There are different types of artists in the Nepali art world. Some painters see their art as a means of earning a living, while there are some artists who see their painting as their children and believe that these paintings are much higher than the level of financial gain. The first purpose of art is to question the creator of art. After that, the viewers will be captivated. Radheshyam Mulmi is an artist who has a similar opinion in Nepali art world born in Pokhara in the year 2006, Mulmi’s family already had problems to save lives. A brother and a sister older than him died shortly after birth. After that, when actor Radheshyam Mulmi was born, the family thought that this too would not survive.
According to the law, Radheshyam is far ahead in his career path with good health.In order to save Radheshyam, who had a simple nature since childhood, he was kept with iron shackles on his hands and feet until his 11-year fast. From a young age, he was fond of painting. One of his uncles used to encourage him from the pictures that Mulmi made at that time in exchange for cigarettes, and he remembers that the principal and teachers of the school where he was studying always encouraged him. Once when King Mahendra came to Pokhara, he painted the king’s face. When the face painting was prepared, the headmaster and other teachers decided that he should present the face painting in front of the king. He also stood in line and offered that picture to King Mahendra. At that time, the king had taken that portrait.About five months after that, the governor of Pokhara, Nanda Bahadur, came to look for him, saying, “Who is Radheshyam?” When he came before him, the District Magistrate gave him Rs.50, saying that it was the box sent to you by the king. This encouraged him to take up painting as he suffered from Smallpox due to which his health was always unfavorable, there were many ups and downs in his life.
When he was 20 years old, he was stricken with smallpox. At that time, he also showed astrology in Pokhara itself. The astrologer said that if a 20-year-old stone is cut, then his life span will be very long. Education after S.L.Sc When he passed his SLC examination, he came to Kathmandu, but he had not started studying art here. He returned to Pokhara again and enrolled in Prithvi Narayan Campus and started studying. After getting information about the opening of a campus in Kathmandu, he also heard that he was taking admission in order to teach art to students at Lalitkala Campus in Kathmandu. Then he came to Kathmandu to study art around the year 2026.Kalidas sir had a house in Jhonche of Basantpur. He used to work there. I also started studying and working in Kalidas sir’s curio shop after Lalitkala opened in the year 2026. There were very few people he knew in Kathmandu at that time. He also started calling some people because they were from Pokhara. At that time, one of his uncles, Krishna Gopal Ranjith, was working in the RNAC of that time because he was a painter and a good penman. Dressed in a tie suit, Krishna Gopal’s good looks and looks were very attractive. Mama’s first question was, “Mama is wearing a Tie-suit and looks very good, so have you come to study art?”
Radheshyam, who had already his future in art, did not answer anything and got admission to Fine Arts Campus. At that time, the principal of the said campus was Kalidash Shrestha. The principal used to give artist Mulmi work in his studio along with his studies. He used to work in Guru’s studio in the morning and evening and in the afternoon he used to go to college to acquire knowledge. At that time, he used to stay with one of his friends in Battisputali and from there he used to walk to the campus to study. In the morning, it was his turn to cook, while in the evening, his friend would cook. He still vividly remembers the incident of one day. He had a habit of going to sleep after eating in the morning.
Once, when while cooking food, he slept for a while, he fell asleep and the rice in the rice cooker was completely burnt. Housewife Ba came to knock on the door to see if there was a big accident in the room when smoke started coming from the room. When he woke up, the room was very smokey. He remembers that on that day, he gave his friend uncooked rice and he also ate a little of it.When he gave the examination for the certificate of proficiency in fine arts, it was very difficult for him to get the subject he had studied recognized by the university. His argument was that the certificate obtained after studying all the subjects should be recognized by the university. But the headmaster Kalidas also had to give another exam and get the degree recognized, and later he gave the exam again and passed it and got recognition from the university.When he passed his Certificate of Proficiency, he started running to the Ministry of Education to apply for a scholarship to study abroad.
In 1971, the India-Pakistan war had just ended. He often went to the ministry to see when his name appeared on the scholarship, and at the same time he started working at the Election Commission in Putalisadak. At that time, the office of the Election Commission was in the inner lane of the Shankardeva campus.One day, he came there looking for students who had applied for a scholarship under the Ministry of Education and said, ‘You have received news from the Ministry. Your name has appeared in the scholarship. You are working here, you will go to the ministry immediately,’ he said. He ran from there to the ministry.
