BENGALURU : If the nearly 1,000 art pieces that Vijayendra Rao Chouthai, the station manager at Mallasandra Railway Station in Bengaluru Railway Division has churned out, it is the pencil sketch of a vintage steam loco that catapulted him to fame on Sunday. The official Twitter handle of the Ministry of Railways lauded his creative streak and showcased his piece with the tag, “The talent pool of Indian Railways is extensive and diverse!” The tweet has gone viral.
This recognition has come as Chouthai is all set to hang up his boots after 36 years of service in the South Western Railway Zone. This black and white sketch with smoke chugging out of the engine drawn using charcoal pencil is bound to make anyone nostalgic about rail travel and the rhythmic sound of good old engines. The caption Rao has scrawled on it enhances its appeal: Cherish your memories.
leave your footprints.’The station manager, who has had the habit of making his workplace interesting, had framed this work he had done on October 22 and hung it at his workspot. Chief Safety Officer C Ramanujam who came on an inspection thought it was quite attractive and took photos and spread the word around.
Oil paintings, water painting, glass painting, pencil sketches and thread work make up his vibrant oevre. Strangely for someone so close to the railways, he has done only four sketches on trains so far. “I inherited the talent of sketching and painting from my father. From the age of seven, I was interested in them and won the art prize every year at school,” says the native of Bhadravathi in Shivamogga.
The family’s modest financial circumstances prevented him for enrolling for a five-year art course at Davangere. “I ended up doing a B.Sc in Physics, Chemistry & Math, and got a job at LIC. A year later, I joined Railways as an Assistant Station Master at Bhadravathi,” he says. Since then, he has been sketching at home whenever time permits. “Top railways officers then, including Mr S Gagarin, who was the Senior Divisional Safety Officer in Mysuru and the Divisional Railway Manager Mr Ramachandra were appreciative of my creativity,” he says.
Commuting for five hours daily from Bengaluru to his work spot and handling a highly demanding job, makes pursuing his hobby particularly tough. “Your mind has to be peaceful to give your best. Only when I get into that mindset, can I sketch. Between 10 pm and 12 midnight and 4.30 am to 6 am are my most preferred timings,” he adds.
His phone is on silent when he gets into the creative mode and his family respects the fact that he has to be left undisturbed. Paintings and a few greeting cards he has done in the 1980s have even reached homes in Australia and the US.
“As I rose up the ranks in Railways, I no longer needed the extra money and have been donating it, as advised by my late father. An old age home and NGO Belaku get them,” he says, adding, “My children have also inherited and are better artists than me. We will be jointly exhibiting our works at Chitrakala Parishath in June 2021.”