A decade ago artist C D Jain had tryst with a nauseating experience. Not only did it make him a prolific painter but also, crusader for a cause. He has been wielding his brush for it, since then, perhaps, showing the society that his brush is mightier than a sword.
As a painter, Jain has been travelling a lot. It was during one of those times that he happened to stay in a low budget hotel in Madurai. A charming girl, barely 13 years old, used to hang around the hotel, he remembers. She was just masquerading as flower vendor, but there was a dark side to her 'flower business'. That day Jain left the hotel, cursing those who had pushed the girl into the dungeon of abuse and exploitation.
"It was a turning point in my life," he recalls. "I vouched then, I will do something for the suffering children."
After a year, in 1998, Jain started conducting Art workshops with focus on children. He travelled states such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. He sauntered through the dingy alleys in slums and met hundreds of needy children.
Being a child educationist, he also found time to enlighten them with his knowledge. He conducted therapeutic art workshops for them, through which he thought he could redeem or reform them. Thus began his long series on children, which captured their different moods and mannerisms, their hope and despair. His collection of paintings, titled ‘Celebration of Children's week’ was recently on display at Karnataka Chitra Kala Parishat.
Through his works the artist has presented the joy, innocence, distress, pain and physical as well as sexual abuse, many children are subjected to. He uses dull colours to depict a hapless child and pleasing colours when he wants to speak about child's innocence, freedom and happiness. " I want to honour the children through my painting," he says.
Jain, a native of Parasala (Kerala) has spent much of his time helping marginalised children. "My works are based on my first hand experience of life", says Jain, who feels there are many NGO's existing for the same cause, but only few can be counted for their righteousness.
Jain has been the Art Consultant for UNICEF, Save the Children and World Vision. Kerala State Forest Department award, Kerala Lalitha Academi award and the Rippon Kapur Fellowship (From Child Relief and You) are laurels he cherishes in life.
Jain isn’t limited to themes solely on children. Before starting the child series, he had strayed into topics of social and environmental relevance and a collection titled ‘Victims'- fallout of Babri Masjid demolition.
