Remembering Satish Gujral, the artist, the gentleman who never gave up

As the news of the demise of our celebrated artist Satish Gujral came in nostalgia tightened its hold. I had been meeting Satish and his wife, Kiran, for the last so many years. The first time in the early 80s when I had visited his home in New Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar. I had never seen a more beautifully done- up home. In fact, that was the time I had to interview him for a magazine and was so distracted with the entire scenario —the picture-perfect home, his beautiful wife and his warmth. He had a tremendous personality. This, when he was stone deaf. And its only through his wife Kiran that one could actually communicate with him. But once he would start talking, his bright sharp eyes would take over, relaying a whole array of emotions and expressions. And that would establish a connect with him.

He came across as emotional, warm and forthright. If one were to read his autobiography A Brush With Life, it becomes clear that he didn’t shy away from mentioning the details of the struggles and the challenges he faced. There was no bypassing of any of the personal upheavals and the differences that erupted between him and several important personalities such as — Indira Gandhi and MF Husain.

Even during the interviews with me, he would speak in that whole- hearted way, commenting on a whole range of aspects of his life and his passion — art and architecture… I would rather call those interviews as informal and relaxed conversations with him.

I recall asking him how he coped with the low depressing phases in his life, not to overlook the fact that he was grievously wounded as a child, whilst swimming in the Lidder ( that river that runs through Pahalgam in Kashmir) and that resulted in high fever and infections and the loss of hearing .

“Yes, there were tough phases, especially in view of the fact that in our country a physical problem or a visible handicap is sneered at and nobody spares you. Why just take my case alone—hasn’t Surdas always been referred to as a blind poet or Taimur mentioned as a lame? There are also sayings like andhe ko andha kaho aur phir uska gussa saho (call a blind a blind and then see him get all angry). It’s always the weak people who sneer at weaker people. Yes, I was sneered at and that left me hurt and bruised. At times I was so hurt that I couldn’t even sleep at night…After we shifted from Jhelum to Lahore, I was called Bola ( deaf ) by kids in the new school. For a while I didn’t even realise that I was called Bola. One day I was seeing the attendance register and I saw the word Bola. I asked another boy who was this boy named Bola. He told me that since I was deaf, I was called so. This remark came as such a shock. But, that was not just one incident.

“Wherever my father took me for admission to a school or college, there was some hurdle but my father never took ‘no ‘for an answer. Even in the arts college in Lahore and later the JJ School of Arts in Mumbai, my hearing problem came in the way at the admission time….In Lahore my father had met the then chief minister Sir Sikander Hayat, who made sure that I at least attended the arts classes on an informal basis. Later, in 1948, I got a job in the Department of Public Relations of the Punjab Government as a graphic artist, but I was kicked off after a while because I was told I was deaf… I was bitter and realised that the only way to survive was through self-employment. I went to my father’s home in Jalandhar, where the family had settled down, and took to painting.”

And with everyday struggles and challenges, came along financial lows and only few carry the grit to carry on. Satish had told me about the several instances when he didn’t even have a rupee on him. “Of course, there have been periods of stress and financially very tight times but I feel that stress actually provokes creativity. Also, the fact that when I was actually going through those tough times I didn’t really feel they were difficult. At times I didn’t even have a single rupee. Once I didn’t have money to even reach home from the railway station and my brother Inder had to come and fetch me...But what kept me going was the belief that never ever give up …I have always worked, no matter what happened. May be changed the medium—like from painting to drawing architectural designs but never ever gave up! …I do not like the word despair. I’d say instead there could be an overwhelming doubt in my being but, then, my life has been a continuous process to eliminate the very stillness and to build confidence…this is what I have been portraying right from what I’d witnessed during the Partition.”

Yes, he didn’t ever give up. And that turning point did come in his life —his going to Mexico for studies on a scholarship. “Yes, call it a turning point, although I had zero chances…even my knowledge of English was minimum but nevertheless I did go for the interview. Someone had advised me that whilst answering questions I should look straight at the Mexican cultural attaché who was said to be part of the selection panel. But how was I to spot him among the Indians who had a similar complexion. I was told that Mexicans had Mongoloid features. So holding one canvas each, my brother Inder and I walked to the appointed room and once the interview proceeded, I kept looking straight towards one particular gentleman who had those slanted eyes and high cheekbones. I was sure that he was the attaché. Later, I was told that that diplomat hadn’t turned up at all and the man I was gazing at was the Joint Secretary, Education, MG Saiyadain…Totally disappointed, I left for Jalandhar the same night, sure that nothing would come by for my case was hopeless. But, then came another turn of events. An architect friend Ted Bower had been in love with an Indian writer, Shantha Rama Rau, and though she lived in the US, she had come down to Delhi and knew that particular Mexican diplomat who turned out to be none other than Octavio Paz. He recommended my name for that scholarship.”

