WAYANAD: As a child, he always wanted to soak in nature. The fragrance of flowers, chirping of birds, cascading waterfalls, sprawling meadows, cloudy hills, tranquil lakes and the ravishing rivers light up his mind and inspire the artist in him.
He cannot move around freely and needs help to perform daily tasks. But Joyal K Biju, 16, has won hearts with his determination to overcome disability with talent. He is the youngest mouth-painting artist in the country, according to the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists, of which he became a member in 2020. “I want to be known as a world class painter,” Joyal says.
“My parents take me to tourist destinations. I paint pictures of places and sceneries I notice during our outings.” Besides the encouragement from his teachers and parents, he feels inspired by “hundreds of friends” on Facebook.
Belonging to Meenangadi in Wayanad, Joyal suffers from muscular dystrophy which leads to muscle weakness and degeneration. Joyal had problems by birth and he had a waddling gait at the age of six. The rare condition was confirmed at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital and he has had to use a wheelchair since. After primary education, he started getting homeschooled by teachers from the Block Resource Centre at Sultan Bathery.
“Chandrika teacher (of BRC) identified Joyal’s talent in painting in 2017 and introduced artist Ramachandran Thayannur who encouraged him to hold the brush by his teeth,” says his father Biju, a farmer.
His mother Deena mixes colours and helps him paint. while sister Ansiya, a degree student, is a pillar of strength. “He is fascinated by nature and has drawn around 1,500 pictures over the past three years,” Biju says.
In 2019, an exhibition of his paintings was held at magician Gopinath Muthukad’s Different Art Centre, which was inaugurated by sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman. Joyal had presented one of his paintings to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too. He was also presented the Ujwala Balya Award instituted by the state government in 2019.
The next year he won an online competition organised by the Voice of Specially-abled People last year. “We are happy with the transformation of Joyal, who was stubborn as a child. He didn’t have many friends either. Now people from across the state visit hour house to meet him,” says a proud father.Joyal is writing his SSLC exams with the help of a scribe at Government HSS at Meenangadi. Doctors at NIMHANS Bengaluru monitor his health regularly and interact with him over the phone.