Kishore Kumar Khatri always had a penchant for visuals. As a child, he would doodle abstractions and draw images that struck his fancy.

He was born in an educated household in the small town of Dhoronaro in Sindh’s Umerkot district, which abuts the Thar Desert. His father is a doctor and his mother a homemaker, who ensured that their three children acquired a decent education.

As the youngest child, Kishore got more leeway than his two siblings, with his parents more indulgent of his artistic pursuits.

But it wasn’t until he was in grade six, while still enrolled in the local government school, that a teacher took notice of his precocious talent. It had often expressed itself in school assignments, such as Kishore creating a fruit basket sketch when the task had been to draw an apple.

Kishore, who recently turned 40, says the encouragement of his school teacher, combined with his family’s support, made him realise that he had been blessed with a unique gift. “It happened due to the encouragement of my elders and I try to encourage my students in a similar manner,” he tells Eos.

Kishore Kumar Khatri’s chalk drawings are not only helping his students in Umerkot grasp difficult concepts, their popularity is also garnering interest from educationists around Pakistan to revisit traditional learning practices

But with educational opportunities limited — art classes didn’t take place in........

© Dawn (Magazines)