Based out of Bengaluru, 28-year-old Sachin Sanghe hails from Mudugere, around 80 km away from the capital city.  A regular software engineer by profession, his artistry on the chalk during the night is extraordinary, which has won him fans and praises from his favourites; Sachin Tendulkar and PM Modi. His casual artistry started way back in school.

“Pencil sketches and paintings with watercolors on paper were my favorites in childhood. I have always had this liking for artistic hobbies. I’ve used chalk as much as pen/pencil. Divider and Compass in my geometry box were my first carving tools. Initially I was just carving simple structures/designs on chalk, making it hollow end to end. Later I learned carving alphabets. For the next couple of years, It was all just that – carving friends/relatives names on chalks and gifting them. They found it amazing. Mom and dad were always amazed at my work. They were feeling proud to show my artworks to whoever came home. It was fun always.”

His FB page proudly showcases his meeting with PM Narendra Modi. He gifted him eight chalk sculptures including one where the PM is taking blessings from his mother. He has been fortunate to inspire and take inspiration from stalwarts. “ I’m extremely fortunate to have met the legends and gifted them my artworks. I have gifted Chalkruthis to Hon’ble President Sri Ram Nath Kovind, Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi,  Former President Pranab Mukherjee, Hon’ble Speaker Smt. Sumitra Mahajan, Bharata Ratna Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan, Hon’ble MPA Ananth Kumar, Rahul Dravid, Actor ShivarajKumar, Former Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers, Current Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins and many more,” says Sachin.  His journey has been a self-taught one, and as of today, he has made more than 200 miniature sculptures. “I wanted to try something new. Attaching 2-3 chalks together and carving human face on it proved to be a wonderful idea. This went on for 2-3 years. There was a 5yr pause to this activity. I had become a Software Engineer when I resumed my unique hobby. I didn’t know it would be a brilliant life-changing move!! I wanted to coin a catchy, yet apt name for my art of sculpting with a chalk. Then I names it, Chalkruthi – An Aakruthi (a Kannada word for Structure) made of chalk.”  The time that each sculpture takes varies, depending upon the complexity of the design, but on an average, it takes anything between five to six hours to 120 -130 hours, he reveals.

Around five years ago, Sachin also started sculpting lead to create miniature art forms. “ I started with carving names and then faces by attaching 2-3 chalks together. After a 4-5 yrs of gap, I resumed this activity. I carved Mahaveera teerthankara in a single piece of chalk to start with. It’s been 7 yrs since then. I have carved many deities, eminent personalities, monuments, cartoon characters, concept based carvings etc..” He adds, “I started carving on lead 5yrs ago. I carved Mahaveera teerthankara, first. Ganesha, Indian National Emblem, Twin Babies, Cricket World Cup, Gomateshwara, Amitabh Bachchan, Narendra Modi are other important lead carvings.”

Though he has seen encouragement and great appreciation for his artistry, he hasn’t taken it up as a full time profession. “  I take orders but minimal. I get lots of requests for artworks. If I feel I have some time to cater to the request, I accept. Not many people know this art. It’s not an established form of art. First, I want to take this to as many people as possible.”