WORDS ADDS SPICE TO HIS BRAND OF RICE

He can write any name on a grain of rice.

Hailing from West Bengal, the micro-calligraphy expert who has been visiting DSF for several years, is also engaged in popularising India's basmati rice by inscribing the visitors name on small rice grains. "I saw a man writing names on small objects in the Calcutta Book Fair of 1978. I was curious to know more about it and started practicing it regularly. Now I must have written at least a million names on basmati rice grains. He will charge Dh10 to write your name on a rice grain within a minute.

"Many visitors to Appu Ghar, the famous theme park in New Delhi, get their names written on basmati rice," said Subodh. "When I saw it first time the painter was charging just 25 Indian paisa from each customer." Thanks to the wide publicity that micro-calligraphy has generated, the Agricultural Export Promotion Development Agency under the Ministry of Commerce, has selected him as a promoter of Indian basmati rice. Originally from India, basmati rice dominates the rice market in different parts of the world.

National Geographic featured Subhodh as the author of smallest writing in the world. "I have travelled to Europe, America and Dubai in the Middle East," he says, adding that government of India bears his expenses as part of worldwide basmati rice promotion campaign. India is the major basmati exporter in the world, followed by Pakistan.

"I was unemployed, I found it a good opportunity. Initially I charged Rs5 for writing a name. Even though I don't know many languages, I can write names in any languages by imitating the image," he added. "When I started there were not many people doing it, but now there are many doing micro calligraphy in India," he added. "Now the art is spreading and I am myself training eight artists in India. My wife Sujata also writes names on basmati rice." He says he has written and inscribed several Arabic names on rice.