• Charan Sharma             • Prof. Yogesh Atal             • Niyatee Shinde Website Designed & Developed by Fifth Quarter Infomedia Pvt. Ltd.   Buddham Sharanam Gachhami Seeking Refuge from Buddha At age 55, an established name in the field of Art, whose paintings have reached homes of connoisseurs in different parts of the world, CHARAN SHARMA is a relentless voyager and an ingenious visionary. His eyes capture the beauty that lay unattended and his brush transforms it into a divine rhapsody. Coming from the town of Nathdwara in Mewar - a place haunted by the devotees of Shrinathji - Charan inherited the skill of painting. Who else could be the good model than the romantic Krishna? Socialized in the tradition of Nathdwara painting, Charan graduated in this art formally through a Master's degree in Drawing and Painting from the University of Udaipur in 1974 and then pursued his interests further at the Sir JJ School of Arts in Mumbai. The Institution, which also trained his father-in-law, long back, and where he found his life companion-Nimisha - herself a fantastic painter and a born revolutionary. Charan continued with tradition, Nimisha remained with him but walked differently. Both have reached different destinations in the profession while sharing the same work environment. From the traditional paintings of Krishna and his exploits that find numerous buyers in the temple town round the year, Charan moved to other themes. The small pebbles in thousands that he noticed on the river banks of his town fancied him and he started painting huge canvases with the silent pebbles, each pebble with a distinct personality, and reciting its poem. From the luxury of poetry, Charan turned to the ruins of Rajasthan. The old Havelis and palaces that got abandoned, or allowed to be dilapidated to appear as the domains of the ghosts, became hosts to the eye of Charan. The hidden beauty of these remnants of the past came alive in remarkable paintings of this small town man who began living in the metropolis of Mumbai. There came a stage when Charan moved from the murals to drawing sheets with his pencil or water colours. Getting back to the miniatures with his personal impact, Charan made a mark and earned fresh clientele for his creations. Between 1974 and 2004 Charan organized 24 solo exhibitions not only in India but also in Hong Kong, Sydney, San Francisco, Boston, Dubai, Vienna, Singapore and in several cities of India including Delhi, Udaipur, and Mumbai. Entering an early phase of Vanprastha (so I presume) Charan has chosen to see within, rather than without. The inner soul search has taken him to Buddha for ENLIGHTENMENT. Where else can one find solace and shelter? Go to the Buddha- Buddham Sharanam Gachchami. Charan perhaps heard this call and decided to turn to Buddha. For a painter of the caliber and genius of Charan Sharma, there cannot be any other way of paying obeisance to the great master than to paint him as he visualizes his immense presence in his surroundings. The Buddha portrayed in these paintings is Charan's Buddha. One can see in these paintings the shades of his earlier journeys and his arrival at this new destination. But this is not the journey's end. Buddha is constantly telling him: charaivaiti charaivaiti - keep going, keep going…. Professor - Yogesh ATAL    Formerly UNESCO's Principal Director    for Social and Human Sciences