated that day. It all started when I was in NSG for the plantation day and there was one gentleman in plain clothes, who was a VVIP. He took my business card and vanished. The next day, I was called to the CISF office. When I went there, to my surprise, this gentleman who had taken the card, was no one but the Director-General of the CISF. They were all waiting for me in a huge conference room, where there must have been 40-50 officers. The Director-General stood up and asked me “Ma'am, can you be our Green Ambassador for CISF?” I was left awe-struck. And then they organised a planting day in Ghaziabad, and there they honoured me with the title. After knowing this, the director-general of NSG called me and said, “Ma’am how can this happen, how can CISF steal our idea?”, and I found out that NSG were also making me their Green Ambassador, so at the next function, they graciously awarded me the Green Ambassador, and eventually, the BSF also did it. So, I’m the Green Ambassador for all three of them. It was humbling experience for me,” she tells you.
There are a few lines that Anand recites whenever she addresses a talk on environment and it sums up the message that she wants to give. “If the heat bothers you, plant a tree; if the water bothers you, plant a tree; if you like birds, plant a tree; if you like fruits, plant a tree, and if you like life, plant many trees. You have to start very young so that the seed of the environment is embedded in you and that seed can grow into a beautiful tree,” Anand tells you.
