Sohrai paintings impress French envoy on H'bag visit

HAZARIBAG: French Ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain on Thursday visited Hazaribag on a daylong trip on the invitation of Hazaribag MP Jayant Sinha to visit different places in the district to take stock of various works of the government. He was accompanied by the Consul General from Kolkata and an interpreter.
While talking to reporters, he said, "France has a long-time friendship with India and is interested in long-term investments in every sphere. India is developing fast under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is also hosting G20 summits in various cities."
As part of his visit on Thursday, he inspected a global food processing plant at Demotand near Hazaribag and was impressed with the progress made by the plant.
He said, "This area has tremendous scope for development."
BJP MP Sinha on the other hand said his intention was to show the French ambassador the rural art, "Sohrai" painting, which has earned fame both internationally and nationally. A programme was organised at his Demotand residence where Sinha invited top Sohrai painters of Hazaribag and introduced them.
The artists also presented items like paintings and jute bags based on Sohrai. Commenting on the paintings exhibited, the ambassador said he was overwhelmed and impressed with the beauty of the products.
He said, "Earlier, I had no idea about these paintings which people here also paint on their mud houses in the rural areas."
Sinha told the visiting guest that Sohrai paintings are also adorning many airports in the country and official buildings in Jharkhand.
A group of students of St Xavier's School accompanied by their principal Father Roshner Xalxo and vice-principal Debobrata Mitra also attended the programme. The students asked Lenain about the the trade and business relationship between the two countries. Replying to this, he said, "France has a long-term trade exchanges with India."
He also visited the Hazaribag Medical College and NTPC's Pakri Barwadih coal mining project.