Anandapur: The life of Santosh Das cannot be considered just another rags to riches story. The son of a vegetable farmer, Santosh was once living in a hut in miserable conditions, but he is now a nationally known artist.
Santosh Das is a resident of Panchupali village of Anandpur block in Keonjhar district. His father Pagal Das was a farmer. He is the eldest of two siblings.
Santosh said his mother Julamani took care of them and his father sold vegetables in Anandpur to make ends meet.
“The family faced utter poverty and often slept hungry. The income was very meagre and there were too many mouths to feed,” he said.
When Santosh was 10, he developed an interest in art. A painting competition was arranged by Junior Red Cross at Keonjhar district headquarters when he was studying in Class IX. That gave birth to Santosh’s dreams to become an artist. He came second in that painting competition.
He passed Class X in 2001, but due to poor finances it was difficult for him to continue studies. But poverty never killed his dream. In 2015, he got admission in the Bachelor of Visual Arts course in Bhadrak district and passed with high marks.
Santosh has received many awards including the Museum of Natural History Award in 2017, the B.C.A.C Annual Award and the Lalit Kala Academic Award in 2018.
He was among the top 10 contestants at the International Art Competition arranged by Factionary Foundation in Punjab.
Santosh won the gold medal in the ‘Rangsang’ competition of the Punjab Government. He said this award is the best he has got so far.
Santosh said he has put in a lot of hard labour to come up. I have taught students in many art academies to earn my livelihood. But now the situation has changed. Now I am getting big orders from many institutions, he added.
Santosh’s story is proof that nothing is impossible in life.
PNN