After reaching there, he asked if there is a scholarship for sculpture in Pakistan. Mulmi, who had been adamant that he would become an artist, replied that she is ready to go anywhere to study any subject related to painting.Shortly after that, he went to Pakistan via India. At that time, to go to Raxaul in India, an employee also went with him to work in the Election Commission. The Indo-Pakistan war of 1970 had just ended. There was tension in both the countries. From Raxaul in India to Patna, from Patna to Delhi. While sitting on the train from Raxaul, India, a Nepali-speaking man hatched a plan to rob him. He looked very ordinary at that time, carrying a simple cloth bag. The man stole another man’s money and requested to keep it for some time. He refused to take the hard work of others. Many incidents happened in the train. He reached Delhi from Lucknow. The border from Delhi to Pakistan was closed. Then came another problem. A benefactor named Ram Bahadur whom he met in Delhi advised him to go to Muzaffarpur. After that, he booked a train ticket from Delhi to Muzaffarpur and went to Muzaffarpur.
After reaching there, it was found that the border is not open here either. Mulmi, who was riding in a rickshaw, had no idea where to go now, but she kept thinking that whatever God does is good. That day was Wednesday, the rickshaw puller asked another man – Where does the Pakistan border open? Another man’s answer was – Amrit will open in the city tomorrow Thursday.Then Mulmi was shocked, now he took a bus from Muzaffarpur to Amritshahr and headed towards Amritshahr. Spent the whole night at the bus stop in Amritsahar. He lived in a place called Atari, when he woke up in the morning, all his clothes were soaked in water. Fortunately, his passport was saved.He woke up in the morning, caught a truck and went to the border of Pakistan. He said that he was going to Pakistan on scholarship from Nepal. He lived in a place called Attari, and the officials there started questioning him for a long time because of his Hindu name. Radheshyam also said that he came from Nepal and that Buddhists in Nepal are also called Radheshyam and that he comes from a country with religious tolerance. Finally, he remembers that he was given permission to go to Pakistan after he showed a letter from Punjab University that he was affiliated with.From there he went to Lahore by train.
When he landed in Lahore, he requested a taxi to take him to Lahore College to study. When the taxi driver asked whether he wanted to go to the new campus or the world campus of the Department of Fine Art, Panjab University, he did not answer. He knew nothing about this. He asked the rickshaw puller to give me 10 rupees to take me to the campus when the fare was only 4 rupees. When he found out on the way that the campus for studying arts was Panjab University, he reached the campus late in the evening. After reaching there, the teacher of that campus said that there were no teachers in the campus at that time and now no one can be allowed to stay in the campus and then requested him to sleep in a hotel and come back the next day. As he could not drive some of the sheep living there, he left there and walked outside in search of a hotel. All the names of hotels and shops were written in Urdu language.
Mulmi, who doesn’t even know even a single letter in Urdu, now had a lot of trouble finding a hotel there. He went to every tea shop and inquired about the hotel while having tea, but none of them informed him that there was a hotel nearby. In the evening in the market to buy toothpaste and brush, he took out Indian money when he was about to pay after buying the goods. The shop there had created a very embarrassing situation for him by showing his money to everyone sitting in the shop saying ‘E Dekho Dekho’ as if he had committed a big crime.While walking on the streets of Lahore, I saw hotel written in English on a board in the corner but in Urdu in big letters. No matter how much money he got, his desire to stay here today had escaped from his heart. As soon as he entered, he was asked to wash his hands and face and come to the rehearsal, he did the same.
When he reached the reception. Then he asked – ‘Where are you from?’ Mulmi replied – ‘From Nepal.’He said – ‘We don’t have a passport system, we don’t have permission to keep yours here. You will have to go to another place.’ Thankfully he sent a guide with Mulmi. The guide took me to the Royal Hotel and confirmed that I would stay there. The hotel owner asked – ‘Aap Gorkhali Hey?’ Mulmi’s answer – ‘Yes, Gorkhali.’After that, he gave a little encouragement to Mulmi by telling me if there is any problem. Mulmi thought – ‘I don’t know you as a Nepali, I know you as a Gorkhali!’When he reached there, he was tired and hungry. Finally found a room and ordered for food. He ordered: Viryani, Chole and Gost. When this food, which he had never heard of before, came to his table, he realized that chole meant a large amount of chickpeas and Biryani also contained meat and Gost also contained meat. He heard that in Pakistan they also eat beef, he could not figure out whose meat it is. He remembers that he kept the meat aside and went to bed after eating only the rice of Viryani.
