Pune: Kamalakar Vasantrao Potdar in his 60s sits down and creates impressive art forms out of waste at his serene home almost everyday.

Potdar has given shape to a number of impressive artistic creations in the past 50 years, using waste wires, slates, toothpicks, straws, plastic packing materials and wood among others.

One of them, a creation called the Moving Monkey, is made out of sipping straws. Another is the Moving Kangaroo made out of waste wire, the rubber head of the pen and baloon. Likewise, there are hundreds of such creations which Potdar cherishes to preserve wherever he finds a space in his living room.

Potdar creates art not for sale. He simply doesn’t want to part his invaluable creations to anyone for money. He, however, loves giving paperworks free of cost to children. “I do this to spread awareness that you make good things out of waste,” he says.

It all started for Potdar when he was studying in Kolhapur’s New High School. He participated in a drawing competition and bagged the first prize. This galvanized young Potdar to try hands at which a very few people have done in the past. So he took penchant for slate carvings, which he still enjoys doing the most. “I started slate carving when I was studying engineering in 1967,” he informs.

Potdar started to make articles using household waste materials when he was working with Telco, now Tata Motors. “Though I was very busy at work, I never missed an opportunity to utilise spare time for creating articles. It gave me immense satisfaction. I was thrilled to turn the obsolete thing into a useful one. This probably triggered to generate scientific ideas,” he says.

One of his most cherished work is the slate carving of a dancing beauty. It looks like an Ajanta-Ellora carvings on the slate. Potdar had worked for days on it. He is concentration persona and enjoys the artwork coming out of his labour. “It completes my life,” he says.

Every person has a dream that his art should be viewed and appreciated. Therefore, in 2006 he staged a solo exhibition in Aundh. “I received a good response and people appreciated my artwork,” Potdar says.