The sharpest pencil in the cup

KOCHI: Thrikkannapuram native Aneesha T S’ fascination for art saw a resurgence during the lockdown with an interest towards micro art on pencil. With encouragement from her friends, Aneesha tried her hand at pencil carvings. Now, she has found a place in the India Book of Records and has bagged the title of ‘grand master’ in Asia Book of Records for carving the names of Indian martial art forms with their place of origin on the lead of pencils.

“My final exams were delayed due to the pandemic and I thought of using the lockdown period for doing something innovative. That is how I got into pencil carvings. I was inspired by many works I saw on Instagram and studied the craft from YouTube. I started with carving the names of my friends. Slowly I mastered the art,” said Aneesha. She has carved 21 martial art forms of different states in India as well as 399 characters and symbols in 17 hours and 20 minutes. 

“The entry procedure for both records was the same. I had to propose a unique theme. First I thought of carving the names of different rivers in Kerala, but it was already done. Then kalaripayattu came to my mind which eventually gave me the idea to depict other martial arts. The process had to be fully documented in videos and photos for authenticity. It was strenuous to complete the carvings as I suffered from severe back pain.

However, I’m glad that I could achieve two records within three months of my first attempt,” added Aneesha, who is an engineering graduate from Sree Chitra Thirunal College of Engineering. ‘Malla-Yuddha Indian Subcontinent’ was the longest word carved by Aneesha. “I’m doing customised pencil carvings now.” She is the daughter of Thankachan D, a retired KSRTC employee, and Sobhana Raji P S, a homemaker.