Straying thoughts

Maqbool Fida Hussain is perhaps immune to all criticism.  

Much of his doing that made news ever read as just news; it more often than not was shocking, a vibe bordering on controversy. When he painted Madhuri Dikshit, the star actor, it made more news than all her famed movies! And when Hussain painted Goddess Saraswati in the nude it made a row. Not that it was the first instance of a  god or a goddess being painted in the nude, The Greeks have done it, the Hindus, the Buddhists but when Hussain Saheb did it in 1970, it became the cause of a heated political debate. Several cases were filed by people who felt 'insulted' or felt that their religious sentiments were hurt, more than three gauntlets floated to kill  him... the most famous artist of the most populous democracy had to flee!

Quite some years were spent in exile. At an age when you have done it all, it is rather unfortunate.

I have made peace with the discomfort of the whole guilt thing I feel by virtue of my collective self that must stand to take a bit of the blame, for I am a part of the world which thinks all those myriad thoughts, some of which are at the cause of so much pain to others. (It is not only the good thoughts which are a part of my collective consciousness, but also the bad, the ugly, the judgemental. That I can separate myself and make a choice is another thing, - it is the power of being individual self- but I am not just an individual but collective too.)

The debate may go on; his  pursuers may not rest until they hunt him down, if they could, before he dies, but Hussain has no time left to deal with that. He has projects which are important to him. They are historical in nature and epic in proportion: they may need all the time he has left here. The pragmatist in Hussain has made an unsentimental choice. He accepted the citizenship offered to him by Quatar. He has not volunteered, that is certain, but even if he had 'volunteered' I would respect his choice, for his art has done more good to India's national prestige than all the coloured political agenda which pretend to safeguard the image of our Gods!