About myself

Siddharth was born in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman in August 2001 and moved to Geneva, Switzerland where he spent his early childhood. At the age of two and half years, he started losing his acquired linguistic skills and was subsequently diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Siddharth, however, retained a strong interest in colors and shapes and started painting as early as two years. In the coming years a photographic memory of colors, shapes numbers and events will characterize him.

He started his schooling at the Montessori School in Commugny and later on at the Geneva International School but had severe struggle improving language and communication skills. In search of alternative ways of assistance in a family setting, they relocated to his grandparents’ home in Aluva. Asperger’s syndrome, where the kids have normal IQ but limited language and social skills, was not well understood hence it was not easy finding a school for him. Over fifty schools including Government schools rejected his admission requests. Siddharth eventually started schooling at the Choice School in Thripunithura which provided him with a protective atmosphere and supportive teachers. Siddharth overcame many of his linguistic and social challenges in the next 12 years.

All through his schooling, under the guidance from his mother, he continued to develop his painting and drawing skills. He got a lot of technical support from Mr. Rajiv (RLV) and Mr. Lipu (Chinmaya Vaduthala) but he operates on his own style . In January 2018, Siddharth conducted his first exhibition in Durbar hall art gallery Ernakulum which met with enthusiastic support from public and media. Watching them will bring home the true meaning of the term “differently abled”. Siddharth’s journey has inspired many other parents of differently abled children to identify and promote the true talents of their special child. There were few subsequent exhibitions .His paintings were also exhibited at the kochi Muziris biennale outreach programme outsider art and he was also featured by lulu mall online In November 2019, he organized another solo exhibition at the prestigious India Habitat Center in New Delhi, which also received significant praise.

During the COVID-19 lockdown period, he took initiative to organize a painting competition for people in India which received close to 1000 entries from around the world. He was selected for few online exhibitions in Canada and UK He had designed coverpages for few story books aswell. He is a Commerce Graduate and is pursuing a professional course in accounts Since 2017, he has been drawing a series of paintings with a theme for the annual desktop calendar which is a hit.

Siddharth is the only son of Dr Muralee Thummarukudy, Director ,G20 global initiative and Dr Jayasree Consultant Pathologist at Lakeshore Hospital.