The portrait of an artist in exile

Maqbool Fida Husain was a legendary name I had grown up with in India. But it was a sad quirk of fate that brought me in contact with him in Dubai, when he came there on a self-imposed exile in 2006. Of all the places in the world, Dubai, dismissed as a consumerist haven and a cultural wasteland became his home.

With his irrepressible energy and imagination, in early 2007, he held an exhibition and sale called Imprints of India — limited edition graphics of his works — at 1X1 Art Gallery. I met then him there, in what was to be the first in a series of interviews for Khaleej Times. He arrived on the dot. It was amazing how his mind and body had kept pace with each other. “For me, my art is a form of meditation. It’s my prayer,” he said.

It is a known fact that journalists and celebrities try to cultivate each other. But the faith he had in me went beyond that. An artist is a public figure. His works are for others to see. But creating them is an intensely private endeavour. So, I felt truly honoured when he let me watch him paint. Three women on the canvas — Mohini, Padmini and Shankhini — were caught in a dynamic pose. “They depict the quintessence of womanhood, as portrayed by the sage Vatsayan,” Husain explained. He bent down and dipped his brush in paint jars and made deft strokes on the 10x10 canvas. He was in his 90s, but he sought no one’s assistance. He had no secretary or aides to take care of his affairs.

When he began his series of 99 paintings on the History of Arab Civilisation for the Royal family of Qatar, and the set of paintings called The History of Indian Civilisation for a UK-based business house in London, Husain straddled three countries. But India was where he yearned to go back to.

“I have travelled and worked around the world for the last 60 years. So I don’t feel I’m an exile. I belong to the world.” He often said. But behind all the bravado was a soul longing for his roots.
On March 15, 2008, 18 artists flew to Dubai from India to honour Husain at a felicitation ceremony at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

The list of artists included Amitava Das, Ram Kumar and Surendra Pal Joshi. Sponsored by the Bhoruka Charitable Trust, the event featured seminars on art. If Husain can’t come to India, India could go to Husain - that was the underlying idea behind the endeavour. Husain was ecstatic. One of the things he misses in Dubai (and in Qatar) was interacting with fellow Indian artists.

A surprise had been planned for Husain: a joint “live” painting by all 18 artists — apparently for the first time in the world — that would be presented to him. Sadly, the event had to be cancelled following veiled threats. The artists quietly flew back. Not only was Husain not honoured, but also, a unique work of art was prevented from being created. History in the making was thwarted.
It was then that I became acutely aware of the poignancy of his exile. Husain had paid a heavy price for testing the limits of artistic freedom, in what he believed was a liberal democratic India.

It was a heart-broken Husain who accepted the citizenship of Qatar when it was offered to him. “I’ve suffered two profoundly deep wounds in my life — losing my mother when I was a year-and-a-half and losing my motherland at 95,” he said when I spoke to him then. Now that he is no more, his bare feet will never walk the streets of his beloved Mumbai, he so much longed to return to.