Artist Raja Ravi Varma’s life comes alive in illustrated biography for kids

By Vishnu Makhijani

New Delhi, Mar 14 (IANS): A prolific artist if there was one, Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906), who was intently associated to the royal household of Travancore within the current day Kerala state, produced some 7,000 work of ladies of their numerous manifestations and of Hindu gods and goddesses, mixing European aesthetics with Indian photographs that resonate even immediately.

He established the primary lithographic press in India, which created prints of his mythology-inspired work, particularly scenes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana. It was a primary massive step in the direction of making artwork inexpensive for everybody.

He received an award for an exhibition of his work at Vienna in 1873 and his works had been additionally displayed on the World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893 and received him three gold medals. In 1904, the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, bestowed in him the Kaiser-i-Hind gold medal whereas a school devoted to superb arts was created in his honour at Mavelikara as have been many cultural organisations all through India bearing his identify.

That he transcended time and area might be gauged from the truth that the Varma crater on the planet Mercury was named after him in 2013 by the Worldwide Astronomical Union.

It’s thus within the health of issues that multi-faceted media character Shobha Tharoor Srinivasan ought to have penned a biography aimed particularly at kids however will even attraction to readers throughout the spectrum.

“Prince with a Paintbrush: The Story of Raja Ravi Varma” (Westland/Crimson Panda), is an inspirational tribute to a precocious youngster who, whereas others of his age had been busy enjoying hopscotch with their buddies, was portray on the partitions of his home.

“The concept of a collection on Indian artists had been percolating in my thoughts for some time and I used to be writing poems impressed by Raja Ravi Varma’s artwork. As I noticed it, right here was a well-known nineteenth century Indian painter who blended European aesthetics with Indian photographs and related the world greater than a century in the past, and but so few kids appeared to know him,” Srinivasan stated.

“After I heard from writer Karthika a yr in the past about Westland’s not too long ago launched kids’s imprint, Crimson Panda, I knew that my work can be rigorously curated and professionally produced. I am so very completely happy to have signed with Westland, and really excited to share this fantastically illustrated biography of Raja Ravi Varma with the world,” added Srinivasan, the sister of author-diplomat-politician Shashi Tharoor, who lives within the San Francisco Bay Space along with her household.

“My first encounter of California was as a spouse, mom and householder. I navigated CA with totally different wants and made household buddies who had had a unique upbringing or had been raised in a different way so I had an opportunity to study one other India or a life apart from mine. The Bay Space has been hospitable in all methods: the unimaginable climate, the gorgeous environment, the vibrancy and color of many races and cultures and the richness of fantastic friendships,” Srinivasan stated in an interview to americanbazaronline.com .

“Right here my daughter might be launched to the music and mythology that’s a part of Indian classical dance with out travelling to India to study it, and my son may strive his vocal expertise on Bollywood music if he so selected,” she added.

Srinivasan is a kids’s creator, poet, translator, editor and voice-over expertise. She can be a former non-profit improvement skilled who spent twenty years as an advocate and fundraiser for individuals with disabilities.

She has performed voice-work for documentaries, academic applications, journalistic initiatives and audiobooks. She has revealed kids’s books in India and america, together with “A Pie Shock and Different Tales”, the award-winning “Indi-Alphabet”, and most not too long ago, “How Many Traces in a Limerick?” Her work has been anthologised by Tulika Books, Solstice and Skipping Stones. Essays and evaluations have been revealed in India Currents and Scroll.in.