Sculpting bravery 

KOCHI: Thrissur-based Amal Leo’s adept hands have landed him a place in the India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records. Amal sculpted the maximum number of courageous women who are part of the Indian Armed Forces on pencil lead for the same.What started as a lockdown activity turned into a significant part of his life. “I started carving on wood and then progressed to pencil lead. Around this time I came across the Kerala Pencil Carvers Community. Inspired by their skills, I explored the art further. Ajith Jayan, one of the members of the community, had recently set a record and I was encouraged to attempt one,” says Amal. After brainstorming, he decided to pay tribute to the women in the Armed Forces.

“The work was laborious and challenging as pencil lead breaks easily. Upon practice, I was able to master the skill. Shorter names took half-an-hour while longer names took nearly an hour. I used 12B and 10B pencils for the work,” he says.

Amal carved 16 names of incredibly brave women including Punita Arora, Padmavathy Bandopadhyay, Mitali Madhumita, Priya Jhingan, Divya Ajith Kumar, Nivedita Choudhary, Anjana Bhaduria, Priya Semwal, Deepika Misra, Sophia Qureshi, Shanti Tigga, Ganeve Lalji, Gunjan Saxena, Harita Kaur Deol, Avani Chaturvedi and the All-Women Crew of the INSV Tarini. Two months ago, he set the record. 

A second-year BCom student at Cooperative Arts & Science College, Thrissur, Amal devotes time for art during his free time. “All you need is a blade and dollops of concentration and patience,” he says. The artist also sells customised pencil lead artwork on his Instagram page ‘@carving__corner’.