Different strokes

KAMALA RAJAGOPAL is one of those talented women who has not been accorded the recognition due to her, because of circumstances. A very artistically oriented woman for a mother, though she had passed away when Kamala was just a year old, the daughter had revealed her inclination towards fine arts even as a young girl. Fortunately, her husband and parents-in-law did not stand in her way of nurturing her skills in painting, papier mache sculpture and Rangoli; in all these areas she has been excelling in portraiture. She was a member of an arts institution in Trichy and had entered several competitions and won prizes. As her husband was in the Railways, she had the opportunity, to participate in the competitions held in connection with the Railway week and win awards at an all-India level.

Kamala is competent in oil painting and watercolour, in which she paints subjects connected with the Puranas as well as scenes from daily life and landscapes. Papier mache sculpture too is her forte. She has moulded portraits of the Parmacharya of Kanchi, Satya Sai Baba and figures of Ganesha, Saraswati etc. She first makes a framework with steel wires, over which she moulds the face with papier mache and the body is formed by stuffing cotton and other materials and finally comes the clothes. The end result is a life-like portrait of the person. Rangoli is another area in which Kamala is sought after. She is said to patiently put in four to five hours creating the portraits of gods and saints besides other interesting patterns. Her talent did not stop with painting but extended to music too. She had not only learnt to play the veena, but even ran Bharathi Sangeetha Vidyalaya for over a decade as its founder-secretary. Musicians such as Jesudas, Kadri Gopalnath and Sikkil Sisters have performed at the institution's benefit programmes. She had to give up that work when her husband fell ill and all her activities had to take the back seat. In her 60s now, Kamala is making a come back, as she prepares for a solo exhibition of her works.

LAKSHMI VENKATRAMAN

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