A 19-year-old cancer survivor without any formal training as an artisan has made his debut as a professional idol maker this Durga Puja, a career break that he hopes will take him to his next goal of studying art.

Arpan Sarkar, a first-year undergraduate student at Budge Budge College, had been diagnosed with blood cancer in 2012. While his battle with cancer continued till 2015, the prolonged period of treatment also opened a window of opportunity for him.

“In a way, my first break is linked to cancer. While undergoing treatment at the Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre and Research Institute in Thakurpukur, I attended workshops where participants were encouraged to express their unique talents. My painting skills were praised for the first time there and I gained a lot of confidence from it,” Arpan, a resident of Daspara village in Budge Budge, told Metro.

“Last year, I made some miniature clay models and showed them to one of the NGO officials who used to visit us. It turned out she was a resident of this housing complex that would become my first client.”

Arpita Roy Chowdhury of the NGO We Can Cancer Cannot not only helped Arpan to sell some of his clay figurines but also requested the Puja committee of the Eden Pavilion complex in Garia to explore the possibility of giving him his first professional assignment.

According to Roy Chowdhury, a scriptwriter by profession, the committee readily agreed to do so.

Arpan’s work has come in for praise from whoever has seen the idols at Eden Pavilion. “He was not very confident at first. But we gave him the confidence he needed and we are very happy with the idols he has sculpted,” Pallab Dutta, a resident of the complex, said.

A gardener’s son, Arpan learnt to make clay models by watching artisans in his village, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from the city. “I would get a scolding from my mother whenever she saw me trying to emulate the artisans. She thought I was wasting my time making clay figurines. She is happy now,” he said.

The young man had been able to briefly speak to chief minister Mamata Banerjee on October 10, when she inaugurated the 95 Palli Puja that is using a figurine made by him as part of the décor.

“She promised to fund my education in an art college,” he said.

Arpan aspires to make idols out of ceramic and marble someday.