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| Artist Jaleel |
This is Artist Jaleel, a 53-year-old renowned street painter from Mattancheri.
Today while scrolling through the Instagram feeds I had a smile when I saw Jaleelkka’s photo in one of Kochi’s Instagram page. But the smile lasted only until I read the caption for that picture which read “RIP Jaleelkka”. On a further hunt for the reality, I learned that he passed away two days back on 16th May 2018. That was indeed a death that made my mind slip to a cold numbness for a while. He was barely an acquaintance. It was his paintings were that caught my attention on my second or third visit to Fort Kochi beach. More than the paintings what hooked me to a want to see the painter was the kind of soul those paintings carried. I would love to say that, that man was overfilled with beautiful and loud free minded thoughts. His paintings were candid enough making the idea behind them accessible for a man with an average IQ (like me, at least). They will never make you stand before of them as if a punishment to guess an idea. They were quite straight to the point.
After Fort Kochi became one of my favorite and familiar locations in Kochi, one day I saw a skinny man with neck-
long hair sitting near those painting. Without a second thought, I walked to that man. My excitement was uncontrollable. I praised his painting with even more excitement. That man, Jaleel, greeted all of my excitement with one of the most peaceful smiles I have come across in life so far. That conversation did last for a while. When asked about his income to buy the painting materials, he told me, "There are still so many good people on earth who know that I cannot live without drawing, They help me." I noticed a box near him and on it, it was written: "Please help me". From that little convo, that man's irresistible appetite to express himself was quite evident to me. Each of his painting was his vehement aimless scream. I have met him 4-5 times after that. Every time I make it a point to keep some money in his pocket. He gifts me that smile in return.
He does not have that recognition, accolades, honors, fame or anything that could shout his name out to the world. Yet, Jaleelkka was a celebrity for me. A person with that art quotient is no less than any celebrities out there. They are recognized when someone walks up to them and share what he felt about their work. Be it a street artist, a blind singer, Mohanlal, Yesudas or Peruvanam Kuttan Marar. Art should not go unnoticed and unacclaimed. Not many people can make it to the peak of what they do. Some fly high and touch the stars, while some crawl on earth.
I couldn't end this day without a post about that man. Jaleel, the soul who preached, "God is an Artist, not an Engineer".
Lucky God! There's now one more person who could make heaven look more beautiful.
Today while scrolling through the Instagram feeds I had a smile when I saw Jaleelkka’s photo in one of Kochi’s Instagram page. But the smile lasted only until I read the caption for that picture which read “RIP Jaleelkka”. On a further hunt for the reality, I learned that he passed away two days back on 16th May 2018. That was indeed a death that made my mind slip to a cold numbness for a while. He was barely an acquaintance. It was his paintings were that caught my attention on my second or third visit to Fort Kochi beach. More than the paintings what hooked me to a want to see the painter was the kind of soul those paintings carried. I would love to say that, that man was overfilled with beautiful and loud free minded thoughts. His paintings were candid enough making the idea behind them accessible for a man with an average IQ (like me, at least). They will never make you stand before of them as if a punishment to guess an idea. They were quite straight to the point.
After Fort Kochi became one of my favorite and familiar locations in Kochi, one day I saw a skinny man with neck-
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| Photo by Mohammad Yaazi |
He does not have that recognition, accolades, honors, fame or anything that could shout his name out to the world. Yet, Jaleelkka was a celebrity for me. A person with that art quotient is no less than any celebrities out there. They are recognized when someone walks up to them and share what he felt about their work. Be it a street artist, a blind singer, Mohanlal, Yesudas or Peruvanam Kuttan Marar. Art should not go unnoticed and unacclaimed. Not many people can make it to the peak of what they do. Some fly high and touch the stars, while some crawl on earth.
I couldn't end this day without a post about that man. Jaleel, the soul who preached, "God is an Artist, not an Engineer".
Lucky God! There's now one more person who could make heaven look more beautiful.
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