Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives a lord Krishna painting from Jasna Salim.
PTI Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: It was a dream come true for Kozhikode native Jasna Salim as she could handover a painting of lord Krishna to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the famed Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple on Wednesday.
Being a Muslim, Jasna has been facing abuses and threats from a section in the community for painting lord Krishna.
Ignoring all those she continues to chase her passion and even make considerable earnings from it.
With Modi sharing the picture of receiving the painting from Jasna on his social media page, Jasna is flooded with words of appreciation.
"I believe that there is truth in the Krishna that I paint. That's why my dream to hand over a painting to the Prime Minister, that too at Guruvayur, was realised. All thanks to Suresh Gopi (actor-turned BJP politician) who made it happen," Jasna told DH.
A native of Koyilandy in Kozhikode, the 32 year old ignores the threats from a section.
"Apart from my family, many others from the Muslim community are appreciating my skill. Only a few are raising objections and threats against me. But they are not concerned about my wellbeing and hence I ignore them," said Jasna, who was even forced to stop her son from going to the local madrassa owing to the indifferent attitude of some teachers.
It was around ten years back that Jasna first drew a picture of little Krishna that she noticed on a piece of paper. Her family members, especially husband, said it came out well. Thus she started painting more. Now she is getting orders even from various countries for lord Krishna's paintings. One will have to wait for at least six months to get a Krishna painting done by Jasna. She focuses on paintings of lord Krishna's childhood days.
Last year Jasna had donated 101 paintings of lord Krishna to the Guruvayur temple. Many other temples are also having Jasna's Krishna paintings.