Artist brings out the creative in slum children (With pix)

Ganga Narayan Maharana, a young artist from Odisha, moved to Delhi with dreams of making a mark in the world of art over two decades ago.
While the world of art is yet to give him his due, slum kids of south Delhi have surely benefited from his presence in this concrete jungle.
New Delhi railway station was home to Maharana for the first few months of his life in the capital city. He slept on the platform, trying to make a living by making sketches of passengers till a school teacher saw his talent and offered him a job at a school here.

Maharana continues with his day job at the school, but what really keeps him going is his passion to teach art to slum kids.
"I encourage these poor kids to come to my centre and learn painting and sketching. I do not charge them anything and even provide them free paper and colors," says Maharana, who runs his art centre from an overcrowded lane of Mehrauli.
Ask him why he decided to teach poor kids, and he says, "My mother wanted me to pass my talent to poor kids. She said I have been given a treasure by God which I should not keep to myself."

His mother is no more but his wife Swarna helps him in his endeavor.
Maharana's centre is dotted with paintings and sketches of slum kids. The paintings fill in the slots of the wooden panels as one steps into his centre. The splash of color on the wall and the presence of kids sprawled on durries is heartwarming.
The children are allowed to explore their creative sides. "The boys end up drawing cars from different angles or their favorite cartoon characters and the girls' earthen pots or miniatures," he says.