And yet another obituary in the newspaper columns...
Except, this one flowed out of the boxes earmarked by
Prim and proper, politically-correct editors and
Oozed even to the front pages and editorials
Of so-called leading dailies and found guilt-ridden glory on
Breaking-news channels, and was discussed in prime-time talks...
M F Hussain died in London. He didn't want to, they say!
He became a Qatari - they say he bled when he did that.
Like all great men, he created ripples that grew into waves
So high that they engulfed the creator
And like Hemingway's old man he said,
"You can destroy me, but you can't defeat me."
It doesn't matter who was right, it doesn't matter now.
He may have been to some, this wily, scheming Mussalman
with scant respect for the goddesses of yore...
(And they didn't complain when possibly mleccha sculptors
Carved the nude curves on ageless stone and bronze temple images)
But, for me, the greatness to transcend the ordinary in artistic ways
To bring the land's work to the world's attention is
Worthy of fulsome praise, even if so often we cut open his life and work
And say "he could have" and "he should have"...
We know that
What Satyajit Ray did through his films
Maqbool Fida did in his paintings...
And like the former got the Bharat Ratna on death
We wait for government files to now move for him...
Hope he gets on death what we couldn't afford alive...
He has CONDEMNED us to the fate of the knowledge
That we won't (not cannot) change!
2 comments:
artistic or not- nudity gets attention.. so where lies the greatness... in packaging it as artistic? too bad his strokes weren't bold, creative or original enough to reveal the unseen faces of his creed which no sculptor or artist has to date created. he was content imitating the artists of yore.
probably his greatness lies in his ability to paint a sympathetic picture of himself to the world. and the world mourns crooning maqbool pe fida...
I have seen THE man from close quarters, interacted with him as learner, got him appreciate my works....not with gratitude but with all humility let me share with his reactions to one of my paintings where in I painted MF nude alongside the curvey strokes of Madhuri....in the thick of Ramzaan fasting he said, 'I like your originality of thoughts keep the brush live'... I am afraid if I too obsessed with Fidaism but if onle he had atleast one raw sketch of either Mouhammed or Jesus, these same critics of paranoia would appreciate fida..with all humility...
Deep flow of your thoughts found my memoires rolling back with the appropriate timing more particularly the words of Hemingway 'You can destroy me, but you cant defeat me'.
After Gauri's parting away I almost stopped painting..its been a long hybernation now I determined to make a come back...your words would made an impact...hmmm gud one lolz!
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