As artists from across the country and fellow students at M S University in Vadodara plan a public meeting in his support tomorrow, Chandramohan’s family in Madanpally village in Andhra Pradesh’s Warangal district remains unaware of the latest controversy raging in Gujarat.

The Fine Arts student and Lalit Kala Akademi awardee, who has spent the last five days in jail on charges of creating an “objectionable” work of art, hasn’t informed them. Perhaps Chandramohan didn’t have the heart to. For, behind his dream of becoming an artist is a family of daily wagers, living on little more than Rs 100 a month and struggling, sacrificing to ensure he gets his education.

Most in the family are illiterate, and with no television at home, they have no idea that their youngest, 25-year-old Chandramohan, has become the latest subject of the moral brigade’s ire. Chandramohan’s bail plea comes up for hearing tomorrow.

Growing up in the Naxal heartland of Mulugu, his family says all Chandramohan cared about was painting. While he was in the local government school, he met a teacher who would nurture that talent and leave a lasting impression on him.

“He used to go to Ravinder Sir to learn painting,” says Chandramohan’s 60-year-old father Shankarayyah. “He had no interest in the family occupation of carpentry. He knew he wanted to become an artist from the time he was very young.”

To supplement the family income, Chandramohan would make and sell paintings. The family’s small house is adorned with some of his pencil drawings —- Sachin Tendulkar takes up one wall, Telugu film star Chiranjeevi another. There is also a drawing of his father.

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