Working painter, not just a teacher

Manjunath is an active painter whose work informs the class. Students learn from somebody who is solving the same compositional problems they are, at a more advanced level.

Stage design experience inside Kairali

His applied work on Kairali's stage productions gives senior students a path from drawing-class to actual production design, turning a hobby into demonstrable creative output.

Builds long-stayers, not workshop-tourists

Many of his students have been with him for years. That retention is the real signal, visual arts students leave when they stop seeing progress, and Manjunath's students keep seeing progress.