Nadeem Shaikh deftly opens a tube of poster paint and squeezes out a smidgen of turquoise blue on to a palette. Next to it, he adds a dollop of aquamarine and expertly mixes the two colours to get just the right shade. Smiling, he picks up his paint brush and begins creating a piece of art, using bold strokes on a large sheet of paper in front of him. Within minutes a striking image of a paradise island complete with swaying palms and golden sands emerges.
Nadeem, 19, leans back to study his work and nods his head, satisfied. It may not be a masterpiece but what sets this artist apart is that he paints with his toes as he was born without arms. Since he began painting when he was nine years old, he has produced startling works, many of which have been reproduced on greeting cards, calendars and bookmarks, They are sold by the Indian Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (IMFPA), a chapter of the international organisation that trains and supports physically challenged artists.
Sitting on the floor of the one-room shanty in north Mumbai that he shares with his mother, two sisters and two brothers, the young artist deftly opens his flip-top mobile phone with his toes to show more of his paintings. Along with scenic pictures, there are impressive portraits of Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan.
“I love painting and am hoping to make this my career,’’ Nadeem smiles.
Seeing his paintings, several of which have been displayed in exhibitions organised by IMFPA, it’s hard to believe he’s done them all with his feet. “Depending on the complexity of the work, I can complete a painting in a day,” he says.
Nadeem’s condition is called amelia, in which an individual is born without limbs or they are only partially developed. In Nadeem’s case, he has only stubs at the shoulders. His doctors suspect it could be the result of a genetic mutation or a bacterial or viral infection he contracted while in the womb. None of his siblings or parents have the condition.
Nadeem says he’s relieved that he doesn’t have the worst degree of amelia – tetra-amelia, where babies are born with no limbs.
His parents were initially worried about him, but he easily adapted, learning to brush his teeth, comb his hair and draw when he was small. But fearing their son would be bullied at a regular school, Riyasat Ali – who died from a heart attack five years ago – and Noorjehan, a homemaker, enrolled Nadeem at the Society for Education for the Crippled Day School in Agripada, Mumbai when he was eight.
Nadeem excelled there. “I learnt dance – we’d replicate the dance steps from Bollywood films – and how to swim,” he says.
It was also here that he learnt to draw and paint. He says, “It was easy gaining command over the brush because I had got used to doing all my chores using my feet, particularly my right foot.” Spotting his talent for sketching and painting, his teachers encouraged him to participate in painting competitions and exhibitions. They also urged him to get in touch with the MFPA, which had been set up by a polio-stricken mouth painter, Erich Stegmann, in 1956.
FInding encouragement
Nadeem was pleasantly surprised when he contacted the Indian chapter and the IMFPA sent a volunteer to his house to see his art. They liked his work and encouraged him to continue painting.
“Nadeem’s paintings were really good. We knew using his works on cards and calendars would be a huge encouragement for him,’’ says Aakash Doshi, the IMFPA volunteer who works with special needs people in Mumbai. Nadeem’s confidence grew alongside his artistic talent and after five years he was able to use his feet so well to do everything, he was enrolled in a mainstream school.
To demonstrate this, he dashes off some notes, his foot flying across the page, a pen clasped between his big and second toes.
Now Nadeem is a student member of MFPA and contributes his work for posters and calendars. “I paint whenever someone asks me to do a piece or whenever I feel like it. Sometimes, I spend five to 10 hours painting a day,’’ he says.
Then Nadeem sends his sketches to MFPA, where they are digitalised and transferred to various products including greeting cards, T-shirts, calendars, bookmarks and bags.
Artists associated with MFPA receive an annual stipend of around Rs2,000 (Dh130).
“Whenever their paintings are used for products, they receive a bonus,” Bobby Thomas, head of Business Development, MFPA (India) says. “We also promote their paintings and organise exhibitions for the artists.”
The association also deposits around Rs200 in Nadeem’s bank account every month. “This is for purchasing art materials such as paper, water colours and brushes.
“The association’s marketing network sells the products in India and overseas,’’ says Nadeem, adding that he gets part of the proceeds from the sales.
Nadeem hopes that once he does a course in art, he will be able to supplement his family’s income by selling other paintings.
One of Nadeem’s brothers, Najeem, has an occasional income from helping in a shop, while the other, Irshad, is a helper in a mall. Together they earn just enough to make ends meet. The family does not own any property and pays Rs6,000 a month for a single room in Jogeshwari. “Once I become a well-known artist, I am hoping I’ll be able to have a bigger house,’’ Nadeem says.
This is one of his greatest qualities – the ability to look at life optimistically. “I don’t think of myself as a disabled person,” he says. “How am I challenged? I can do pretty much everything a regular person can.’’
He can brush his teeth, hold up books, comb his hair and eat with a spoon using his feet. He can even play chess and board games like snakes and ladders with his toes. It’s only when doing tasks like getting dressed that he requires assistance from his family because he is unable to button his shirt.
Determined to do everything else on his own, Nadeem doesn’t seek the help of school-appointed writers while taking exams – an option many children with physical challenges are allowed. Says Nadeem, “If you choose a writer to write your exams, you have to tell him or her the answers to the questions, which they then write down. This is time-consuming. I find it easier to write exams with my foot because this way I can improvise an answer on the spur of the moment and transfer my thoughts to paper in a smooth, natural manner.”
When he was little he was taken for a consultation with a doctor to see if he could have prostheses fitted, but the doctor ruled that out, saying he didn’t have enough fat on the stubs to hold the prosthesis and act as a buffer to protect chafing. Nadeem insists he doesn’t mind, saying, “What use are fake hands? I am managing well without them.”
Living life to the full
Nadeem appreciates his family and friends for supporting him. “People make fun of the disabled, but not my friends,” he says. “I hang out with them. My two best friends, Asghar and Sonia, are cool with the fact that I am physically challenged. We go out to the movies and other places. We do the same things – the only difference between them and me is that I use toes instead of fingers.”
Nadeem is, like many Indian youths, a fan of Bollywood movies, but he looks at them as a subject for his art. “There are a few stars I would love to meet,’’ he says. “Particularly Salman Khan because of his films Tere Naam and Wanted and Shah Rukh Khan for his role in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. I like them because in many of their films they play the roles of underdogs who become successful and well known.
“People assume that I cannot have a so-called normal life because I have a couple of limbs missing. And when I tell them that I don’t need hands since I can do all my daily chores with my legs, they are dumbfounded,” he says. “But my dream? It’s to become a painter like the renowned MF Husain who died in 2011.’’ Husain, who began his career as painter of film hoardings in Mumbai, went on to become one of the most famous modern artists in India. “I admire that man a great deal. And I will one day be like him – a great painter known all over the world.’’
The challenge before him right now though, he says, is not his lack of hands but his high school leaving certificate.
He failed to clear his school final exams last year and he has just taken them all over again this year. He’s awaiting his results now.
A high school pass is the minimum qualification required to gain admission into an art school and so hanging in the balance is his dream of making a career in the Arts.
“I’ve been to JJ School of Art – a leading art school in Mumbai – and it’d be great to study there. I know it’s expensive and if I can’t scrape together the course fees, I’ll have to look for a job. But I’m optimistic. I’ll surely get in there,’’ he says.
