“The Little Picasso” : 10-Year-Old Afghan Boy Farhad Nuri Paints and Dreams in Serbian Refugee Camp

– by Surbhi Dhawan

June 21, 2017: With eyes bright lit, a 10-year-old Afghan Boy Farhad Nuri paints his own world of happiness and courage in a peaceful corner of the world away from his home where gunshots are loud enough to kill the child in him.

Hatred and terrorism are the villains of his life who are responsible for the abandoning the feeling of home in him. It's not a story of a single child who is suffering and is not fortunate enough of carefree childhood; it's a story of every child playing with the terror in plastic, tin, clothes and bamboo tents.

Every child has inbuilt talent, only some get the chance of polishing it. From poets to rappers, singers to dancers, painters to writers, name it and its present in the refugee tents. These children's only fault is to be born at the wrong place.

Ten-year-old Farhad knows where he stands amidst the other world and his own world. He distinguishes his native country Afghanistan with other countries through his drawings. He shows Afghanistan as a lady covering and isolating his face from rest of the world and rest of the world is shown as a naked face with shining eyes and a gracious smile.

Farhad's drawings are nothing less than of a professional artist. He has made the sketches and portraits of his heroes like Salvador Dali, the legendary artist who used to paint surrealism and Angela Merkel who opened the doors of Europe for refugees. Both these heroes are close to his heart as one describes his existing conflict between dreams and reality and other helped him in escaping terrorism.

Like every other child, Farhad too wants to excel through enhancing his talent. He wants to go to a place where his dreams can bloom without the sounds of terror and inability of refugee tents. Farhad's family is one of the many who fled Taliban to save themselves. Farhad's paintings clearly show that talent does not discriminate and it does not promote hatred. His paintings communicate what he and hundred others like him cannot. Don't these children have a right to a naughty smile, a carefree play, free dreams and an assured future?

– by Surbhi Dhawan of NewsGram. Twitter @surbhi_dhawan