Unnal Mudiyum Thambi Raja, better known as UMT Raja, is now getting ready with a special gift to the Chief Minister to show his gratitude for closing down 500 TASMAC shops all over the state – with bottle art.

The Coimbatore-based goldsmith has a passion for art, which drives him to create innovative and creative works every now and then. He is also an ardent fan of Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa and the policies that she implements. When the CM ordered the closure of 500 Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) outlets, UMT Raja decided to show his gratitude, and what better way than a unique bottle art!

UMT Raja’s hunt for the right bottles ended at a city-based scrap dealer’s outlet. He picked up a pair of bottles from there. For his innovative piece of art, he worked with innovative raw materials. He twisted the heads of his painting brush and, using a thread, he tied the head of the paintbrush. This, he shares, allowed him to work on the bottle. He began painting from bottom to the top.

The painting on the first bottle depicts a man who is immersed neck-deep in alcohol, struggling to live. There is a bottle of alcohol next to him. “I’m symbolically trying to convey that the closure of the 500 shops has resulted in the decrease in the level of alcohol in which the man was swimming, from his head down to his neck,” 46-year-old UMT Raja shares.

The second bottle has an image of an alcoholic. The man has just one of his hands free. Both his legs and one of his hands are tied. UMT Raja explains that the alcoholic’s hand and legs are tied due to his addiction to alcohol. “When all the TASMAC outlets that sell Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) are closed, his other limbs will be freed too, he says.