Sunil Kandalloor, India’s first and only artist of wax models Lonavala, Celebrity Wax Museum

Well Sunil is the first and the only artist to sculpt wax models in India, who has started his own wax museum without the support of the Government.

Every one of us would like to know why wax statues and not stone or other forms of sculpting was opted by Sunil? He said that he has seen different kinds of sculptures using different mediums! But those sculptures lack an original feel. Wax is very flexible and gets the exact complexion of human beings. And also hair fixing is possible in wax. Even though it gives too much strain to his eyes to implant original human hair in the wax models, he uses original human hair to get maximum perfection of the work. He implants each and every hair, in the wax model separately by one by one.

Is he trained in making wax statues? Or who is his guru? Well, he is a self taught wax model sculptor. He has diploma in fine arts from MADHAVA FINE ARTS COLLEGE in Kollam, Kerala. But it is for drawing, painting and designing only.  He has never learnt sculpturing! In India, no institution offers wax modeling course. So he does not have any Guru in Wax model sculpturing.

 When was it that he realized his passion for wax statues? Sunil said that he has been in this field for last 14 years. He got inspiration for making wax model from an article of a Malayalam weekly about famous wax museum, Madame Tussads, London. Later, he experimented several times to make wax models; finally he got the technique to make the wax model.

One question must have come to your mind that whether Sunil has been inclined towards fine arts right from his childhood? Sunil smiled at this and said that since his childhood he had talent in drawing and painting, so after his PUC, he joined Madhava Fine Arts College in Kollam for the diploma.

Sunil’s first wax model was of a bust size wax model of Lord Krishna and now it is being kept in the museum of very famous south Indian temple, Guruvayoor, in Kerala. First human figure in wax was of Late K , who was the chief minister of Kerala, who  himself was a good artist and when we approached him for taking his body measurements and photographs, he encouraged Sunil.

 The first wax museum was opened in Kanyakumari in association with Bay Watch amusement park on 24th December 2005, Sunil’s Celebrity Wax Museum, Lonavala, Pune was opened on March 31st 2010.

Sunil says that his ultimate and ideal destination for opening a wax model is Mumbai. But without governmental support, he is unable to open the wax museum in Mumbai as it is highly expensive; so he started a wax museum in Lonavala( Lonavala is a place which is lying between Mumbai and Pune and also it's one of the main tourist destinations in Maharashtra)

Sunil considers wax modeling as his passion as well as his profession. The work that he does needs lots of patients; and according to Sunil, without passion he cannot take it as a profession. This profession needs a lot of technical skill also, like fixing the hair, making the eyes just like human beings and also skin texture and exact complexion.  He also got invitation from Hollywood wax museum four years ago. But he never wanted to be an employee as it would have spoiled his freedom in his works. And also he dreams to establish an International wax museum in India.

Vijay Khaatu the first sculptor who sculpted the Eco-Friendly Ganesh Idol!!!

                                      

Vijay Khaatu, one of the well known sculptors of Mumbai and the first man who sculpted the eco-friendly Ganesh idol. Well, most of us wonder what this eco-friendly Ganesha is, here is the answer to it, most of the Ganesh Idols are made from POP (Plaster-Of-Paris) but the eco-friendly Ganesha is made from black mud which melts immediately in the water after immersion, while the regular Ganesha that are made from POP floats on water and takes some time to melt into water.

Well, let us know something more about Vijay Khaatu, this 56 year old man has seen lot of struggle in his life, he completed his class 7 education from R.M. Bhatt School, and due to unstable financial conditions he later completed his S.S.C. from a night School in Lalbaug, Saraswati Vidhya Mandir, as he used to work during day time. While he was completing his education, he took a keen interest in drawing so much so that he cleared his Elementary and Intermediate Drawing Examination.

     

                                               

Soon after clearing his examination he applied for a sculpting course in Sir J.J. Arts College, and in 1975 he cleared this course of sculpting. Ever since then, he started designing idols of various other Gods, while Ganesha was his favorite right from the beginning. 

Currently Vijay Khaatu, makes the Ganesha idols at the Railway Work Shop Ground,Parel, where you will get to see the variety of Ganesha’s on one side of the ground. On the other side you will find that there are many Ganesha Idols that looked similar to each other. I asked Mr. Khaatu why they all looked same, he said that, “Lot of people have made it a business, while none of them know how to actually design the Ganesha Idol, they make the idols that look similar to each other because they make the idols from the Dye, whereas, we make the idols with different designs and we really work hard on every individual idol and we take a lot of time to make even a single Idol of Lord Ganesha.”

           A Seventh Passed Self trained Computer Expert

Have you ever heard of this? a seventh passed man who is an expert in computers, well versed with the skills of both Hardware and Software. Well, this is not a story it’s the true life story of Mr. Mahesh Yellapa Kunchikorve, age 36, and a resident of Dharavi, one of the biggest slums of Asia. 

Mahesh Kunchikorve, could not continue with his studies due many family and personal issues with one of the major reason being the financial issues. Due to uncertain death of his father, he had to take over the responsibilities of his family at a very tender age, he has 7 brothers he being the eldest one. 

Mahesh Kunchikorve, had joined a cable television job, later he was asked to learn all the technicalities related to the cable television network, while learning the technical work Mahesh took keen interest to learn all the computer related terms and now he also knows the various computer languages like Java, Oracle, C++ etc and many software’s like Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Flash, Movie Maker, Audio-Video Editing. About hardware he knows how to install the computer hard disc, RAM, Processor, Mother Board, CD+DVD RAM. He also knows to assemble the computer as per one’s requirement and also he knows to convert a 2GB RAM to 4 GB RAM.

When I asked him, if he has so much knowledge about hardware and software why doesn’t he apply for a good job, to this he laughed and said,” I would have but the well known companies prefer certificates as well the qualification and not experience, many technicians from these renowned companies call me up and take guidance from me to solve any hardware or software related issues.” It was the best feeling, I felt that I met some-one who is really a genius.

Extra-Ordinary People

How Far would one travel for a stable Job?

Would you travel 125 Kilometers to and from Pune to Mumbai daily for a stable Job? There is this extra-Ordinary man who does that for the survival of his family as he is the only bread winner.That's true dear friends, This man, Mr. Anil Balodra, age - 45 years, a resident of Pune, has been travelling all the way from Pune to Mumbai everyday since last 24 years, just because he has a stable job here in Mumbai. 

He works as an Assistant to the Public Relation Officer, Mr. Vijay Patil Khabhale, BMC, Head Office Opposite to the CST station. When I further inquired, Mr. Anil Balodra said that he gets a monthly salary of Rs. 24000/- for which he leaves the house early in the morning at 5:30 so that he can reach his office on time by 10, he leaves for home at around  6 - 6:30 pm and reaches home not before 11. I was very much surprised at this so I thought of asking him some more questions, he told me he has been working at BMC for the last 24 years, and it is only based on this job that  his daughter is studying Law and both his son are getting education in an English Medium School.  One can Imagine how difficult it would be to travel to and from Pune to Mumbai even for a day. How many of us know of such people who look very ordinary while we are traveling with them in the bus or train, there are so many such people who look ordinary just like us but with the extra-ordinary life. I salute this extra-ordinary spirit of Mr. Anil Balodra.