After going to the university on the second day, he started to feel a little better. A hostel was also arranged for him to stay and he also received the scholarship money as an advance. That money helped a lot while staying there. The soft-spoken Radheshyam was loved by everyone during his stay there. When he was staying there, he went to study idols. After the administrator met him, the administrator asked how many people are there in your family? He asked that you should also look after the family. But Mulmi was adamant about that. The administrator thought and sent to come tomorrow. A day later, when he reached there, the administrator there asked him whether he would study design or painting, and the same administrator enrolled him to study design without waiting for his decision. During his free time, he used to go to different sea shores while staying there.A police patrol came to Ekta’s hostel. He was searched by the police in the room for a long time and when they said that he came from Nepal on a scholarship, they released him. He used to come to Nepal once a year and when it was his turn to do customs, the Pakistani officials used to make fun of him by saying ‘Radheshyamka Naam Aya’.( Radheshyam’s name is being called)
In time, he graduated from there. After that, his professors requested him to study his Masters degree there. He also completed his master’s degree from there and then he was going to get a scholarship to do Ph.D. But he did not do PhD and came back to Nepal.Arrival in Nepal After coming to Nepal, he went to the Ministry of Education and told all the stories he had read from Pakistan. The authorities at that time were angry with him asking why the man who went to graduate had also done his master’s degree. He also told that he came to study when he got the chance and also told that they said that they would arrange a scholarship to do Ph.D, but he did not accept it.
Until then, there was no one in Nepal with a master’s degree in art. He also had a problem to get the equivalent from the university to recognize that education. He had to go through a long struggle to get him to accept what he had read.The Ministry of Education should have given him a chance to serve now. At that time, he was assigned to the Technical Education Center in Sanothimi as he had to be assigned to the Fine Arts Campus. After working there for about 4 years, he finally got a job at the Fine Arts Campus. Mulmi, who already had a good knowledge of art, had to face many difficulties even after coming to the said campus. He narrates the experience of being helped by some friends who liked him while working in Sanotimi. At that time, the teachers teaching there did not like Mulmi’s new way of teaching which made her popular among the students. Mulmi used to make paintings on the walls of the college in his own lake, and sometimes he would teach the art of making new paintings while taking the students on a tour. Looking at the pictures made on the wall, his fellow teachers who were teaching there used to try to prove that he was the best artist by making pictures on the wall that was about to collapse.Soft-spoken and did not like to offend others with his words, Mulmi did not like to open his mouth to such accusations as much as possible and remained steadfast in his actions.
The paintings made by him have colors, harmony and different kinds of originality. From the outside, it may seem that this is the case, but because of the colors and shapes used there, his works look unique.A journey of painting Generally: He used to do sketch and design works. His students used to be impressed by the paintings he made. Students used to look at his paintings and sketches and talk about their uniqueness and kept nagging him to exhibit solo paintings. Mulmi, who had a good hand in design, was not well versed in painting because he was making good money from the designs he made. At the same time, one of his students insisted that Sir should have a solo exhibition, so he planned to make 40 paintings first. When 40 were finished, then he had to make 60 to choose another painting. While doing so, he made about 80 paintings for the exhibition in the space of about a year.
His style of painting
Talking about this topic, Mulmi says that he ponders for a long time before painting any subject. Like making a picture about the mother, he thinks about the multifaceted aspects of the mother. Thinking about who the mother is, what the mother does, what the mother’s appearance should be, whether the nature is also the mother, how the mother loves, they think about various things.Then he thinks about making a picture and decides whether to make it black and white or color it as the picture demands. And then he starts painting.
The colors used in his paintings do not focus people’s eyes only on one place. But the picture attracts. Because of that, the colors used by him, like the tunes used in music, produce sound, similarly, his colors flow in waves. In the paintings he makes, he takes a subject and gives it a larger shape through various uses. In his experience, he creates large pictures of new patterns and styles by combining subjects such as apples, rats, Ganesha, hawks, and birds. They also spend a lot of time thinking about the colors used in it and use the colors according to the main theme.He is not sure how many new artists were born from his inspiration from Lalitkala Campus.
He also remembers that sometimes someone else made a picture similar to his own and put it in the exhibition. But in this matter, someone likes the art that he has done, so he does not talk about it as much as possible to pretend that he has copied it.He believes that all the paintings he made are equally lovely and that the same painting should not be sold as much as possible. In general: He has all the paintings he has made and he thinks that they should not be sold while he lives, so he has the idea of giving all the paintings he has so far on the condition that a museum or a collector will keep them for art study without selling them. Apart from painting, his other hobby is photography. He has a habit of taking photos on the first meeting with a person and washing them the next day and collecting the photos.
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