Snacks Vendor turned Painter

Ajay Kumar

From owning a snack shop in Hauz Khas Village, Ajay Kumar is a satisfied painter today. Though he has not gone through any formal training, his paintings are touching and inspiring.This painter's grit and determination to look for a satisfied life landed him in the world of painting. As a C.A. intermediate he started his own fast food restaurant at the Hauz Khas Village in 1993. But Ajay's creative instincts could not be satisfied with running a business."I was earning a lot of money but there was no life. I was not satisfied or happy," reminisces Ajay.

His artistic inclination was discovered in the neighborhood of his shop. "Every night I would sit with the an artist, Surinder whose studio is near my shop. And he would insist painting karo (do painting). So one night I painted aur woh kafi achi bani (it turned out to be good). I painted on normal canvas with acrylic paints. There was no theme. It was abstract and the brush just flowed on the canvas," says the nostalgic painter. That was the stepping stone in his life. Since then the snack man has never looked back and he got more and more immersed in his creations.

Ajay Kumar happens to be a very simple painter. His paintings are a jumble of small pieces of colored paper depicting the thoughts. He takes his inspiration from his moods. His paintings are an extension of his thoughts at that time. His ecstatic moods are represented by the bright colours and the the low moods are represented by a collage of dull colours. Most of his paintings are done through the collage medium. In December 1997 Ajay held his maiden exhibition in Calcutta at the Salt lake. The theme was Ahsas (Feeling). The response was overwhelming and LML Vespa bought his painting to print them on the greeting card and the calendar. Currently Ajay is busy with his new creation called the "Jugal bandi".

- Avni Sood