I plan to commission a portrait by sending him a photo, tweeted Anand Mahindra. (FILE)
Industrialist Anand Mahindra has praised the “determination and ingenuity” of a young artist trying to better his and his family's life by honing his craft on the street of a busy shopping area in Chennai. Impressed with his skill, Mr Mahindra said that he planned to get a portrait of himself sketched by the artist.
“Another braveheart following the ‘Determination+Ingenuity+Patience=Success' formula. I cheer his sticking to the arts, despite pressure to enter a more lucrative profession. I plan to commission a portrait by sending him a photo,” said the 66-year-old chairman of Mahindra Group, and added the hashtag “Monday Motivation”.
A report in the Indian Express about M Surendhar, the self-taught artist, triggered Mr Mahindra's interest. According to the report, the final-year visual communication student recently began drawing portraits of famous people and individuals on request to earn a livelihood.
Sitting in a corner in Chennai's Pondy Bazaar, Surendhar has been drawing portraits for about two weeks. It usually takes him 10 minutes for a black and white portrait and about 20 minutes for a colour one – quick enough for his customers to finish their shopping and collect their portraits.
He uses the money he makes from his portraits to pay for his studies and take care of his personal expenses. To support his family, he also does freelance work for short films. His parents were separated, he said, and he lived with his younger brother and father, a daily wage labourer.
Surendhar charges from Rs 150 to Rs 1,000 from his customers, depending on the size and colours used. He has illustrated portraits of Hollywood actor and former WWE champion Dwayne Johnson, popularly known as “The Rock” and superstar Rajinikanth.
Mr Mahindra is known for sharing such inspirational stories on social media. He recently used a unique photograph to highlight the popularity of two-wheelers in India. He shared a photo on Twitter of a man and a woman riding a motorcycle. On the two-wheeler, they were hauling chairs and mats. While it may appear hard to load such a large amount of luggage onto a two-wheeler, the couple appeared to do so with ease. Mr Mahindra captioned the post, “Now you know why India makes the most two-wheelers in the world. We know how to carry the highest volume of cargo per square inch of wheel…We are like that only.”