By Suresh Unnithan

He is simply stupendous, as an artist. His creations are worth a million words.  Nandan Pillai believes “Art is the signature of civilizations and is the literacy of heart.” True to his thoughts Pillai has dedicated his time and energy for the people and the mother earth.  He loves nature; he loves the earth around him and also makes others feel his passions through his unique creations.

“I am an artist.  I always keep an eye on the nature.  The beauty of the nature has always enchanted me. But what pains me is many of our fellow humans across the globe prefer to exploit the nature for their selfish needs.  I am really perturbed at the impending hazards, thanks to the unscrupulous abuse of the environment.”   He continues, “I tell you, there is nothing more truly artistic than to love the earth and its inhabitants.”

To me, Nandan Pillai is an artist with an exceptional ethic, who went about the labor of his profession without the hindrance of temperament. His creations are reflections of his personal experiences.  “I use to redraw the pictures in my text books to give a real touch. I was happy to redraw the pictures as I saw them around with my naked eyes. This was when I was just in early primary classes. My father appreciated and acknowledged the talent in me and encouraged beyond bounds. According to him my love to nature was unambiguously expressed in all my early drawings.”

The intrinsic love towards nature has impelled him to fight against the unhindered abuse of the environment “which could result in the early demise of the mother earth. We are the victims of our own evils. We have been, across the globe; abuse the nature without any mercy for our everyday extravagance. To save the mother earth and the humanity we need to fight these evils with a rigid resolve.”

Young minds are the most positive and if we can inspire them they will prove to be the most effective soldiers to fight for the nature, says Pillai. With this exclusive intention in 2000 Pillai set up www.orgpeople.com,  the nation’s first online art club for school students, which soon grew into the world’s largest collection of children’s art on the world wide web, a position it holds to this day. Further, to encourage a love for nature among schoolchildren, Pillai has formulated a unique “Natural Art Workshops”; where the children are trained on specific art forms using clay, flowers and leaves and similar naturally available materials.

Other successful media products from  Pillai’s brain include Pappu Zebra the Road Sense Zebra, the popular road safety mascot, adopted by Police departments of Kerala, Orissa  and Rajasthan for their respective road safety campaigns, Uncle Dash and Baby Pom, created for the fire safety awareness campaign of Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services Department, Student Police Cadet Sharan ,created for the prestigious Student Police Cadet programme of Kerala Police, Kadalunni, created for the Coastal Security programme of Kerala Police.

Surprisingly, during his three decades long dedicated career as an applauded artist Pillai has never been decorated with any official accolade.  He hardly has any regrets.  “My creations are well accepted and appreciated by the society, particularly the young generation. That is the greatest award or reward I have achieved.”

Lending a line from the great painter of his times Jackson Pollock Mr. Pillai concludes “”Every good artist paints what he is. I am just doing that.”