Review by Vinoo
Author : M F Husain
Roughly translates to M F Husain narrates his story.
Dada ki ungli pakde ek ladka,
maa de gayee naam Maqbool,
aur bane phirte hai M F Husain.
Fabulous sketches made with few seemingly casual strokes pepper this book that is like reading a hand-written autobiography. His stories tell us about him. The opening pages have a sketch of his family tree. ‘Mitti ka ghada bol utha’, ‘Maa’, ‘Dada ki achkan’, ‘Purani basti’, ‘Dada ki ungli pakde ek ladka’, ‘Primary school’, ‘Batool’, ‘Ramleela’, ‘Bicycle’, ‘Bandh mutthi das rupaih ki, khuli to dus lakh ki’ J are some of my favourites. Been a real long time since I read a book in Hindi. The fact that it is hand-written makes it much more readable than cold print.
Thanks to my brother for this rare copy. Anyone who wants to read it can hop over. Can’t risk lending.
I remember M F Husain from an interview where he says ‘Na aane ki khushi, na jaane ka gham’. Like the fakir, I’m not jubilant when money comes, nor dejected when it goes.
Maqbool Fida Husain passed away, in an alien country at the age of 96. The country is suddenly all ready to accept him. The same people who threw him out are all praise for him now. When M F Husain paints a nude it is vulgar but the same people can accept thousands of nude deities and even worship the human phallus. We just don’t deserve him. We will see the same drama when a Salman Rushdie is gone. Like Jatin Das said ‘this country has never respected poets, painters, musicians, dancers, artists. Only Politicians, Film stars and Cricketers are of concern to everybody’. Sadly, I have to agree. Jatin Das also did well to point an accusatory finger at the media saying there were over fifty media persons during the vandalizing act by radicals over the nude picture of Sita but not one of them had seen the painting. The media, sadly, hasn’t helped in placing the facts before the people.
Time to revisit ‘Meenaxi’ and ‘Through the eyes of a painter’. Should be possible to get ‘Gaja Gamini’ too. Who wouldn’t be ‘fida’ over Madhuri? I wouldn’t blame him.
Useless trivia : M F Husain’s words were actually hand-written by his friend, Rashda Siddiqui, for this book. It was collated from bits and pieces M F Husain wrote on tissues, old envelopes, bills etc. I think it adds to the book really and makes it a collector’s item.
On my last trip to India in Nov.2oo9.I purchased 15 copies of this fasinating book and presented them to all my family & friends,all over.Here I’d like to share these thoughts with Husain Sahebs children & grand children…
Beeing an artist is rewarding,satisfying,aggravating,irritational and frustating profession and sometimes an extreemly exhausting one.
Beeing constantly in the company of small,un-informed,ill-informed,non-receptive humans can have a deterimental effect on one’s mental health.
Dear Shafaat,Raisa,Shamshad,Mustafa,Aqueela,Owais..all of you are Artists in your right and have to deal with all kinds of people,in all kinds of places.
We wish you peace and good health May your great father M.F.Husain’s legacy continue to give you strength & commitment to carry on,especially in these days of turmoil & upheal.
With Art,when Art interwines,miracles happen.in Giving-i Receive.
Maribel & Shami Mendiratta
Spain.
With you on all your comments. For those who can’t own a ‘Husain’ painting, the book sure makes it possible.
India’s tallest contemporary artist,M.F.Husain was an unmatched forerunner of public art,A Peoples Artist with zeal and commitment..with lust for life till the very end.He never wore a wrist watch but his timing was always perfect.He knew exactly where to be and when.Mere Dil ki Dharkan,Meri Kahani,Apni Zubani,Murano glass horses from Venice,fleet of raceing cars,a beautiful muse,here,there,every where is a testimony of this proud Indian Artist who gave a new visual meaning to Ramayana and Mahabharta.
Think long,think hard,think again dear friends and foes.No body can,ever,take away the genious oof the Maestro Maqbool Fida Husain who carried the TIRANGA of Indian Contemporary Art,single handedly all over the globe.A one man Institution with perfect history,geography and chemistery.
Long live India..Long live Husain Saheb.
Husain saheb is well known for his first experimental film,Thru the Eyes of a Painter which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in i967. I had the privilege of seeing his four other short films aswell,where he handled the camera himself.
In Of Gods and Men,Painters Sketchbook,Mudra and Folk Dance,Husain eliminated the spoken word..only sound,the language of feeling establishing the repport with the viewers telling the unwritten story with his long fingers sketching with rural rhythms along with jazz music proveing the universality of soun
Vande Mataram
Shami Mendiratt
Spain.
Thanx Shami. Any chance one can source these movies?