My Compelling Story

When it comes to displaying the feelings in words through the means of letters, there are very few of Achyut’s class in India. He is one of India`s most recognised painters and calligraphers. The art of elegant handwriting comes instinctively to him, as magical strokes flow freely from the plethora of instruments he uses to mark his surface with ink. His motto is to bring calligraphy bring closer to the masses. In this art, written words become gems created with systematic strokes from a raw reed pen filled with a viscous and dark liquid. India is one of the three greatest calligraphic centres of the world apart from China and the Arab countries, and Palav is determined to keep the more than five-century-old legacy alive by demonstrating the fundamentals of calligraphy and imbibing them in children from an early age. Born in 1960 in Mumbai, he completed his General Diploma in Art from Sir JJ Institute of Applied Art in 1982. His love for this art form began in his early schooldays when he was told by his teacher to write the thought for the day on the blackboard. He then realised that there was more to letters than what everyone usually saw. He joined the Sir JJ School of Art and honed his skills in calligraphy under the guidance of RK Joshi. Today Palav`s calligraphy instruments include a shaving brush, toothbrush, a spatula, a blush-on brush, and a tin lid converted into yet another writing instrument apart from a regular pen. The celebrated calligrapher explores various surfaces like the cover of a keyboard, canvas, ceramic tiles, slate, and wooden sets to dabble in different themes. He started with working on paper, but now his calligraphy has found its way to invitation cards, name plates, clothes, and logos. For this humble, soft-spoken calligrapher, alphabets or letters does not merely make words. He believes that each letter has its own character and brings out the meaning of these characters through calligraphy. Palav has worked with the likes of Imtiaz Dharker (poet), who simply had to have her poems written by him when she saw samples of his work. He brought out the deep underlying philosophy in her poetry through calligraphy. He also worked on a canvas with Subhash Awchat (painter) where his calligraphy blended with the latter`s paintings.