Hyderabad sculptor Susheel Kumar going places

Hyderabad: From being a hobby artist to creating noteworthy work, Hyderabad-based Susheel Kumar Gotla’s journey to the doors of Tushar Gandhi’s house is an inspiring one.

Susheel’s desktop figurative sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi impressed Tushar Gandhi, the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, who facilitated their meeting at his residence. He is into contemporary Indian art and sculptures and considers himself as an expressionist. He describes himself as an innately artistic person, who tries to craft whatever comes to his mind at the time.

Before the Covid pandemic, Susheel worked as a sports administrator and pursued his art as a hobby. However, post-Covid pandemic, the hobby has become his full-time profession.

Due to ample free time during the pandemic, it was during last year’s lockdown, when Susheel crafted the sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi. With the appreciation and encouragement of his family and friends, he sent the picture of his art to Tushar Gandhi, who immediately liked the art work and arranged for a meeting at his residence in Mumbai.

“We spoke for about one-and-half hour about Bapu, Kasturba and their contribution to the country. I gifted my sculpture to Tushar Gandhi and he added it into his collection of Gandhi sculptures,” Susheel shared. Along with the sculpture, he also gifted a Khadi Kurta to Tushar Gandhi and pointed out that he was overwhelmed by Tushar Gandhi’s humbleness.

“It was a noteworthy trip to Mumbai. I was proud that because of my art work I was in the household of Mahatma Gandhi ji,” he said, recalling the meeting with Tushar Gandhi.

As a hobby, Susheel has been doing art work since he was eight years old. In his late 30s, after a lot of encouragement from his sister, Susheel joined Jawaharlal Nehru University of Fine Arts, Hyderabad and pursued a short course.

“I want to be more than a hobby artist and seriously concentrate on art,” he says. Susheel’s art work can be seen on his Facebook page.