Reading about Himalayas drew her closer to Tibet

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The studio upstairs has a distinct Tibetan flavour to it. The walls are punctuated with photographs of the Dalai Lama and the Karmapa Lama, two of the holiest of holies of the exiled nation. The packed book rack in the near corner has works such as ‘Doctor from Lhasa’ by Lobsang Rampa, which describes life in the Himalayan region. ‘’I don’t have a definite explanation why I was attracted to the Tibetan cause,’’ says artist Vinitha Anand, seated in the studio on the first floor of her home in Sasthamangalam here. Neatly stacked near the door are several canvases. Most of them sport Buddhist themes. Next year, Vinitha, who is the great grand-daughter of artist-prince Raja Ravi Varma’s sister, plans to hold a painting exhibition in New Delhi dedicated to the Tibetan cause. The exhibition will also feature sculptures as well as a few paintings by her daughter Sayujya. ‘’I wanted to conduct the exhibition four-five years ago, but I didn’t know whom to approach,’’ says Vinitha. Two years ago, a way - a high profile one at that - opened up. The Karmapa Lama Ogyen Trinley Dorje visited Sai Gramam, Thonnackal, an institution run by Vinitha’s husband, Anandakumar. ‘’Initially, I hoped to coincide the exhibition with an international conference organised by the Karmapa Lama this December, but that didn’t quite work out,’’ she says. The works she plans to dedicate to the Tibetan cause were also created within the past two years, and some of them were exhibited at the Vyloppilli Samskrithi Bhavan recently. Vinitha traces her interest to her student days at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Ananthapur, in Andhra Pradesh. ‘’We used to visit Puttaparthi on alternate weeks. There, top Buddhist monks used to visit Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Then, reading about the Himalayas drew me closer to Tibet,’’ says Vinitha. She has visited Bailakupa and Dharamsala, two important Tibetan settlements in India, but a visit to Tibet still remains a dream. The Tibetans are a fascinating people, she says. ‘’Despite the suffering they have had to go through, they are able to preserve spiritual calm.’’ Vinitha conducted her first solo in 1988 and since then has staged several shows in Kerala and places like Bangalore and Kolkata.