Satish Gujral is a living legend, who continues to experiment, create and mesmerize viewers. Painter, sculptor, muralist, architect and graphic artist-all rolled in one.
His hearing was affected due to an accident at the age of eight. To withstand and overcome the pain, he spent hours reading poetry by Iqbal and Faiz Ahmed Faiz that became an integral part of his art and life. During this period, the artist came close to his brother (Mr I.K. Gujral) whom he had described ‘a part of my being’. Forced to endure a haunting silence for 65 long years, he had an (cochlear) implant to retrieve his hearing power.
Recounting the painful process, he had stated: "Silence can work both ways. It will make you doubt the depths. On the other hand, it will make you listen to yourself.” A medical expert he visited in Sydney for the implant was not convinced about the patient’s stamina and readiness to take it at this age, and cautioned him about facing a cacophonous world he wasn’t accustomed and used to, but he still wanted to have it!. Once the hearing came back, the artist was excited. For a brief while, he relished the experience. Soon he almost felt miserable…
Satish Gujral was immersed in a world of his for too long, searching alone for life around like a blind man that suddenly got disturbed. As he once explained only the way he could, “Every face, a blind man has an idea; he might think of an ugly woman as beautiful. Then if you bring him his sight back, it will uproot him from where he has lived.” Something similar happened to him, when his hearing came back so he finally decided to remove the implants. However, he did not regret the experience. It gave him no new vision for what he had lost. He realized it (the silence) was a true gift and not a handicap or a curse as he earlier had thought.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment