Daily sketch book story , Red custard apple tree Series - 1

 Custard Apple Trees that tell stories of memories

                   The custard apple is a fruit tree in the Annona reticulata family ( Red custard apple tree) .In our region it is known as aatha chakka , aatha pazham, is one of the most important  fruit trees in the rural areas of Kerala. Aatha pazham is rich in many medicinal properties and nutrients.  Also known as the apple tree of the poor people.  This very tasty fruit is full of black pods.  

The idea I put forward through the Daily Sketchbook story series is a journey into memories of the aatha tree. I think it is important to note the contemporary significance of this tree, as well as to share with you my thoughts, memories and ideas, through these short lines.

Aatha trees and my surroundings 

             Growing up playing in the shade of that tree on the south side of the house are fond memories of my childhood. Gone are the days of competing to pluck the sweetest fruits from the tree, quarreling with friends, snatching, and running away. Unripe aatha fruits were stored in sacks of ashes for ripening.  It was customary to wait for those fruits. Those fruits quenched our hunger.  This childhood is the same for everyone.  Memories pass through us in such a way that they never come back.

 

Signs of modern life

When I realized being an artist, I began to focus on my surroundings. That's when I was able to understand and think about some things. The presence of this tree has greatly diminished 'It affected me very emotionally. It is this realization that I unknowingly reborn as characters in the depths of my mind. I do not know how long time that tree will be able to provide shade and fruit for us and the birds. We are losing forests and water bodies as part of modern living conditions.  The presence of endemic birds is declining. Their musical voices are not heard. The dream-like visions of the owls, which used to come to the aatha tree every night and scream and scare us, have disappeared into the past. In the moonlight, those trees had the beauty of indicating good times. The leaves of the aatha tree are still whispered by the south wind. Each of my lines is a journey through the memories of that tree and let the aatha trees grow densely around us and become a dense forest. Let every moment of ours be heavenly with the music of the birds and let us revive our surroundings with those sound waves .

What does the aatha tree have to say to me?

                  It was the influence of the aatha tree environment that helped shape my works. The male angels, who fly on moonlit nights, rest on the aatha tree. This is still repeated as a regular dream. The angels that look like Gandharva in my pictures are my reflections .The drawing series titled  " In search of inmortal wings "  will start in 2017  It is an expression of life mixed with dream and reality as well as the quest for universal truth. The angels in my contemporary works reflect views of a one-wing lost social life." A Prince Nearby Custard Apple Tree "  is the first drawing  in the series and the essence of this work is formed from the life background associated with the aatha tree.

 

It is an artistic inquiry into the contemporary significance of the aatha tree .I want the presence of this tree, which is disappearing very quickly, to be a record of their return and identification. Let each of those lines make a mark in our minds....