Partha Roy (extreme left) busy with a sketch at the recent Jamshedpur Book Fair. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Nov. 24: If there is a will, there is a way. The story of Partha Roy makes this conviction stronger.

All eyes were on Partha, a deaf and mute artist from Barasat in Bengal, at the recently-concluded Jamshedpur book fair. The lovely portraits he sketched at his makeshift art camp found a number of takers. A regular at the Calcutta and Agartala book fairs, Partha managed to get a chair at the ground in Jamshedpur where he concentrated solely on making life-like portraits of visitors. He also sketched portraits from photographs.

Partha can make a portrait in 30 minutes and on any given day at the fair he was able to sketch at least five portraits — sometimes more during weekends. Although the 30-year-old can communicate in sign language, he prefers to write his thoughts in Bengali. “I am touched by the overwhelming response. This proves that the people of the steel city have appreciated my talent,” he wrote.

But sketching portraits is not his only forte. He is equally adept at painting (oil on canvas), fabric work and designing local Durga puja pandals.

Partha has been drawing from the age of 16 and it was his teacher S.M. Sultan who taught him to hold the brush.

Although Partha has been out of a job for the past five months, there is not a trace of dejection in him. He used to teach at an art school and his greatest achievement was when one of his students bagged the first prize in an art competition at the national level. Partha cherishes the praise he gets from people, but condemns the superfluous sympathy that some try to shower on him.

“People should appreciate my work and pay me accordingly. I don’t like when they sympathise. So what if I am not physically normal, I have talent and this will help me attain success,” he said.