Thodupuzha: With patience, precision, and an artistic touch, Linto George, headmaster of Kallanikkal St. George UP School, surprised his colleagues with an extraordinary gesture — hand-drawn portraits of each of them.
Linto created portraits of all 19 teachers and one office staff member using colour pencils on chart paper. He then framed each piece and presented them as gifts on World Teachers’ Day, October 5.

Each portrait came with a playful request: if the recipient thought the drawing resembled someone else, they should gift it to that person instead. The teachers followed the cue, passing along the portraits to their rightful counterparts — much to everyone’s amusement.

It took Linto about one and a half months to complete all the portraits, working from photographs of his colleagues. Although he initially hoped to present them on National Teachers’ Day (September 5), he couldn’t finish them in time. Each portrait took around eight hours to complete, and he often stayed up late after school hours to work on them before finally having them framed.

Linto’s interest in drawing began during the COVID lockdown, when he started sketching with his children’s colour pencils. Since then, he has created and gifted portraits to friends on various occasions — all self-taught, without any formal training.

His family — wife Soniya, a teacher at St. Sebastian’s School, Neyyassery, and children Ivana, Juvana, and Immanuel — have been his greatest supporters. Linto, a member of the Chottakkara family in Udumbannur, says their encouragement keeps his creative spirit alive even amid his busy days as a headmaster.