People's Democracy

M F Husain In Exile Celebrated

Shabana Azmi joins Abbas and his hoarding painters in making a hoarding of Husains drawings at the Sahmat Husain 92 celebration.

HUNDREDS of people, young and not so young, including artists, writers, musicians, dancers, film makers and actors were joined by students, cultural activists, professors, lawyers, journalists and others on the lawns of Vithal Bhai Patel House on October 2. They had come together at the call of Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust, to stand as one as a expression of solidarity with M F Husain, the most well known and popular Indian artist, who is compelled to live in exile because the law and order machinery of the largest democracy in the world is not prepared to guarantee his security.

The occasion was the celebration of Husain's 92nd birthday. Though Husain reached this landmark on September 17, Sahmat had decided to celebrate it on Mahatma Gandhi's birthday. The decision to hold the celebration on 2nd October was not mere tokenism; there is a deep connection between those that silenced Gandhi and those of their progeny that have forced M F Husain into exile in his old age.

The celebration included the painting of a huge hoarding of Husain's works spanning more than 5 decades of his creative efforts. The hoarding painted by well known sign board painter Abbas and his colleagues together with many Indian and foreign artists, recalled the days when Husain earned his living as a painter of cinema hoardings. The celebration included all the things that Husain loves - fire works, there was a chaat wallah serving dahi bhalla, chaat and gol gappas and there was kulfi from the walled city. Husain drinks countless cups of dhaba chai every day and so there was a tea stall as well. Amidst all this there was a brass band lustily belting some of Husain's favourite tunes from Hindustani films of the 50's and 60's.

The celebrations began at around 5.30 and slowly picked up as the early autumn evening gave way to a pleasant night. The visitors moved around an exhibition of several photographs, taken more than a decade ago by well known designer and photographer Parthiv Shah, with Husain working, having tea in Nizam-ud-Din or admiring the architecture of Humayun's Tomb. One part of the lawn had been turned into an open air auditorium with two large video screens, one of the screens was used to show excerpts from Husain's cinematic works, Gajagamini and Meenaxi - his full length films - and his world famous short film 'Through the Eyes of a Painter', while the other screen was used to project Husain participating in the celebration from far away London.

Husain became a part of the celebration through the use of a web camera and a broadband internet connection. The celebration came alive the moment internet connectivity was established through Vivan Sundaram's laptop computer. Every one could see Husain as he sat in a room thousands of miles away, everyone could talk to him and he was able to be a part of the celebrations. Every one who knew Husain and many of those who knew him through his works lined up to wish him a long life and to ask him to come back to be in the country that he loves so dearly, to be among the common people whose lives, rituals, faith and practices have been his inspiration through out his career - starting from the days when he became a part of 'The Progressive Group' to the present. Everyone present wanted Husain to return and to each one he said I'll be back, I will return very soon.

Those who had gathered to celebrate Husain at 92 had also come together to defend freedom of expression and the freedom to create freely. They had also gathered to protest against the trumped up charges levelled against Husain. This gathering was also an expression of the anger of the creative community against the government and the State that goes ahead with the cases but refuses to punish those who are asking for Husain's hands to be chopped and his eyes to be gouged out.

Photographer and designer Ram Rahman conducted the proceedings. Among those who joined the birthday celebration and solidarity meeting and many of whom were able to talk to Husain included painters Ram Kumar, Arpana Kaur, film personalities Shabana Azmi, writers Vishnu Nagar, Ibbar Rabbi, Jansatta daily editor Om Thanvi, dancer Aditi Mangaldas and art critics Geeta Kapur and Vikram Singh.

A special commemorative cup and T-shirt were also released on the occasion. (Sohail Hashmi)