Gracy Singh and sufi singer Mudasir Ali support Sanyog, an exhibition initiative by 32 artists, aims to be the flame that lights up farmers’ lives

"Artists, I don’t believe, are normal people They are people who get both affected and inspired by the happenings in this world. Hence it is no surprise that over 32 artists have come together with a painting exhibition of varied works, aptly titled Sanyog, to help the farmers of Maharashtra. Hence I decided to lend my support to the cause," says actor Gracy Singh, who along with sufi singer Mudasir Ali inaugurated the exhibition at Coomaraswamy Hall, Chattrapati Shivaji Sangrahalaya.

Says Satish Patil, whose brainchild has given birth to this movement, “we are simple artists, not some social organisation that can collect millions. What we aspire to do is to simply get our works together and give the proceeds to help farmers in whatever way we can. I am so glad that Gracy Singh and Mudasir Ali are standing by us for this cause. ”

It was actually a thought that was ruminating in Satish’s mind for long. Says he, “I discussed it with my friends, and they in turn discussed with their friends and soon we had a movement."

Fellow artists AJ Moujan, Amit K Patil, Aparna Telang, Ashok Hiremath, Deepika Garg, Dinesh Pimple, Dundamahadevaswamy, Gangadhar M, Govardhan K, Jagdish Kadur, Kalipada Purkait, Kishor R Kamble, Kupanna Kandgal, Manish A Hatkar, MD Hussen, Nandkumar Mestry, Nandita Desai, Prabhakar Wairkar, Rahul N Dangat, Ramakrishna Nayak, Ruma Nayak, Ramagiri P Patil, Spoorthy Murali, Satish B Patil, Santosh Kotagir, Sanjoy Mal, Sharanu Alloli, Satyendra Rane, Sharappa N Muddagoll, Sujit K More, Vishwanath S Raddewadagi and Yogesh D Murkute chipped in and soon, the dream was a reality. Satish is very happy as he is adding finishing touches to his work as we speak. Three children each on a staircase seem to be staring at us, signifying the strength of the artists joining forces. Says he, “it could have never been done by me alone. Each artist with his work, whether abstract, realistic, contemporary or figurative, has added his own touch and most importantly has listened to the sound of his heart. That is what the essence of Sanyog is."

When you appreciate the effort, Satish prefers to be straight and to the point, “It is not large or something out of the world, our thought... It is something that I think everyone of us should think about and put into action,” says Satish as he speaks of his painter friends. “If each of us opens our hearts and pockets, there would be no starving farmer in India.”

Sanyog is on at Coomaraswamy Hall, Prince of Wales Museum, Fort, from 26^th April to 28^th April.