Let us cast our attention on a portraitist, sculptor, inventor and patent holder. These are not several people but a single man. Yes, all these artistic versatility in an individual, a man with miraculous imagination and the courage to turn it into reality, Wajid Khan.
Early Life
“Every artist was first an amateur”
Wajid Khan is an Indore based artist, born on 10 March 1981 in a small village Songiri in the Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh. He belongs to a down-to-earth family which is primarily engaged in farming, though his father has a small restaurant in Mandsaur and his mother is also a prodigious yet concealed artist.
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” – Thomas Merton
Wajid ceased his education in fifth grade and left home to explore himself. In his initial years of struggle, he used to buy and sell used clothes to make money. The footpath was his home and stale food his meals. But the warmth of his fondness and knack towards art was enough to keep him going. In the meantime, he used to indulge himself in robot designing and experimenting.
Inventions
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein
In 1995, at the age 14, he invented the world’s smallest electric iron, which was later named in the Guinness Book of World Records. Later on, he invented a water theft device and a centralized touch-activated switch for household appliances.He created world’s first 3D painting on canvas and then in 2003 he invented a Light sensor & Gear Locking. Till now, he has nearly 200 inventions in his name.
Awards
Khan has been awarded by the former president APJ Abdul Kalam thrice. He has his name written in Guinness and Limca book of world records and India Book of Records.
“The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.” – Dalai Lama
Works
He has specialized in carving canvas with iron nails. Not limiting his versatility to this, he used auto-parts and medical equipment in his creations. In the year 2005, he completed his first nail painting of Mahatma Gandhi. It took him three years to finish it.Then he made portraits of Mother Mary, Lord Jesus, Sai Baba and much more through nails. He used spare parts of Mercedes Benz, Hero Honda, Passion Plus bike and made a sculpture depicting a racing horse with its jockey.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, he said: “The idea of creating a painting using the spare parts of automobiles came after I saw unutilized and mundane things lying in junkyards and then and there I thought why not utilize them in my next creation.”
“When I was young, I admired intelligent people,now that I am old, I admire kind people.” – Abraham Joshua Heschel.
In 2014, he made an image of a crying girl using medical equipment supporting Save Girl Child campaign. His other works include a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi made by bullets, and he has been commissioned to design a sculpture for 2022 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Qatar. One of his artworks is beautifying Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Struggle and Challenges
When asked about his dawn, emotionally but proudly he said ” I have had a humble life till 2010. Necessities seemed privileges when I had to toil for food, cloth, and shelter. But all of it came to an end when my artwork got sold for 20 Lakh rupees.”
A heart that beats for many.
He then added “When life was on a smooth road and hard days were quite, an uneasy quietness used to nag me. So I decided to teach art and help others.”. His this kind-hearted approach resulted in teaching blind children art. Khan took a workshop and taught spoon art to street children for free of cost so that they can earn money for living. Also, in February 2016, Wajid Khan announced to donate Rs. 2 billion. to poor children.
Inspiration
While talking with Indian Achievers Story, he said “nature has always fascinated me. You would find nature in many of my art pieces. Inspiration and motivation, both are bottled up and extended in nature for me.”
Heart speaks and brain agrees.
“Climb the mountain so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.”
He revealed his magnificent beliefs, and wisdom when he said: “Let us drop our spectacles.” Explaining it, he added “if you wear yellow lenses, the whole world would seem yellow. So just drop your lenses and see the world with real-natural-normal vision. You would see every color, genuinely. We must drop the spectacles of religion, caste, class, and country. Life is beyond all these issues.” And absolutely great his words were, drop that particular lens as the world has more beautiful and colorful scenes to offer you, why to miss them?
Art in hands, humanity in heart, great ideas in the brain and the courage to turn reels into reality, Wajid, no doubt is an achiever, our Indian Achiever.
