CHENNAI: A railway themed art exhibition curated by 72-year-old L Govindaraj at the Egmore railway station, recently attracted many commuters. The one-day show with 24 artworks on display, depicted scenes at a railway station — from an old porter carrying luggage to an overcrowded Coimbatore railway station.
Govindaraj, the former employee of a nationalised bank, said, “I have been drawing from the age of six. But, after I started working, I never really had the time to focus on art. I worked for 20 years as a bank employee until 1999.”
Later, he set up a music academy in Kodambakkam and practiced art whenever he had the time. It was only in 2016 when he shut his academy that his complete focus turned towards art. “This is my sixth photo exhibition. So far, I have organised exhibitions on different topics in Chromepet, T Nagar and Keelkattalai,” he said.
Talking about choosing railways as the theme for this exhibition, Govindaraj shared, “I feel it attracts a lot of audience as most people have a personal connect with railway stations and memories associated with it. I painted the pictures here based on the photographs I clicked at stations.”
Egmore station director, N Jeyavenkatesan visited the exhibition and congratulated Govindaraj. The septuagenarian plans to organise his next exhibition at Central railway station, or should we say MGR railway station?