The Secret Sculptor
Vijaypal, the king of Chandragiri, was a great admirer of art. A large number of sculptors and painters were in his payroll. He never stopped encouraging them to seek perfection in their works. Once a year he held an exhibition of sculptures and paintings. He invited entries from gifted artists belonging to other lands too. A panel of worthy critics, most of whom were people of other lands, judged the works and decided which ones among them were extraordinary. The king rewarded their makers. Rewards for sculptures were almost always bagged by the sculptors of Chandragiri. This was because the court sculptor of King Vijaypal, Shridhar, was a great genius. He had trained up a group of young men extremely well. King Vijaypal was very fond of Shridhar. The master sculptor had not only enhanced the prestige of Chandragiri in the world of art but also had declined highly lucrative offers from other kings. It so happened that Shridhar fell sick and died rather untimely. The king was very sad. However, he made Shridhar's son, Shekhar, his court sculptor, in the way of paying tribute to the memory of Shridhar The king did not expect Shekhar to prove as brilliant as his father. But, to his pleasant surprise, it is Shekhar who was voted the best sculptor by the experts from different kingdoms who judged the entries in the next exhibition. They declared that Shekhar was no less talented than the late Shridhar. But the truth was different.
The piece of sculpture that passed as Shekhar's creation was in fact the work of another young man, Vimal. Shekhar, despite his father's sincere efforts at making him a worthy sculptor, had failed to become one. On his death bed, Shridhar told Vimal, his dearest and most successful student, "Continue to patronize Shekhar in every possible way till he has learned your art thoroughly well." Vimal was deeply devoted to his teacher. Besides, he had no ambition for fame. His only joy lay in working hard. And such was the secrecy with which he worked that it appeared as if he did nothing more than assisting Shekhar. King Vijaypal had a daughter named Mallika. She was extremely beautiful. One day the king thought, "My daughter will marry and leave me in a short time. Also, as she will grow older, the charm she possesses now will begin to fade. It will be nice to make a statue of hers now." There was also another reason for the king to feel inspired to make a statue of her daughter. Princes from the neighboring kingdoms had begun visiting his palace to propose marriage with Mallika. Now, Mallika was reluctant to appear before them. Besides, any prince who once saw her would insist on marrying her whether he deserved her or not. That would create problems. They could be shown the statue of the princess instead of the princess herself. The king decided to entrust Shekhar with the task of making Mallika's statue. In order to serve as the model for the sculptor, he first had the chief painter of his court, an old man, draw a portrait of the princess. Then he asked Shekar to do the needful. A special room was allocated to Shekhar.