मी चित्रकार कसा झालो! Mi Chitrakar Kasa Zalo! (How I Became a Painter!)

लेखक सुरुवातीलाच सांगतात की त्यांना लहानपणी जे अनुभवायला मिळाले, ते ते वाचकांना सांगणार आहेत. निसर्गाला आपण कधी विसरता कामा नये, कारण निसर्गातूनच आपले पालनपोषण होते आणि निसर्गच आपल्याला अनेक कला शिकवतो. निसर्ग जर सतत बघत, शोधत राहिलो तर सर्जनाच्या (नवनिर्मितीच्या) वाटा आपोआप सापडतात, असे लेखक सुरुवातीलाच सांगतात.

At the start of the essay, the writer tells readers he will share what he experienced and saw as a child. He first emphasises the importance of nature: we should never forget nature, and staying in harmony with it rather than working against it always benefits us. Nature nurtures us and teaches us many arts. If we keep exploring nature, paths of creativity open up on their own - this is the writer's opening claim.

लेखक आता स्वतःची गोष्ट सांगतात. त्यांचे प्राथमिक शिक्षण एका छोट्या, निसर्गरम्य खेड्यात झाले - घनदाट जंगल, वाहती नदी, निळे डोंगर, हिरवी रानं. अशा सुंदर वातावरणात लेखक व त्यांच्या मित्राला चित्रं काढावीत असे खूप वाटायचे, पण पेन्सिल, रंग, ब्रश, साधा कागदसुद्धा त्यांच्याकडे नव्हता. शिवाय चित्रं काढलेली शिक्षक आणि घरचे लोकही आवडत नसत, त्यांना तो वात्रटपणा वाटायचा.

The writer now begins his own story. His primary schooling took place in a small, extremely picturesque and cultured village, with dense forests, a flowing river, blue hills and green fields, creating an atmosphere of pure joy. In such surroundings, the writer and a friend deeply wanted to draw pictures, but they had no pencils, colours, brushes, or even plain paper - only a single notebook and a slate pencil, which they had to use carefully even when broken. The biggest obstacle was that neither their teachers nor their families approved of drawing; they saw it as mischief.

एकदा नदीच्या डोहात पोहून काठावरच्या मोठ्या गुळगुळीत खडकावर मुले चित्रं काढू लागली - हाच त्यांचा 'कॅनव्हास' झाला. रंगासाठी त्यांना तांबूस मुरूम व पिवळा दगड सापडला, जो पाण्यात मिसळून रंग होई. काटेसावरीच्या फुलांतून जांभळा, शेंदरीच्या बियांतून भगवा, पानांपासून हिरवा, चुन्यापासून पांढरा आणि कुंकवापासून लाल रंग मिळे. बांबूच्या काडीपासून ब्रश तयार होई. मुले तासन्तास खडकावर चित्रे रंगवत बसत, पण पावसाळ्यात नदी वाहू लागली की ती चित्रे नदीच्या पोटात नाहीशी होत.

In the scorching heat of the Vaishakh month, the village children would swim in the river and then sit on the bank. Right by the bank they found their 'canvas' - a large rock made smooth and flat by the flowing water. They also found materials for colours: reddish gravel and yellowish stones found in their area, which when crushed to powder and mixed with water produced paint. Petals of the katesavar flower, crushed in water, gave purple; seeds from the shendari plant gave orange; certain leaves gave green; lime gave white; and kumkum (vermillion) gave red. A tender bamboo twig, its tip crushed, served as a brush. The children spent hours painting on the rock, forgetting hunger and thirst, but when the rains came and the river began to flow, all their paintings disappeared into the water.

