The Vanishing Green

Varghese Kalathil draws inspiration from the chromatic richness of Kerala, the verdant south-Indian state he calls home. To him, Kerala is defined by an ever-shifting spectrum of greens — from the soft whispers of sap green and terre verte to the luminous emeralds and deep viridians that cloak its hills and backwaters. Every locale possesses a shade and a breath all its own, and Kalathil’s practice is devoted to capturing these nuanced hues before they disappear.

Kerala’s cultural identity has long been entwined with an almost reverential stewardship of nature. A traditional injunction — never fell a tree without planting another — once preserved the fertility of its soil, the vitality of its forests, and the lifeblood of its rivers. In recent decades, however, rampant deforestation, unchecked mechanisation, and pollution have scarred the landscape, leaving raw red earth where lush canopies once stood and turning once-mighty rivers into fragile threads of water. The fragile equilibrium between humankind and environment, once so carefully maintained, now teeters on the brink.

Kalathil channels this collective loss into his art, focusing particularly on the endangered Great Hornbill, Kerala’s state bird. Folklore celebrates the hornbill for tilting its beak skyward to drink monsoon rain — a poignant image rendered tragic as rainfall patterns shift and habitats shrink. In Kalathil’s recent work, the hornbill becomes a living elegy for the Western Ghats’ threatened ecosystems, serving both as a symbol of ecological fragility and a call to renew a covenant with the land before Kerala’s green truly vanishes.