Meet Telangana’s first travel artist Alpula Pocham, who carved a niche for himself

This 32-year-old claims that he creates awareness over prospects of art-related courses among students and the importance of art in life among citizens during the arduous journey.

Mancherial: He was criticised and ridiculed by his friends for venturing into the field of arts. He was insulted and humiliated by locals for drawing images of women. However, Alpula Pocham managed to carve a niche for himself in this unconventional domain – live drawing. He has now emerged as Telangana’s first travel artist.

“To prove that one can earn fame and sensitise the public about the field of art, I embarked on this journey of drawings or Kala Yatra from Kashmir to Kanyakumari by resigning to a post of art teacher at a renowned private school of Hyderabad in December 2017. I have covered 17 States and produced around 15,000 live drawings of attractive scenes and humans so far, facing hardships,” Pocham told ‘Telangana Today’ over the phone.

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The son of an agricultural labourer from Maremmawada in historical Chennur town, Pocham recalled that his friends and peers, who once demoralised and mocked him for expressing his wish to enter into art, were surprised when they read a news story about him in Hindi newspaper. I was thwarted by locals when trying to draw an outline of the movement of women in Bihar and was offended by residents of a remote village in Gujarat, he recounted.

 

This 32-year-old claims that he creates awareness over prospects of art-related courses among students and the importance of art in life among citizens during the arduous journey. He said that he would stay on the premises of temples and schools and travel by vehicles lent by good Samaritans for picturing popular tourist spots and scenic places of a State. He added that he would easily gel with anyone to accomplish his mission.

After being impressed by my drawing skills and my attempt, some persons would provide shelter, food and pocket money at the time of the journey. “Sometimes, I take up jobs related to art to meet the end of the day. Despite bitter experiences, I continue this effort and will end it by two more years,” he shared.

The traveling artist attributed his success in this field to the encouragement of his school drawing teacher Satyanarayana and sibling Sagar who extended unwavering support to him in his endeavours. He pursued BFA (Painting) from Potti Sriramulu Fine Arts University and earned post-graduation at Indira Kala Sangeeth Vishwavidyalayam of Chhattisgarh.

 

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