पावसाळ्यानंतर नदीचा खडक मोकळा व्हायला चैत्र महिना उजाडे, तोवर काय करायचे या विचारातून मुलांना मातीचा नाद लागला. लालभडक, मऊशार माती लोण्यासारखी वाटायची. मूर्ती बनवण्याचा हा खेळही लपूनछपून करावा लागे. पण मूर्ती वाळल्यावर त्यांना तडे जाऊन त्या ढासळत. यावर उपाय शोधताना लेखकाच्या लक्षात आले की गाईचे शेण ओले असो वा वाळलेले, त्याला तडे जात नाहीत. म्हणून शेण मातीत मळून घेतले, तरी अजूनही बारीक तडे जाऊन ढलप्या पडत राहिल्या.

As the monsoon receded towards the end of Shravan, the rain lessened but the river kept flowing, so their rock 'canvas' stayed submerged until the month of Chaitra. To pass this time, the boys developed an interest in clay. The bright red, soft clay felt like butter in their hands, and they decided to make clay idols/figures. But this clay-play too had to be done secretly, behind the cattle shed or under a tree near the temple. When the idols dried, they would develop cracks and crumble after some time, disappointing the boys. While searching for a solution, the writer realised that cow dung, whether wet or dried, never cracks. So they kneaded dung into the clay, which made the idols last a little longer, though after many days fine cracks would still appear and flakes would fall off, sending them back to thinking of new solutions.

गावात दर आठवड्याला भरणाऱ्या बाजारात म्हादू नावाचा फेरीवाला कपडे विकायला यायचा. तो आपला घोडा नांद्रुकीच्या झाडाखाली बांधत असे. मुलांना घोड्याच्या लिदेत (शेणात) बरेच बारीक धागे दिसले. हे धागे माती धरून ठेवतील असा विचार करून मुलांनी हा प्रयोग करून पाहिला, आणि यावेळी मूर्तींना अजिबात तडे गेले नाहीत. या शोधाचा आनंद लेखकाला शब्दांत सांगता येत नाही इतका मोठा होता.

Every week a peddler named Mhadu would come to the village market to sell ready-made clothes. Since the whole area was hilly with only footpaths, he carried his goods loaded on a horse. The horse would be tied under the dense shade of a nandruk tree in the market. The boys noticed many fine threads/fibres in the horse's dung, and reasoned that these threads would hold the clay together firmly, so they tried the experiment - and this time the idols did not crack at all. The writer says the joy of this discovery was too great to put into words.

लेखक माध्यमिक शाळेत असताना त्यांनी शास्त्रज्ञ आर्किमीडिजचा धडा वाचला, ज्यात आर्किमीडिज साध्या वाटणाऱ्या गोष्टींतही आपले तत्त्व शोधत राही आणि ते सापडल्यावर 'युरेका युरेका' करत धावत सुटला. हे वाचल्यावर लेखकाच्या लक्षात आले की मूर्तींना तडे जाणे थांबले तेव्हा आपल्यालाही तितकाच आनंद झाला होता - आपल्यापुरता का होईना, तोही एक शोधच होता.

When the writer was in middle school, he read a lesson about the scientist Archimedes, who kept searching for a principle even in seemingly ordinary things, and upon discovering it, ran through the streets shouting 'Eureka, Eureka!' Reading this, the writer realised that he too had felt the same joy when his clay idols stopped cracking. Even if it was small and personal, it was, in his own way, a discovery too.

पाठाच्या शेवटी लेखक सर्व मुलांना संदेश देतात - प्रत्येकाच्या आत एक आर्किमीडिज दडलेला असतो. त्याला सतत जागृत ठेवा, म्हणजे तुमचे आयुष्य कायम आनंदाने भरलेले राहील, असे लेखक सांगतात. साधने नसली तरी इच्छा तीव्र असेल तर साधनांशिवायही साधना करता येते, हे या पाठाचे मुख्य सूत्र आहे.

At the end of the essay, the writer gives all children an important message - every child has an Archimedes hidden within, and this discoverer should be kept forever awake, so life stays filled with joy. The writer reiterates that his personal experiences were merely one example, meant to show how many different ways nature teaches us. There is no reason to sit idle for lack of resources; if one's desire is strong enough, one can pursue one's craft even without proper tools - this is the essay's central message.