Setting a trend in popularising portraits with millets

Setting a trend for others, an artist from Visakhapatnam has not only gained specialisation in making portraits with millets but also gifted his creations to several VVIPs including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, spreading the message world-wide.

Today it is less we say is better as far as the importance of millets is concerned. The United Nations is observing 2023 as the International Year of Millets. Millets are gaining importance all over the world.

Blessed with a unique talent, Moka Vijay Kumar, a Railway employee, has earned an USP due to his resolve to do something different as a hobby. He added his piece of wonderful creations with an aim to spread awareness about millets. Today, the portraits made by Vijay Kumar have gained acclaim at national and international level.

It generally takes about four days to make each portrait. Mainly ragulu (finger millet), arikalu (kodo millet), sajjalu (pearl millet), gantlu and samalu (little millet) are used. An outline of the required image is first drawn with a pencil on canson watercolor sheet made in Germany. After that, the millet grains are carefully pasted as required for the photo and the picture is made. Post which pest control is done and a special frame is built to prevent air infiltration.

At the G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Conference held recently in Hyderabad, the Ministers of Agriculture representing several countries were presented with their portraits decorated with millets which helped him take the glory of Indian art to the international level. Using art only as a medium, Moka Vijay Kumar is able to send a good message to society.

So far, he has made more than 60 portraits of national and international celebrities, politicians, business people using only millets and without using any colors. These also include portraits of the Chief Minister of AP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekar Rao. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar was also presented with his portrait made of millets by Vijay Kumar, an employee of Andhra University, who knew the artist for the past 10 years, told Bizz Buzz. He said the artist also trains interested people on how to make a portrait during his free time.

At the Global Investors’ Summit held in March in Visakhapatnam, pictures of famous people like business tycoons Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani and Anand Mahindra were made by Vijay Kumar and presented to them as mementos. The experts of Indian Institute of Millets Research (Hyderabad) examined these portraits and appreciated the efforts of the artist. The popular song ‘Abundance in Millets’ performed by India-born Grammy winner singer Falguni Shah popularly called Falu and her singer-husband Gaurav Shah was recently released across streaming platforms. The song featuring the potential of millets to fight against hunger is written jointly by Modi and Falu and Gaurav Shah on the significance of millets as part of celebrating the International Year of Millets. Vijay Kumar made a portrait to celebrate the occasion coinciding with the song’s release.