IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Sudarsan Pattnaik, winner of several sand sculpture championships, speaks to Anu Gulmohar about his solitary struggles and how his passion for art translated on the only freely available canvas...
Once upon a time there was a little boy who used to live very close to the Golden Sea Beach at Puri, Orissa. His family struggled to make both ends meet and when he was about ten years old he had no choice but to quit school and begin working at his neighbour’s home. At the break of dawn, the boy would go to the beach and do what he enjoyed the most – making sand sculptures – and would then head for work. Slowly, he got better and better at his craft, and people at the beach started noticing. They encouraged him and told him how good his sculptures were. In time he went on to draw attention of the media and eventually word got around of his art. He was invited to participate in an international sand sculpting championship. Now 33 years old, I met Sudarsan Pattnaik on October 25, 2010, the day he was to be honoured for being a Young Indian Leader by Network 18 and presented with a trophy made by Swarovski Elements. The glittering crystals of the shades of our national flag – saffron, white and green – on the trophy symbolised how he was truly our country’s pride.
Besides representing India in over 40 championships and winning several of them, Sudarsan was also the Winner of the World Championship of Sand Sculpting in 2008. “Sand sculpture was an art which did not require any investment. The sand at the beach was the natural canvas,” said Sudarsan. The journey from being just another pebble on the beach to the star of the evening hasn’t been an easy one for him. Even after being noticed and invited for a championship in America, troubles were far from over for him. “I tried to go there but it was very difficult for me because of my monetary constraints. At that time the cost of the tickets was about Rs 40,000. I tried to collect money from several people, whatever little they could contribute – Rs 100, Rs 20 or Rs 10. I managed to collect the sum I needed but when I went to the US Consulate, they refused to give me a Visa as I didn’t have a house or any bank balance. The first time I was able to travel to another country was to UK where we held a demonstration in London’s World Travel Market.” And Sudarsan never looked back since. Last month, he was in the US and bagged three prestigious awards at the North American Championship. This year he also won the People’s Choice Award at the International Sand Sculpture Festival in Berlin and at the CNE 1st International Sand Sculpting Competition held in Canada. He also received a Gold Medal at the Moscow World Sand Sculpture Championship. “I have won the maximum people’s choice awards in the world,” claims a proud Sudarsan.
What makes this naturally talented sand sculptor’s work stand out are the subjects that he picks. “As an artist I thought that either we can just participate in championships or we can use our art to convey important messages. I decided that we should do something more with this art, for the society. So I started creating issue-based sand sculptures. For example, after the tsunami, I had created a sculpture urging the world to help the tsunami victims. This also helped our art form reach out to many more people. Even at championships I pick up topical issues. When I won the World Championship my subject was Climate Change; in the championship I participated last month in the US, my topic was the recent Oil Spill.”
Having made India proud at international championships so many times, one would expect Sudarsan Pattnaik’s name to be on everybody’s lips, but sadly that is not the case as yet. He does receive congratulatory messages from the President and has been felicitated in person in 2005 by the then President APJ Abdul Kalam and in 2008 by the then Minister of Culture and Tourism Ambika Soni, but no other support has come his way. “In our country an artist does not receive enough support. If this was not sand art but sand sport, we might have received some more support! When my international colleagues win championships, they receive sponsorships but in my country I haven’t had such luck as yet,” he laments.
Fifteen years ago, he started the Sudarsan Sand Art Institute. Today, he has students from all over the world, though monetary constraints haven’t allowed him to set up proper infrastructure as yet. “I hope that this art of sand sculpture becomes more popular and more sand artists come around. I wish to create a sand sculpture park along the lines of Rock Garden in Chandigarh, where students could learn the art and tourists could view the sculptures. It would be the world’s first sand art park. This is a desire that I have, but so far I haven’t been able to even get the land that this project would require. But one needs to keep trying,” he says calmly. And as he keeps trying to make his sand castles in the air a reality, ever so often he gets a pat on the back when the world honours him with titles such as ‘Young Indian Leader’. Come high tide or low, let’s hope Sudarsan Pattnaik is able to sculpt his future according to his designs.
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Sudarsan Pattnaik, winner of several sand sculpture championships, speaks to Anu Gulmohar about his solitary struggles and how his passion for art translated on the only freely available canvas...
