KASARGOD: Artists must suffer, that’s why it is called painting, reads the Facebook cover of Manjima SM, 21. Though a silly pun, this amateur artist from Kuttikol, a remote village in Kasaragod, is using her talent to assuage the pain of flood-hit Kerala. Manjima, who goes by the name Manji Charutha on the social networking site, put out a post late Sunday night. “Even though not perfect, all I know is to paint. I can make a small painting (15x15). It will cost a minimum of Rs 100.
"The money can be transferred to the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund, and send me the screenshot of the receipt and your address. I would need canvas, paint and the time to paint. I will courier you a painting... #athijeevanam," she added.
At the 17th hour, the post has garnered 584 likes, 60 comments, and 130 shares. Importantly, Manjima’s post has inspired around 20 persons to donate Rs 15,000 into the Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund.
“People have donated from Rs 100 to Rs 2,000 to the relief fund,” says Manjima, who is doing her MA in Malayalam, Language & Literature from Sreesankaracharya University of Sanskrit’s Payyanur campus. Now she is home because of the floods.
“I will start painting for all once I reach my hostel,” she says. She is sharing her hostel room with five others. “But we have lots of space,” she said. But several of the donors said Manjima did not courier them her painting, but thanked her for motivating them to open their wallet for the cause. An NRI Thomas from Qatar deposited Rs 1,000 in the relief fund with the remark ‘For Manji’. “No need to send painting. It will be an expense for you. But it was a motivation for me,” he wrote.
Akhil, a long lost schoolmate of Manjima, transferred Rs 101 to CMDRF and sent her a message: “No need to send be painting in return. But tomorrow is my birthday. Send me your painting as a gift”. Manjima acceded.
Middle daughter of farmer couple Madhavan and Saradha, Manjima learned painting when she was in Class VI. But he left it soon until freelance artist Nanda Kummar threw a #100daysofsketching challenge at his followers on Facebook.
“I took up the challenge in January and since then I have been painting,” she said.