Kshiraj Telang

I met a singer named Krishna Beura through a friend suggestion. By then, I didn't know him though his name. I wrote him an e-mail asking who he was, and I had such a down to earth response from him telling that he admired my art a lot and is pursuing singing to earn bread. The reply made me curious and just after a few moments of Googling him, I discovered that he is the voice for a number of songs I adore. I felt honored on connecting with him on Facebook and we even had a few chat sessions where we discussed his experiences of doing voice overs for animation films from Disney, Dreamworks etc. With a known identity for singing sufi songs (afterall he is a worshiper of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan), Krishna has given us beautiful numbers like 'Maula mere le le meri jaan' from Chak De India, 'Soniyo from the heart' from Raaz 2, 'Rabba' from Musafir, etc. I would just love to see him work with God of music and my favorite A. R. Rahman someday!

Here's a small tribute caricature I've made for Krishna. I was watching Chak De India today on television, and the beloved song during the movie persuaded me to make this one for him. Keep giving us such great songs, Krishna! May Sai blessing be always with you!

Today I am going to share a memorable moment of my career that is too close to my heart. It took place in 2002, when I started my professional career. I was 17 then and was employed at an art studio in New Delhi, after my higher secondary education was over from a small town of India. My wages were too low (around $ 20 per month), but the interest and willingness to become an artist someday, kept me glued to the job I was in. Animation is something I came to know for the first time during those days and through some one's mouth I heard about a book named 'The Illusion of Life'. It was priced at $ 50, which was too much for me as I hardly managed to save any buck from my living. But I badly wanted to get it, and hence started to save every single penny I could to reach my target of the price of that book. It took me a few months, but then came a day when I was just a few bucks short from having all the money that was needed. I found a few old newspapers on the rented room's terrace which I decided to sell to fill the need. I had to sacrifice lunch and dinner for that day as well as I didn't have a single buck left more than the cost of that book. But I was so happy to see that I can go to the market and get it for myself. I rushed to the bookstore in South Extension, New Delhi and it took me no time to buy one for myself. 'The Illusion of Life' therefore became the first book of my collection and from there it all started. I am thankful to the almighty for being kind to me, that today, I have managed to do more than I imagined for my career (along with a realization each day that there is so much more to be done), but in this course, I have always succeeded to buy stuffs that fascinate me, right from books to toys to movie DVDs and more (and thankfully in a much easier fashion).

But I know that there are many talented and deserving young artists in India for whom it is not so easy to reach to the collection I have today. Maybe it is their inability to buy these, or due to lack of consent from their parents, or due to no knowledge about where to get these from (and sometimes even the laziness and less sense of responsibility towards favoring the industry by buying original books and movies and discouraging piracy).

All this has lead to a new initiative of me where I announce the launch of my new blog 'Art Caboodle' (http://artcaboodle.com) where I will share my experiences and write reviews about the art caboodle I have owned or used). This is not really aimed to be a 'show-off' portal, rather aimed to help and motivate those kids who come from circumstances like mine).


I won't be uploading an ebook version by scanning my precious book collection, nor will get you a DVD Rip of the treasure of films I collected till today. I do not encourage piracy, but yes, I will surely try to take you to a tour of each item I own, wishing that it increases your knowledge about them and succeed in encouraging you to start your own original collection.

In his maiden attempt, Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt modified an Archtop Guitar and added a veena touch by attaching a gourd at the back of its neck and employing a set of melody, drone and sympathetic strings strung to the turners. The invention proved out to be a music instrument that got its personalized name from its father and was called 'Mohan Veena'. The music genius Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt played it by placing it on lap like a slide guitar and produced melodious music that mesmerized the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, United States and couldn't stop them from awarding him the prestigious Grammy Award in 1994.

By lending enchanting performances in his music concerts all around the globe, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt didn't just recieve usual fan following, but also got fusion artists like Harry Manx and Matt Malley utilize the Mohan Veena for their music. He's one of the greatest Indian musician on whom our country could back on for popularizing Indian Classical Music between the world audience. Here's a small tribute artwork for the legendary man.