Balangir: A teenager expres- sed his concern for Jaga-Balia, the conjoined twin of Phulbani who were recently separated at AIIMS in Delhi, by dedicating a sand art on them.
Sameer Kumbhar, 16, is drawing large audience for the theme of his work, which is being showcased at the ongoing Balangir Lok Utsav.
The artist has made best use of his talent to bring out the pain and suffering of the twin who are close leading a normal life if everything goes well. The children are displayed in the middle with god Somaleswari and Patneswari around them with a message on their speedy recovery.
Local resident Debabrata Pradhan said: "What he has done at such a young age is very appreciable. This is what art is all about. Art should always express what we fail to see. He has done that. We all are with him in his prayer for well-being of the twin."
"I had no formal training. I developed interest in the art form after it became popular through the efforts of artist Sudarshan Patnaik. I learnt it on my own. We don't have sea or a river bed here in my town to display my art. I learnt it by making sculptures in the sand piled on the street used for construction," he said.
"I wanted to portray Jaga-Balia ever since they were in the news. I needed a suitable platform and Lok Utsav served the purpose. I am happy people are appreciating my work," said the artist.
Painter Saroj Mahapatra said that the youngster has the potential to do well in future. "He has a clear thinking mind. That is important for an artist. One day he will carve a niche for himself in the world of art," Mahapatra said.
Balia underwent a plastic surgery at AIIMS, Delhi, on Sunday during which an unhealthy part of the skin flap of his skull was removed.
"The debridement process was followed by skin grafting, a procedure in which unhealthy skin is replaced by skin obtained from the Skin Bank at AIIMS," an AIIMS doctor had said. A team of plastic surgeons from Coimbatore was also present during the operation which lasted around two hours.
Balia continues to be on ventilator. His twin brother, Jaga, who was moved out of the intensive care unit to a private ward on November 3, is recovering well. "His intake has increased and he is accepting bananas and eggs," the doctor said. The 30-month-old twins were separated on October 26 following a 16-hour marathon surgery at AIIMS by a team of 30 specialists from neurosurgery, neuro-anaesthesia and plastic surgery departments. The first phase of the surgery was performed on August 28 when the doctors created a venous bypass to separate the veins shared by the babies that return blood to the heart from the brain. The twins were admitted to AIIMS on July 13.
In India, two similar surgeries had taken place to separate twins joined at the head, but they were not successful as the children died during the procedure.
