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“Thank you. It is a nice painting. Keep blessing us with your paintings.” This is the translation of a message from Spain attached with a photo and signature of the King Juan Carlos and Princess Sophia to Albey Tharayal, a painting teacher here.
The message came as a delightful surprise to Albey who had sent a painting of King Juan Carlos and Princess Sophia. For a while now, painting famous people and gifting their portraits to them has been Albey’s favourite hobby.
Though the promptness of the reply from the King surprised Albey, he has been lucky to receive over 72 such letters from various dignitaries across the globe.
“I had sent the painting of K R Narayanan to him in 1998. It was my first experience. He commented that the picture was beautiful. Now, I have a collection of the compliments from 76 noted persons across the globe,” he said.
The list comprises names like Queen Elizabeth, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French politician Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prince Charles, Dr S Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and former President Pratibha Patil.
Albey’s inspiration to take up this unusual hobby came from his own brother. His brother had sent across a portrait of S Radhakrishnan in 1963. Not only did he get an immediate response from the then President Of India, there was also a gift of `100. “It was a big surprise for me and my family,” Albey recalls. The first international celebrity to whom Albey sent a portrait was Prince Charles in 2004. His newspaper reading habit helps him keep abreast of the happenings across the globe and when he is inspired by a personality, he paints her/him.
Albey is planning an exhibition of these paintings and the letters received from the VIPs. “I need to organise an exhibition using these paintings,” he says.
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