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Sep 19, 2007

"When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at a college -- that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget?"" --Howard Ikemoto

Born Free Art School

He's walked the tightrope at a circus, worked the midnight shift in a silk factory, been part-time ragpicker and a fulltime beggar on the streets of Bangalore. A long CV for a 13-year-old but the past isn't what Nagaraj likes to talk about. Though he can still amaze you by sprinting across a parapet in true circus style, it's his skills with the brush that this blossoming artist is most keen to show off. Having already found buyers for many of his works, Nagaraj can not only afford to stay off the street but even fund the education of two other child laborers. A childhood lost and a childhood regained. It's a transformation that very few of the country's 12.7 million child workers can make. But in Bangalore's Born Free Art School, art is making that leap of faith possible.