In the mid-1990s, I was doing research for my first novel. I wanted to flesh out a nebulous idea of two sisters, one taking care of the other. The title, My Sister’s Keeper, had sprung like magic.
It was a difficult theme and even after I had collected enough material, I was filled with doubt about my ability to write a full-length book when all that I had written till then were short articles, short stories and poems. Browsing through India Today of 2nd Nov. 1998, I came across an interview of artist Attingal Ramachandran. One of his paintings took my breath away. Two girls holding hands stood in the middle of climbers interspersed with blue flowers and human faces. The painting was titled, Aparajita and the Flowers but the girls were my lead characters, Maya and Amrita!
I showed the photograph to my husband who remarked, ‘Good. Now only between the covers is left!’
With two young children to look after, it was impossible to write at a stretch. That was when I got the next break – a three-month long residency at the University of British Columbia during the fall of 1999.
I wove the motif of Ramachandran’s painting in the story and returned home with the complete draft. A friend ripped it apart. I rewrote the whole thing again. And again. Several rounds of revisions later, it was time to look for a publisher.
My first book, an edited volume titled Get Published! had been snapped up by Oxford University Press but they wouldn’t be interested in fiction. Rupa Books replied immediately. After signing the contract, I requested the editor to contact A Ramachandran, who was also based in New Delhi, for permission to use his painting for the cover. They declined because he was a celebrity artist and likely to charge a hefty amount for the artwork.
After sending off the page proofs, I happened to visit my teacher, Prof. Hridyakumari in Thiruvananthapuram. When she went to the next room to attend to a phone call, I browsed through her bookshelf. One of the books was on A Ramachandran! I flipped through the pages. When Hridyakumari teacher returned to the drawing room, I showed her ‘my book cover.’
‘I know his brother, Dr A Sukumaran Nair,’ she said. ‘He was the Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University. You can get Ramachandran’s number from him.
Within a few hours, I was talking to Mr. Ramachandran who answered the call himself. My throat dried and words tumbled as I told him about seeing his painting in the magazine and my dream to have it on the cover on my novel. His reply was brief.
‘Take it.’
In 2004 the book came out with the exquisite painting on the cover. I was disappointed about having to change the title from My Sister’s Keeper to Amrita because a novel with the same title had been released only a few months before.
Mr. Ramachandran’s generosity did not end with this book. The cover of my first translation of Subramania Bharati’s Poems (Hachette India, 2012) is his painting titled The Stream.
He sent me an invitation to an exhibition of his paintings in Kochi in 2013. I was unable to go for this. Three years later, the exhibition was held at NGMA, Bengaluru and I got to see my two girls in bright colours on a canvas that seemed to rise from the wall to the ceiling. If I had seen the actual painting first, I may not have had the courage to approach an artist of such stature. He was also an exemplary sculptor, graphic artist, designer and art educationist.
Whenever I meet anyone even remotely interested in painting, I tell them about A Ramachandran. To tease me, the multifaceted Gigi Scaria, sent me a photo of himself talking to my hero seated in a chair!
Yesterday, 10th Feb., some of us, writers, met up and I mentioned to a cover designer about how I happened to get the two paintings. A few hours later I got to know that Mr. Ramachandran had passed away in the morning.
His exquisite paintings enhance my books but I was not blessed enough to meet him in person. I’ll remain indebted forever to the magnanimous spirit of A Ramachandran.
Photo of the artist from https://www.artoframachandran.com/
Usha Rajagopalan "Lakeika" 
What a wonderful tribute to Shri Ramachandran from a sincerely grateful beneficiary. May his soul rest in peace.
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Only a very good person would have said ‘Yes’ to such a request from a total stranger. He must have been an exemplary human being! May his soul rest in peace. His Art lives on in some great book covers!
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