The story of the emotion called love

An emotion like love is something that has effortlessly managed to captivated many a learned men and women over the years.  Numerous authors, poets, painters and philosophers have tried their hand at describing the feeling and penning down their understanding of it. CS Shashidharan is one of the latest entrant on the list of writers enthralled by the concept of love.Born in 1967, the author is a self-taught painter and a visual arts teacher who recently launched his book, Aesthetics of Love in the city.   “Through the book I am trying to convey a message to the younger generation. It is sad to see our dependence on technology for everything we do. My book is a medium to encourage the youth to curb their dependency on technology especially in the creative fields. They need to have faith and confidence in themselves,” says the author. Apart from spinning a tale about love, the author also shares his  opinions on Indian painting and its significance from the very beginning. “I feel that our Indian paintings are very influenced by the western styles. Had we continued with our own style, our technique would have matured a lot by now. This book is for those who understand and love art. There is a chasm between real Indian painting and contemporary Indian painting, and this has been portrayed though the novel,” he informs. The author began work on his novel in 1996. Though when he initially began scribbling and making notes about the things and ideas that came to his mind he realised that his novel was gradually turning into a novella (short stories). That is when he decided to add a few anecdotes and spruce the fictitious story with incidents and experiences of his own.“I did not have to look or work very hard on the story or the plot of the book. The writing came spontaneously to me. Also, I was quite inspired by Richard Bach’s Bridge Across Forever and Thomas Hardy’s Far From The Madding Crowd. I have tried to adopt the former’s style of writing as well,” says Shashidharan.The narrator in the book is the main protagonist. He is a loner who loves painting. As an introvert, he is perpetually transiting between the fantasy world of his paintings and imagination and the realms of the real world. One fine day, the painter is hit by blast from the past. A visit from one of his collegemates turns the painter’s world topsy turvy. Though she comes to learn the art of fine painting from him, he in turn begins drawing inspiration from her. As he starts falling in love with her, everything about him also starts changing slowly. However, the drama begins only when the girl learns about the painter endearment for her. The book was unveiled by the Prof M H Krishniah president Sahitya academy,  K V Subramanyam, renowned art historian and M Marishamachar, popular artist and art historian.