|
INTERVIEW
:SATISH GUJRAL
Painter, sculptor, and architect - a "quirk of fate"
brought him to greatness.
 Many
years ago, a wise aunt told me that a tree without fruits
will stand tall and straight but one that is laden will
bend. Such a one is Satish Gujral, winner of the Padma
Vibhushan in 1999 for his contribution to
Art - a man who had to pay a great price to realise
his Destiny. Had he not become deaf when he was ten
years old as a complication of a childhood illness,
he would probably never have been the artist he is today.
At best, he may have dabbled as so many gifted people
do and earn a living through other means. And we would
have been one great artist poorer.
Whenever I have met this quiet, modest man, he is usually
surrounded by people, as chelas around a guru who has
taken the vow of silence and knows secrets which others
don't. Today, in retrospect, the setbacks of his childhood
are signposts to a great destiny; however, for him they
were very real trials at the time. This emerges in the
following interview which Satish Gujral.
As one of India's leading artists,
you have received fame and accolades. Why and when did
you choose the artistic medium to express yourself?
I did not chose art as my vocation by intention;
rather, it was thrust upon me. Though I showed a keen
interest in drawing and painting, it was not taken seriously
either by me or by my parents as promise of a future
vocation.
It was a quirk of fate; an accident at the age of eight
that put me into sick bed where I stayed for half a
decade. The infection that subjected me to an endless
series of surgeries also brought in its wake, total
deafness, at the age of ten while still in sickbed.
The calamity foreclosed any possibility of me following
a normal curriculum and forced my father to give greater
significance to my pre-occupation with drawing, which
had further become intensified with my long spell in
sick bed.
A graphic curriculum, he realized, was the only course
left for me to follow. At the age of thirteen, after
I was able to walk again, I was admitted to an Art School
in Lahore.
Had you not been compelled
to opt for a graphic curriculum what would you have
chosen to be? Was there any other discipline that drew
you?
As a child I must have had dreams of becoming this
or that, but had I not become deaf, my father would
have probably chosen his own profession for me to follow
- that of a lawyer. However, if I were to go by the
inclination of later days, it is architecture that I
would have chosen. Being successful as an artist I chose
to make forays in this vocation in later years. This
shows that the inclination had roots.
Your family came to Delhi with
the Punjabi Diaspora out of Pakistan after partition.
You are, today, one of the city's leading citizens. Can
you tell me how Delhi shaped your identity and your art?
Also, your thoughts on how this city has grown and changed?
I arrived in Delhi not immediately after partition but
almost a decade after it. The intervening years were spent
in Shimla and in Mexico. However, it was
in Delhi that I grew roots that became deeper as time
passed. Though I often grieve at the quality of life in
this city with the passage of time, yet the way it has
grown culturally has made me ignore all else.
In the four decades that I have lived here, the city
grew from a village to a metropolis. Out of nothing
it became a cultural centre that rivalled long-established
centres like Bombay and Calcutta. I think the credit
for this, to a large extent, must go to the Punjabi
Diaspora. They injected into the city the vividness
and joie-de-vivre they brought with them from Lahore.
There are many struggling artists
in India who remain undiscovered mainly due to a lack
of opportunity. Some cannot even afford to buy paints
or canvas. What do you think should be done to encourage
and develop Arts in this country?
In creative fields, as far as success is concerned,
there will always be a gap between the haves and the
have-nots. Instances of overnight successes in the creative
fields are rare and this is natural. It is the same
even in developed countries such as the United States
where there is an abundance of State patronage and even
more support from private foundations.
Recognition may not always come to the right
person, but in modern times this is becoming the exception
rather than the rule. Wrong persons may have much more
monetary success but instances of such artists winning
acceptance in circles that matter are growing fewer.
The complaint that some artists cannot afford to paint
has grown louder with the growing success of many artists
in recent times. It has made beginners envious. They
think that they too deserve a share of the cake without
going through the acid tests that provide substance
to maturity.
I give here the example of a British Master Painter
who, when questioned as to why he demanded so much money
for the work of a few hours, replied: "The amount is
not the price for a few hours work but for a life-long
experience".
Satish Gujral has indeed been through the acid
tests he speaks about. This is perhaps why he has little
patience with those who ask for more support and opportunity.
Be that as it may, there is little doubt that his success
has been richly earned. A full-length film is being
made on his life, based on his autobiography. In December
2000, the National Gallery of Modern Art will host a
Retrospective of his works to celebrate his 75th birthday.
He has excelled in every sphere of the Plastic Arts:
Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Graphics, Murals
and Object Design. For designing the Belgian Embassy
in New Delhi, Gujral was the only non-Belgian to be
honoured with the Order of the Crown. An International
Jury selected this building among the 1000 most outstanding
buildings built in the 20th century.
It is the ambition of most gifted people to build a
piece of architecture of their lives, an edifice that
will stand the test of time. Satish Gujral has succeeded
in doing this, both literally and metaphorically.
- Shanta Bhalla
|
9:31:09 PM 
