When somebody’s love for something is deeply rooted in childhood, it is bound to go a long way. Especially if it is for the love of it, then it must take a special kind of interest to pursue it, not as a profession, but more as a hobby.
Arien Jamir has drawn on almost every
notebook he can remember. For that matter, he even recalls getting his ears
pulled for doing so. There is no doubt his interest for drawing started quite
early, while he was as young as a student of class 3. “My math notebooks which
were blank, had half numbers and half drawings”, he confesses. The attribute,
which he says, comes from reading a lot of comics as he was growing up.
Humorously, he also adds, “notebooks
were plain and boring then, even the text books, so sketching was sort of
decorative and it became a habit. DC comics helped me in terms of writing too.”
It is interesting to note that Arien Jamir is an avid writer as well and his
writing ranges from poetry to essays and short stories. His works have been
published in numerous magazines and newspapers.
His artistic affiliation is obvious and
yet, he is somebody who chose to pursue something else on the academic front.
He is a graduate of Loyola College, New Delhi, where he passed with a B.A degree
in History. Interestingly, he went on to choose Law and is currently pursuing
his LLB final year from Delhi University.
Without hesitation, he says he was interested in pursuing a course on creative arts but further expresses that unfortunately that did not happen. However, “learning isn’t impossible because there are so many resources which are easily available”, he affirms. Talking more about his art, he enlightens, “I can only use pencil (charcoal or lead) and pen”. “I tried some paintings, which were fun”, he goes on but still chooses to say, “I doubt I am an artist at all”.
The only difference, however is that he
is a self-taught artist. His works have fetched him some income too, but he has
given away more. More recently, his works were exhibited at the Afflatus
organized by Touch India Trust during a fund raising exhibition in Delhi last
year.
For him, “it’s more like a hobby, but
hobbies have its effect on works we do, so it is not any lesser than a
profession. It is in a way more durable than a profession too.”
Does he remember his first work? To
this, he is prompt to reply, “the first creative sketch I can remember is
sketching my door. I think that was the year Rio first got elected…I remember
because I drew him on the door.”
Talk about his dream job and he is quick
to say, “I’d settle for the best job I can get but with life, the dreams are
unrestricted and always adding up. The word “job” nullifies the word “best” I
think. But I would enjoy a job which has room for creativity. But to put it
bluntly I want to be an entrepreneur.”
Art, for him is an expression of ideas and thoughts and to alter it and not necessarily to fill any space. “It does depend on what you are sketching though. The sense of fulfillment comes when the sketch good or different. Otherwise it can be disappointing too”, he explains.
On the other side of art, the talented
youth wrote his first poem while he was in class 7, drawing lines from a dream.
And if there is some credit he would like to give, then it’s got to be his dad
even as he expresses, “My dad is pretty good at it, he is better than me. I
learnt all school drawing works from him like pineapple, jack fruit, basket of
fruits etc.”
His concerns for the
society span over a series of issues confronting us today. Perhaps it is the
medium of art, he can best use to address them, just like his work of art
carries a message. |
Headhunter Breakdown: The dao (machete) is being held like a gun, symbolizing the gun culture and reflects the loss of our culture and simple traditions. We
no longer have our honour and we should not take too much pride of the past
because of what we have become.
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