New Delh: She cannot walk. Her hands do not move. That does not mean she cannot do anything. Wheelchair-bound Sunitha Thrippanikkara makes everyone around proud with her work.
The 36-year-old Sunitha is a mouth painter. In 2017, she bagged the National Award for mouth painting from President Ram Nath Kovind. Now she is one out of few differently-abled artists who have designed posters for the National Geographic documentary, “The Great Indian Election”.
The posters define the symbol of freedom. Sunitha’s piece depicts freedom through her painting of a girl sitting on the globe of democracy. According to Sunitha, through her effort she has tried to portray her dreams and emotions.
“Painting is my passion. I live my dreams through my paintings. Things which I can’t do practically, I try to put them on my canvas. These water colours add light to my life,” she told IANS.
Sunitha was born with muscular dystrophy and gradually her body lost all strength. Later, she became unable to use her limbs. However, she never let her disability come in her way to success.
After meeting her mentor Ganesh Kumar, Sunitha has never looked back. She continued painting, and till date, she has created over 3,000 paintings. She has also conducted exhibitions nationally as well as internationally.
Apart from painting, Sunitha, who is a Master of Arts in Malayalam literature, often writes poetry and short stories. The Kerala-based artist is now preparing for an exhibition in Dubai but “the thought of boarding a flight” bothers her.
Like Sunitha, Bandenawaz Nadaf is also an artist who has never considered his disability a hindrance.
His right hand is a short stump and he doesn’t have a left hand. So, he started writing with his foot and gradually developed an interest in art.
Soon, he started painting with his foot. He is currently a member of the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists Association. He too, has designed posters for the “The Great Indian Election”.
His theme encourages voting in the rural areas, and advocates voting for all. (IANS)
