Some time back, in an unfortunate incident, a few schoolchildren were killed when a huge tree fell on the bus they were travelling in. The aftermath of that was a Government Order to pull down all the trees that posed any kind of threat.
In no time, huge trees -- some of them more than a century old – which were providing shade to humans, shelter to birds and keeping the environment in balance, were pulled down across the State. And now, we are complaining about the unbearable heat and drought.
Worse could be in store for us if we continue to treat environment with scant respect.
That is the message Ramu Kochattil tries to give in his painting exhibition, which began at the Kerala Lalitha Kala Akademi Art Gallery, Kozhikode, on Tuesday.
He has titled the exhibition, ‘Warming Earth.’ His concern for environment is evident in the 20 paintings on display.
In one of them, you could see the crow from Aesop’s fable unable to get a drop of water even after filling up the entire pot with pebbles. Another bird is lying dead under a merciless sun.
In another painting, you have humans and the factories they made emitting smoke. In yet another, two birds are perched on the steel rods in a concrete jungle, unable to find trees to make a nest in.
The recent flood of Chennai is the subject of another work.
For Ramu, who is a retired art director in advertising, this is his first solo exhibition. He has been part of group exhibitions before.
“I feel it is high time we thought seriously about our environment,” he says. “We are forgetting the kind of damage we are doing to Nature in the name of development,” he says.
Charcoal is the primary medium he has used for his painting. Acrylic and watercolours are also there.
“I used charcoal because I wanted to use a natural medium,” he explains.
The exhibition will be on till May 28.
