This fertile land of Barpali has been bestowed with many renown poets, writers, weavers, craftsmen and of
course artists over the past one Century. In the recent years Saroj Rout of
Barpali emerged as an artist of national repute. He is a self taught artist who
in fact never went to attend any art colleges. By vocation he is a Government teacher,
but art is his passion. Apart from fine art he is being recognized in the
society as a stage artist, Oriya poet and an amateur photographer.
It was the year 1982 when Saroj Rout passed 10th Standard
with 1st Division. In the Eighties of the last Century a boy
securing 65% marks was considered to be of par excellence. His
mother Smt. Maliphula Rout was the sole mentor of this kid, who in fact herself
was a teacher at Government Girls High School of Barpali. Whereas his father
was a farmer of Bandhpali village. All his
father could do is just source the livelihood for the family.
On passing out successfully the 10th exam Saroj Rout wanted
to go Khalikote to join the famous Art College over there. But his mother had
higher expectations from her kid. She wanted to groom her son either as an
engineer or doctor. And against his will his mother forced him to join
Intermediate(+2) Science at Panchayat College, Bargarh. His heart and mind was
never in the books. Like the score of other students though he passed out 12th
exam, but could not qualify either in the entrance exams of engineering or
medical. After 12th he went to do B.Com at the most premier college
of western Odisha i.e. Gangadhar Meher College at Sambapur. Afterward he did his
Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) to become a teacher.
In the year 1990 he joined Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sambalpur as a
mathematics teacher on adhoc basis. But the following year he got the Odisha
State government job as a Sikhyakarmi (teacher) at Chiknipali U.G.M.E. School.
Then he was a young man of 28 years old. He was passionate towards life, but
his meager salary did not allow him to meet the needs. He charted out the means
to make money on his own. He setup a commercial art shop by the name Elora Arts
at Barpali Bus Stand to sustain in life. He along with his friends used to
setup photo studio in Sital Sasthi Jatra. With the profit margin earned through
this temporary makeshift studio once they even able to make a South India tour.
During 2009 his spinal cord disk skidded from its usual location. He was
captive in a hospital bed for weeks. His life was in a chaos with uncertainties
looming at large. But this prolonged
illness proved to be a blessing in disguise. Curtailing the public life he had
to spend time in solitude at home along with the loved one. His wife was of a
great support to him morally during this traumatic phase of his life. She
compromised with the given circumstances of the life by sacrificing every
comfort a lady needs to run her home. While confined within the four walls at
home Saroj Rout honed his skills in fine art which were lying dormant within
him since his childhood. In the study room he searched for his paint brushes,
papers and canvas. Painting needs enduring
hours of either seating or standing along with the easel. Challenging his
physical impediment slowly and steadily he started sketching and paintings one
after another.
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| [Divine Love - Acrylic on paper] |
But the real boost in his art career came when he joined Facebook. He
got connected with the big names in the contemporary art world like Bijay
Biswal, Ramesh Jhawar, Stan Miler, La Fe and Liu Yi. He able to exchange the
ideas with them. Inspired by these artists he shifted from oil paints to water
colors. Working with the water colors is a real challenge for any artist,
because there is no room for any error or omissions.
[Smile - Acrylic on canvas]
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[Paddy fields - Water color on paper] [Mahanadi - Water color on paper] |
(On sale)
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| [Pallha rua - Water color on paper] |
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| [Forest Bunglow - Water color on paper] |
Saroj Rout along with his artist friends Dhruba Behera, Ramakanta
Tripathy and Panchanan Barik founded Kalabhumi in the year 1999. The objective of this organization is to
impart art to the school students. At present Saroj Rout is heading this non-profit motive
institution as the President. One of his Facebook friend, who in fact himself is an
artist from Turkey was inspired to send thrice lot many art materials as a gift
for the students of this art school. They include sketch books, crayons, pastel
colors, water colors and story books.
So far he participated in group art exhibitions at places like
Amritsar, Hyderabad and Bangalore. But during the winter of 2014 he went
solo at Barpali. This art symposium was inaugurated by Dr.Pravas Singh, the MP
of Bargarh. This exhibition added another feather on the cap to Barpali as no
such exposition was ever organized at this little town. He charted out the
future course of action for his life well in advance. Leaving behind a well
paid and secured government job he want to opt VRS (Voluntary Retirement
Scheme) in three years time from now to be a fulltime artist. He want to take
Barpali to the World platform of art and culture.
When so ever he completes a painting, as if a kid he carries the art
frame with enthusiasm to show it to his mother, when she would be busy with
cooking in the kitchen. On looking at his paintings she overwhelms herself, but
simultaneously repents that she did not sent her son to any colleges to hone
his skills in fine art.
WhatsApp# +918249314972
E.Kiran Mohan(The Writer)
C\o.
Dr.E.R.Rao (M.D),
Tehsil
Chowk,
At\PO –
BARPALI – 768 029,
Dist.
Bargarh, Orissa, India.
My life same . Parapali is great art style very nice. Thank you Kiran mhoan.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful Artist ,A good friend but a greatest of human being
ReplyDelete