Sunil Nellay lights up youths passion for art

THRISSUR: Though school youth festivals have become a platform for appeals and vendetta, there are a few who pursue art with sincerity to the core. Sunil Nellay becomes an exemption by tutoring over 25 financially-backward students, especially for school youth festivals. He believes that the deserved ones should get their due and there are many among weaker sections of society whose dedication has always gone unnoticed. “My efforts may not be big. But my contribution can make a difference,” says Sunil.He says that the need to help the financially backward students struck him during the 1986 school youth festival. “Actor Vineeth was performing on the stage and he bagged the Kalapratibha award for the year too. It was then that I realised that I could have been a good performer if there was someone to accompany me. My father died when I was seven years old. Hence I decided that I would support those children who really need my help,” he says. Since then, Sunil has been pursuing this cause with ardent fervour.There are many who seek his tutelage from different parts of the state and he says that they are like his own children, as most of them came to him when they were barely three or four years old. Amal, who is now an engineering graduate, came to me when he was very young. He was from a very poor family. Though he has graduated in engineering, he has never quit his passion for art. Such a dedication is an acknowledgement of a guru’s efforts and struggles,” he says.Though he rejoices at the success of his students, he is saddened by the fact that there are many who eschew art after taking a lot of hardships. “There are a few who have successfully made art a career, and many of them have shunned it once they achieved success in other careers. I am hurt when they make art just a ladder to reach other careers. If they cannot value their struggles, who is going to do it,” he says.Sunil is apprehensive of the future of his students and other participants. “The fact is that the future of these children in the field of art is uncertain. Marred by malpractice and appeals, this year’s youth festival and its participants would soon go into oblivion as it has become a platform to obtain a medical or an engineering seat. How many of them could honestly say that they would pursue this art in future,” he asks.