Tasaduq Hussain
Srinagar, Dec 09 (KNO): Unknown to the world, a 52-year-old man from Srinagar has taken portrait making as an earning source after he quit the papier-mâché nearly half a decade ago.
Shabir Ahmad Malik, a resident of Habbakadal shifted to Bemina Hamdania Colony after their three-storey house turned into ashes and all the belongings were destroyed in a fire.
Malik worked as a papier-mache worker for nearly 35 years and moved to portrait making some 5 years back. He took it as a source of income to make the ends meet.
While talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Malik said that the decision to shift from paiper-mache was to fulfil his desire and passion, and moreover, the profession also addresses his financial requirement.
“For the past 35 years, I was dealing with a papier-mâché and later shifted to portrait making and took this profession as a sole source of income,” he said.
Without any guidance, Malik with crave for learning has become a popular figure in his area.
“People appreciate my work and it has kept me going all these years,” he said.
Sania Malik, daughter of, Shabir Malik told KNO that a huge variety of artwork of his father was gutted in a fire in their previous home at Habbakadal.
The situation has now forced them to live in a shed at Bemina Srinagar.
“We lost everything in the fire but that didn’t stop my father from continuing with the portrait making,” Sania said
“My father has never uploaded his artwork on the internet but for the last two weeks, I’ve volunteered to do that only to make his art visible to the world and give him the amount of respect and honour he deserves,” Sania said—(KNO)
