Artist at work

Renowned sculptor Major Ashok Kumar has developed an exclusive garden at Raj Bhawan with over 225 bonsai:

Raj Kanwar

He is one of the most versatile and multi-facetted artists in the country. His work ranges from sculptures to pencil and pen sketches, metal etchings, and now growing bonsai. His artistic creations have been exhibited in India and abroad and have won universal acclaim.

Everything in his life, except his joining the Army, happened more by accident than by design. Commissioned in the Indian Army in 1962, Major Ashok Kumar would have perhaps continued his Army career but for an accident in 1981 while serving near the Line of Control (LoC) in the J&K sector. He sought voluntary retirement on medical grounds in 1985.

It was again just by accident that Ashok took to sculpting during his postings in the J&K, where he discovered that his camp was in the midst of a large variety of stones, rocks and pieces of wood. Out of sheer curiosity, he picked up a piece of rock. With his imagination running amuck, he borrowed a chisel and began working on it. To his pleasant surprise, the rock took a definite shape.

Ashok began his experimentation with rocks and wood pieces, which he started carving into beautiful sculptures. Soon it became a passion. So when did he actually realize that he had immense latent talent? "It was in 1981. I was then commanding a NCC Battalion, and there was an exhibition of my wood sculptures at the Art Gallery in the Chandigarh Museum. Dr. M.S. Randhawa, ICS, who was then the chairman of All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society (AIFACS) happened to visit the exhibition and was greatly impressed by my work. His appreciation gave me much confidence. Later in 1985, I sent some sculptures as my entry to a national exhibition organized by Lalit Kala Akademy. My entry was accepted. My exhibits were acclaimed both by critics and visitors," Ashok recalls.

He joined ONGC in September 1985 as Deputy Director and that was the beginning of the second phase of this talented artist. The first artistic venture initiated by Ashok was an exhibition of his sculptures as part of ONGC exhibition at Indo-OPEC conference held in Oberoi Intercontinental New Delhi in 1987. Next, he organized a 20-day workshop of sculptors and painters of national repute in ONGC Dehradun in 1991.

Ashok became a recognized name in the art fraternity. From then on, he did not look back. It was again by accident that he switched over from sculptures to pen and pencil sketches. In 1989, he got a cardiac problem, and was advised to give up sculpting that involved much work with chisel and hammer. It was then that he started sketching.

"Initially I did pen and pencil sketches and then tried to give them a sculptural feel; that is how I started doing metal etchings in order to create an impression of depth," reveals Ashok, who seriously began to sculpt in different media such as bronze, marble, metal alloy, a blend of marble, metal and wood. Over all these years he has created over 250 sculptures, many of which adorn National Gallery of Modern Art, ONGC, Raj Bhawan, J&K, Lalit Kala Akademi, AIFACS, HUDCO, et al. His sculptures have also been acquired by several private collectors.

It was his interest in bonsai that brought him much greater fame. To date he has created over 500 bonsai. Raj Bhawan in Dehradun has an exclusive garden with over 225 bonsai spread over an area of nearly an acre. It was at the invitation of then governor Sudarshan Agarwal that he spent nearly a year in developing this unique garden. In the World Bonsai Contest in 2005 organized by World Bonsai Friendship Federation in Japan, there were three 'Honourable Winners' from the city. They were Major Ashok Kumar, his wife Sushma and the Governor.

His own residence in Vasant Vihar is in itself a mini Arboretum, containing over 300 bonsai in all sizes and shapes. It is formally thrown open to public once a year. Even otherwise he and his equally talented wife always play willing hosts even to unexpected visitors, who come in large numbers.