Gurdaspur Diary: Portrait of an artist

Earth without art is just “eh”, so goes the opinion. This is a novel way of describing art, artists and artifacts. Gurdaspur’s young painting sensation and sketch artist Hitesh describes art in this way because he feels the world is nothing without it. Hailing from a middle class family, Hitesh developed a passion for drawing and painting at a tender age. He was in the Bariar village government school when he came up with his first works of paintings. His teachers and parents were so impressed that they decided to let the young man follow his ambition of becoming a “renowned artist”. To those who rarely create art, it may seem as though the process of creation is easy and comes without challenges. But for those of us who know that creating a work of art is rarely simple, the quote ‘creativity takes courage’ holds a lot of water. His recent works of painting portraits of bureaucrat KAP Sinha and Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal and his wife Komal Mittal, who incidentally is the Hoshiarpur DC, have set the tone. Right now, Hitesh is pursuing a B.Ed after which he plans to take a full-time plunge into the world of art. The young man fully understands what Vincent van Gogh meant when he said, “If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” That is the reason why he raises his standards by several notches when faced with criticism from his detractors. “When I was in school, I found I could say things with colour and shapes that I could not say any other way – things I had no words for. That is when I decided to be a professional artist,” he says. For him, creativity is not a product that can diminish or cease to exist. He is convinced that you cannot use up creativity. The more you use it, the more you will have it. “Being creative gives me satisfaction and enjoyment, both in equal measure,” he quips. Being from a lower middle class family, he faced a lot of difficulties while growing up. Nevertheless, he took them on one by one and triumphed. He takes refuge in the cliché, “tough times don’t last, tough men do. Good times await you when the difficult things pass.” There have been times when he felt the subject he wanted to portray or paint was difficult. “It is not because it is difficult that we do not try. It is because we do not try that it is difficult,” he says. He pays credit to National Awardee Romesh Mahajan who he says, “has always been a source of encouragement to him”. Gurdaspur wishes all the best to this budding painter, sorry artist.

Advertisement

No smooth sail for water sports hub in Ranjit Sagar lake

Pathankot: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was impressed by the serene and sprawling surroundings of the Ranjit Sagar Dam lake during his recent visit. So much so, he wasted no time in announcing the formation of a board to supervise the development of a water sports hub in the area. However, somebody should have told him that the task is easier said than done because it involves bodies controlling water sports in India. The problem is that these bodies are dominated by politicians of Opposition parties. These politicians, in no way, will let AAP have a smooth sailing. (Contributed by Ravi Dhaliwal)