HYDERABAD: Art can help in healing from the chaotic world and Kargil war veteran Veerabhadra Chary Muthoju is doing just that. “Pandemic is a war too. It is a bio war. I have seen worse,” said Muthoju, who worked with the Indian Navy during the Kargil war in 1999.
Muthoju, now a full-time banker, spends most of his time after work to paint. “I started painting when I was in the Navy. I use to present commandoes with handmade drawings that were intended to make the best out of the worst times,” he added. “The peace is in the art and I create it in the form of paintings. May it be warfare between nations or a war against a virus that the entire globe is struggling with, the situation is the same. It is chaotic and we need to make our way out of it,” adds Muthoju.
The artist first started painting in his early 20s at the Naval Base in Mumbai, just before the Kargil war was declared. “The war, which lasted two months, three weeks and two days, was a numbing phase for the entire defence force. I, too, was affected both physically and mentally post the war, but I managed to heal,” says the artist cum ex-serviceman.
“Thanks to the oil paint brushes that were gifted to me by a Navy Commando, I started using painting after retirement and have been exploring the art of painting without gurus ever since.” He has made it to National Art Gallery, Delhi wherein his paintings were displayed among many other awards. Muthoju is painting more than ever now, thanks to the pandemic. He paints images of Lord Buddha, Ganesha and abstract art that symbolises peace.