Objet d’art, not genie tumbles out of his bottles

Objet d’art, not genie tumbles out of his bottles
Rajay Deep/TNS

Mahender Singh, an artist from Madina village in Rohtak district of Haryana, displays the wood carvings inside the bottles at the SARAS mela in Bathinda on Monday. He does not use adhesives to fix the objects inside the bottle. Photo by writer

Bathinda, February 14
Fifty six-year-old Mahender Singh of Madina village in Rohtak district of Haryana is an artist par excellence. He has such command in his art— wood carving— that he can build a cot (bedstead) inside an empty bottle of whisky. With the help of a few tools that he himself has prepared, Mahender can make you bite your nails in wonder.
Be it an aeroplane, cot, puzzle blocks or curd churner, he can fit them in the bottle through its neck.
Interestingly, he is able to even pull things out of the bottle and reinsert them again the same way.
What is the most surprising about his skill is that he uses no adhesive to fix one object to another inside the bottle.
"I am practising it since 2000 and all the time I try to make improvements in my finishing," he said.
Mahender'a talent has been acknowledged at the national level as he claims to have participated in various exhibitions including the mega fair at Pragati Maidan, Delhi.
Considering his talent, the DRDA officials have allotted him a stall at the SARAS Mela, going on at the Government Rajindra College ground in the city.
He takes pride in telling that his artistic bottles have become a part of decoration in the drawing rooms of many politicians in Haryana. His face shines while showing the commendation certificates he has received.
Though he has many stories about his happy experience as an artist, he is a bit hurt finding that visitors are disinterested in art pieces.
Narrating his experience at the mela here, Mahinder says, "People come to the stall, pick up the bottle, give a deep look, raise queries about the art, then ask about the price and leave the stall. People are ready to spend on clothes and eatables but not on artistic things."
"This is not at all a healthy trend and if it continues, it will surely kill the artisans," he apprehended.