Call Me Venom

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: This 23-year-old from Thiruvananthapuram, who is passionate about the art of building bikes and helmets hides behind the identity ‘Venom’, a popular character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “You can call me Venom. You needn’t treat me as a human,” says the 23-year-old, who is making waves on social media. Anonymity is his identity. A design student, can never be seen without his helmet, veiled with the Venom graphics he created. 

The dream has always been about bikes, he says. And he believes in building and not buying. His helmet, bike, and the character he created are proofs of his passion for the art of building. When he was 18, he started building his bike. Forever smitten by the retro era, the first bike he built oozed vintage charm. He christened the bike ‘McQueen’. And to go with McQueen, he created Venom. And his life has never been the same ever since.

The helmet that adorns a heavily detailed graphical artwork of Venom is created by him. When he is in character, he cloaks himself in a suit and wears the helmet all the time. The youngster who goes by the Instagram handle ‘callmevenom_’ has more than 72K followers.  He enjoys stardom among automotive fans and the public. His strong fan base can be understood from the many invites he gets for auto shows, functions, weddings and such. “I get invited to be in my character. In functions, I am more like a celebrity. While in auto shows, the talks mostly delve into the need to use a helmet, about the engine, design and auto-works that I have done,” he says. 

2018 was a difficult time for him as he was just starting things out “People would look at me strangely and they would keep away. Some of my friends said such a character could bring trouble. Now, whenever I am all suited up, people don’t run away, rather they are curious and come to me to know more,” he says. 

“I created the character Venom because when I stood near the bike I built, something was missing,” he says. He wanted something unique to go with McQueen, his first bike. The legend of the villains always captivated him. And that’s how Venom came into being. “There is something special about the villains when compared to the heroes. I chose Venom because at that time Venom was the most underrated character,” he adds.

Although he studied mechanical engineering, he calls himself a designer rather than an engineer. “I started art by sketching bikes. I wanted to understand the bike better and that’s how I started doing sketches,” he says. But now art is more of a passion for him. He dreams of building something unique at some point in his life. “It will be a bike, but I will break all the rules,” he says.

A native of Thiruvananthapuram, Venom doesn’t intend to reveal his identity ever. He gets a lot of requests to reveal his identity Apart from his family and a few friends, his identity remains a secret. And it will remain so, he says.