Perhaps, another of those turning points was his marriage to Kiran. I have always seen them happily together! In fact , he had told me that the three times they were away from each other for few days was when she was admitted in the maternity home to deliver their three kids! He’d added that for a marriage to survive along the happy format, the couple should have a common interest or focus in life. “Both of us have the same interests…normally, in most marriages, after a while the couple have nothing in common to talk about. Kiran is not just a trained artist (gave up her career for my sake, to help me) but also my best critic. So we always have something to discuss and argue over.”

And yes, he was prudent enough to keep away from his women friends, “After my marriage with Kiran, I didn’t let any friendship develop into an affair. Yes, I was tempted but what actually prevented me from furthering any friendship is the fact that I am no fool to lose Kiran.”

And though his elder brother IK Gujral was in the thick of politics, Satish had no political ambitions, though he did hasten to add, “Yes, my brother IK Gujral is in politics but he is secular and honest.”

And on the fact that Satish was drawn to the Left ideology he explained–“Today I call myself a Leftist but not a communist. Why? Because in those early days when I was drawn to the communist party and later travelled on scholarship to Mexico and then to New York and intermingled with several communists, I was left disillusioned. In Mexico, I met many Russian artists who told me what had been happening in Russia and it opened my eyes. Today I call myself a Leftist and not a communist.”

And when I had nudged him to comment on the political scene in the country he sounded very disillusioned with the political parties and with the general prevailing scenario in the country."What’s happening around shows a lack of tolerance in the society. Economic development does not mean it will translate into spiritual development… economic development could also produce greater intolerance. After all, the US is the richest country, but see what they are doing in America and Afghanistan or to their own coloured people. Economic growth does not mean tolerance... I think the only solution to combat this intolerance is not economic growth but education. It is only through education that you know about different people and there’s less of ignorance about the other. It is actually ignorance about the other that creates misunderstandings."

He would speak in great detail about the Partition and with that about his birth place in Pakistan. Whilst commenting on the Partition there wasn’t any trace of bitterness nor anger. Only sadness and a whole range of connected emotions, “I’d stayed back with my father in Pakistan (after the Partition) for some months and what disasters I saw. Usually it would take just about three hours to reach Jhelum from Lahore but those days it would take 10 hours or even longer because of the killings going on and here let me also say that it’s the outsiders who came and killed and not the locals. our own family in Jhelum was protected from the Afghan raiders by Raja Ghazanfar Ali".

Satish didn’t mince words that he was emotionally connected to Pakistan. In fact, when he travelled to Lahore in 1986 — the very first time after the Partition — he was so emotionally surcharged that he suffered a heart attack and had to be admitted to a hospital for a week. Thereafter he travelled just once more to Lahore, with the former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said he has an emotional link with Lahore…he has several close friends there. Recounting a touching incident, Gujral said, "When I suffered that heart attack in a hotel in Lahore, Kiran didn’t know what to do, where to take me. She called up one of our lawyer friends Etajaz Hussain and told him about my condition. He was appearing in the court, arguing a case but in the middle of an argument he apologised to the judge and rushed to take me to the hospital. Tell me who will do that."

He was hopeful that the strained relations with Pakistan could ease at some stage. Why that lingering hope? "What makes me hopeful is that there’s a growing feeling in Pakistan’s younger generation that there should be no baggage of the past and both countries could benefit on the economic front by joint collaboration. The fact that there’s great disillusionment in Pakistan vis-a -vis the army, it is surprising how warmly the people of the two countries meet, especially when they are meeting abroad. Because they share the same heritage, the same roots."

Yet, it was surprising that he had not taken any of his solo shows to Pakistan! Why? To that he’d simply smiled in that boyish childlike way and then said with an abundance of emotions writ large on his face, that he would be happy, very happy doing so in the near future.

But that moment never came.

He’s gone …we have lost a great artist and also a great human being.