Most of us pursue a career religiously but there is a tribe of rare people who follow their passion as religiously as their professional career not for monetary gains but to discover their inner-self through a two-way learning process where they learn from others and make others learn about themselves by communicating in a language that everyone knows about but not all comprehend alike.
The language used is ‘colour’ and the person is Meenakshi J—an artist by heart and profession but with a mission of adding colours to the lives of those who live on the edge of the society. Meenakshi runs a project by the name ‘Artologue’ and spends one-month every year on travelling to different parts of the country to meet people of various backgrounds. The purpose is to exchange views through colours and the artist is complemented by her husband Jey Sushil.
“The grand idea is to rescue the dying folk-art which is being forgotten and it is not getting attention. The art has been commercialised and made market oriented so we wanted people to develop aesthetic thinking. We want to unleash the artist within people and make them understand colours,” said Meenakshi.
The couple’s voyage brought them to Jharkhand and the first stop in the journey of the nomad couple was Chanho in Hazaribagh. The couple spent time among Adivasis and left the place with an unforgettable imprint on their psyche about the rich cultural heritage of the tribal community. The mesmerised couple was short of words of praise for the community. “They (Adivasi) are well informed about colours and anyone who claims that he or she can teach them about colours is lying,” said Meenaskhi.
The partners in the project have evolved as a career of different methods of painting and facilitate fusion of various techniques of painting practiced by people of one culture with another culture thus acting as a thread that unites people through a common bond—colours. Meenakshi and Sushil learned a unique method of painting at Purnia and subsequently passed that on to tribal inhabitants of Hazaribagh.
“We learned that the people of Manjhithan (a sacred place for Manjhi community) use water left after boiling sago and gulaal (a coloured powder used in festivals) to paint their mud houses. The combination sticks well on mud wall. We shared the technique with Adivasis of Chanho by improvising what we learned at Purina. We taught them to use the water left after boiling rice and mix it with colours,” added Meenakshi.
The couple’s second stop in Jharkhand was at Ranchi where they had the most unique experience which changed their outlook on differently-abled children. An interaction with mentally challenged children near Pahari Mandir filled them with positivity the source of which interestingly were the children shunned by the society to fend for themselves. The duo painted a wall at the school with the active participation of the children of the school and in the process discovered that children like these just need extra care, a fact that they knew but was reinforced by the level of enthusiasm for colours and the creativity associated with different shades.
“Their participation shows that they have the decision making ability. They chose colours, did exactly what they were asked to do and their interest in the art was simply great. With little bit of extra support they can also do well,” stated Meenaskhi.
The couple will be staying in the capital for more unique experiences as they are scheduled to visit school for Adivasi children at Brombay besides a school for deaf and dump at Bundu.