Madhu and the creative mind

KOCHI: Incidents of violence can disturb the creative mind. The horrific lynching of Madhu, a tribal youth in Attappadi while attempting to satiate his hunger has shocked the Kerala community and artists are no exception.Two artists, Sujith V T and Unnikrishnan T T, attending the painting camp organised by Lalithakala Akademi at the book festival venue are trying to convey their resentment over the savage act of murdering a hungry man. While Sujith is trying to express the pangs of the tribal man who has been displaced from his natural habitat and hounded by the so called civilised vigilantes, Unnikrishnan finds Adam, the first man in him.

Why Madhu?  “He is me, my hunger. His predicament is the situation faced by each one of us. We all strive for one square meal and he was lynched by the civilized man for claiming his share of gruel. He is the protector of the forest and we kicked him out of his natural habitat. We grabbed his land. He took refuge in a cave in the deep forest. We chased him, raided his abode, thrashed him, took selfies with a dying man and celebrated his death. He stands as a question mark in front of our civilised world.

He shakes my conscience. I feel crying looking at his helpless face,” said Unnikrishnan.A commerce graduate, Unnikrishnan works with art director Joseph Nellickal as art designer in films.He has been associated with films for the last six years and has contributed in the designing of films like Pulimurugan, and Odiyan. He is a native of Chirackal in Kannur district.