Once upon a time there was a little boy who used to live very close to the Golden Sea Beach at Puri, Orissa. His family struggled to make both ends meet and when he was about ten years old he had no choice but to quit school and begin working at his neighbour’s home. At the break of dawn, the boy would go to the beach and do what he enjoyed the most – making sand sculptures – and would then head for work. Slowly, he got better and better at his craft, and people at the beach started noticing. They encouraged him and told him how good his sculptures were. In time he went on to draw attention of the media and eventually word got around of his art. He was invited to participate in an international sand sculpting championship. Now 33 years old, I met Sudarsan Pattnaik on October 25, 2010, the day he was to be honoured for being a Young Indian Leader by Network 18 and presented with a trophy made by Swarovski Elements. The glittering crystals of the shades of our national flag – saffron, white and green – on the trophy symbolised how he was truly our country’s pride.
Besides representing India in over 40 championships and winning several of them, Sudarsan was also the Winner of the World Championship of Sand Sculpting in 2008. “Sand sculpture was an art which did not require any investment. The sand at the beach was the natural canvas,” said Sudarsan. The journey from being just another pebble on the beach to the star of the evening hasn’t been an easy one for him. Even after being noticed and invited for a championship in America, troubles were far from over for him. “I tried to go there but it was very difficult for me because of my monetary constraints. At that time the cost of the tickets was about Rs 40,000. I tried to collect money from several people, whatever little they could contribute – Rs 100, Rs 20 or Rs 10. I managed to collect the sum I needed but when I went to the US Consulate, they refused to give me a Visa as I didn’t have a house or any bank balance. The first time I was able to travel to another country was to UK where we held a demonstration in London’s World Travel Market.” And Sudarsan never looked back since. Last month, he was in the US and bagged three prestigious awards at the North American Championship. This year he also won the People’s Choice Award at the International Sand Sculpture Festival in Berlin and at the CNE 1st International Sand Sculpting Competition held in Canada. He also received a Gold Medal at the Moscow World Sand Sculpture Championship. “I have won the maximum people’s choice awards in the world,” claims a proud Sudarsan.
What makes this naturally talented sand sculptor’s work stand out are the subjects that he picks. “As an artist I thought that either we can just participate in championships or we can use our art to convey important messages. I decided that we should do something more with this art, for the society. So I started creating issue-based sand sculptures. For example, after the tsunami, I had created a sculpture urging the world to help the tsunami victims. This also helped our art form reach out to many more people. Even at championships I pick up topical issues. When I won the World Championship my subject was Climate Change; in the championship I participated last month in the US, my topic was the recent Oil Spill.”
Having made India proud at international championships so many times, one would expect Sudarsan Pattnaik’s name to be on everybody’s lips, but sadly that is not the case as yet. He does receive congratulatory messages from the President and has been felicitated in person in 2005 by the then President APJ Abdul Kalam and in 2008 by the then Minister of Culture and Tourism Ambika Soni, but no other support has come his way. “In our country an artist does not receive enough support. If this was not sand art but sand sport, we might have received some more support! When my international colleagues win championships, they receive sponsorships but in my country I haven’t had such luck as yet,” he laments.
Fifteen years ago, he started the Sudarsan Sand Art Institute. Today, he has students from all over the world, though monetary constraints haven’t allowed him to set up proper infrastructure as yet. “I hope that this art of sand sculpture becomes more popular and more sand artists come around. I wish to create a sand sculpture park along the lines of Rock Garden in Chandigarh, where students could learn the art and tourists could view the sculptures. It would be the world’s first sand art park. This is a desire that I have, but so far I haven’t been able to even get the land that this project would require. But one needs to keep trying,” he says calmly. And as he keeps trying to make his sand castles in the air a reality, ever so often he gets a pat on the back when the world honours him with titles such as ‘Young Indian Leader’. Come high tide or low, let’s hope Sudarsan Pattnaik is able to sculpt his future according to his designs.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
GIDF Club of IIPM Lucknow Organizes Blood Donation Camp
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
Best Colleges for Vocational Courses in India
IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board
INDIA'S BEST COLLEGES, INSTITUTES and UNIVERSITIES
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