Citygritty 8212; Pune

Vibrant strokesWe have one more landmark in Pune. Opposite the Wadia College, you cannot have missed the white-coloured, very impressive ...

Vibrant strokes
We have one more landmark in Pune. Opposite the Wadia College, you cannot have missed the white-coloured, very impressive and colossal building which is the Pune headquarters of the Central Excise and Customs. The neat and smart architecture of this institution, is now being complemented by a landscaped garden, with a jogging track that is getting ready. Certainly, very pleasing to the eyes.

And as you stir inside the building and climb up to the third floor, there8217;s another surprise for you. A magnificent painting! Now, what8217;s so great about that you may ask? It is anyway trendy to put up paintings on walls of not only individual homes, but corporates and offices, as well.

What makes this 14-feet by around five feet painting unique, is that it has been done by 32-year-old Chittari Vijay Kumar Varma, who is an employee of this outfit. Varma, a central excise inspector, is presently posted at Ratnagiri. His passion for painting, since childhood, was very well-known to his seniors, so when this building sprouted magnificently, on the Pune soil, they decided to add colour to it, by giving an assignment to Varma.

Varma, took time off from his Ratnagiri work and came to Pune in the month of June. In 10 days flat, from June 14 to June 24, he perched himself in the Ashley House the old building of the premises and for 12 hours or more everyday. Finally, he came out with a delightful painting, with his master strokes.

Punya Vaibhav8217; is the name of the oil painting and this vibrant creation, with orange and brown colours dominating the piece, is well worth taking a dekko. It has figures of stalwarts in the freedom struggle like Mahatma Gandhi, Lokmanya Tilak and others. It also has an impressive portrait of Chhatrapati Shivaji. The historic Shaniwar Wada is not to be missed. It also depicts glimpses of our ancient carvings.

For Varma, this brilliant work, is just the tip of the ice-berg 8211; he is scheduled to create at least 25 more paintings, for his organisation. A childhood hobby, says his sister, Indira, who is presently in Pune, very enthusiastically, 8220;My brother was very fond of painting since childhood and our house here in Pune, is adorned with his paintings.8221; A science student, Varma was brought up in Pune, and has post-graduated from the University of Pune. He has been in this government job since the last eight years, which does not demand any creativity.

But obviously, this scientific-minded young man has a heart of a pure artist. And the proof of his harmonious blend of the science and the art is amply evident in his painting here. Varma himself is a very unassuming person. When we spoke to him at his Ratnagiri office, he merely stated,8220;I love to paint and I am thrilled that I have been given the opportunity. I have tried to depict the philosophy of our cultural heritage in this. I hope I have succeeded.8221;