Quest for self-discovery
SHALINI UMACHANDRAN
IN TOUCH WITH MY ROOTS — A Creative Journey Through Kerala: Yusuf Arakkal; Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11, Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110017. Rs. 1250.
This book is largely about expressing ideas and emotions that emerge from being part of a society. Indian artists are usually rooted deeply in their tradition, community and identity playing an important role in their creative expression, even though they observe and absorb from other movements. From tribal to contemporary artists, collective imagination, roots and beginnings are often sources of inspiration and part of the quest for self-discovery.
Artist Yusuf Arakkal decides to take an artistic journey back to the home he believes he never really left in this book. Born in Chowghat in Kerala into the Arakkal royal family, he ran away to Bangalore at the age of 15 to follow his dream of becoming an artist. Arakkal sees himself as a person belonging to "two native lands" — Kerala, the land of his birth where his "roots are deeply ingrained ... that I never really left in spirit," and Bangalore, "a loving foster mother" to which he owes "everything I am worth today."
More travelogue
In Touch With My Roots is the story of his return, or rather, as he says in the introduction: "My return to Kerala was not a journey backwards to rediscover my native place as a resident but to feel and understand the changes and evolution that had taken place." However, Arakkal's introduction reads more like a hurried travelogue and though he has made a couple of insightful observations in passing, there is really no effort to "understand the changes and evolution." His love for Kerala is obvious and he conveys this without being sentimental or theatrical. He reflects on what could have been if he had not moved away from Kerala — would he have become a football player instead? Fortunately, he hanged his football boots early.
Paean to Kerala
Though discerning editing would have improved this travelogue, Arakkal's simple and obviously sincere essay sets the tone for his sketches and paintings. Retelling popular myths and folklore, touching upon the martial arts tradition, commenting briefly on the socio-political atmosphere and describing everyday life, Arakkal travels the length of the Malabar coast — with what sounds slightly like a psychotic driver. He starts from Kozhikode and ends at Kovalam, with stops at Kannur, Cochin, Alapuzha and Thiruvananthapuram, snatching time for sketches of scenes that catch his fancy. There are descriptions of the green, green grass, swaying bridges, splendid surroundings and soothing effects of Ayurveda that cannot be kept out of any paean to Kerala.
Influences
He wanders across the beaches and backwaters of Kerala, sketching and painting happy, almost touristy, images — fishermen, coconut vendors, a boat here, a house there. The oils and watercolours are especially striking with their simple, everyday feel, deep texture and simple subjects. The play of light and shade has always been his forte, a distinctive palette and chiaroscuro making his work instantly recognisable. This time too, Arakkal restricts himself to earthy shades, and the effect is truly brilliant. He evokes a sense of nostalgia, the element of yearning, an impression of perpetuity with his simple lines and colours.
Arakkal's work has always been influenced by people and social issues from his early abstracts on city life to his more recent Guernica, a comment on the Gujarat riots. A large part of his deep concern and engagement with the world around him comes from his early days on the streets of Bangalore working at all kinds of jobs, after he ran away from home to become an artist. His characters always have an air of timelessness, very typical of people who seem to be caught in an eternal moment of waiting or doing or just being — and this work is no different.
The portraits of Karanavar, the mopla girls, the fishmonger and the tea seller are truly inspired, combining gravity and simplicity, while some pen and ink drawings like the little boy at Kappad Beach have a light, playful touch to them.
The layout of the book, though, is completely flat, unimaginative, entirely out of tune, and does absolutely nothing for the brilliance and beauty of Arakkal's art. Part sketchbook, part tribute to an artist's influences, this is a book that captures the essence and atmosphere of Kerala effortlessly.
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