December 25 each year is very special for Delhi-based, internationally renowned artist Satish Gujral. Not just because it is Christmas but also because it is his birthday. And this December, he will complete 94 years of a life that has been a wonderful journey through a world of art and exciting ideas that have made the man that he is. I first came across Gujral in person when he was exhibiting a unique collection of his paintings at the Lalit Kala Akademi in Delhi where he had on display paintings depicting horses and bulls shown through riding gear. It certainly carried a lot of symbolism behind it and I was led by curiosity to ask him what they signified. In response, he said, “The animal is a symbol of energy, whereas the riding gear, the way it is let loose, is about the energy in motion, something I need since I have been trapped into stillness.”
The reference to stillness is to the fact that he has had a hearing problem and silence was his constant companion for most of his life. Gujral was born in Jhelum in undivided Punjab in British India. When he was crossing a rickety bridge in Kashmir, he slipped and fell into the rapids, which later resulted in impairment of hearing, which he regained after surgery in 1998, 62 years later. But because of his hearing problem, many schools refused admission. One day he saw a bird sitting on a tree branch and drew a picture of it. It was an early indication of his interest in painting and later in 1939, he joined Mayo School of Arts in Lahore to study applied arts. He moved to Bombay in 1944 and enrolled in the Sir J J School of Art. In 1947, due to a recurring sickness, he was forced to drop out of school and leave Bombay.
This story is from the November 2019 edition of Dignity Dialogue.
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This story is from the November 2019 edition of Dignity Dialogue.
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