Hingorani, the man who sketched Gandhi

MUMBAI: H G Hingorani, a noted Gandhian and retired prinicipal has made a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi using his choicest proverbs in 15 Indian languages to mark Gandhi Jayanti celebrations on October 2.
       
The 83-year-old former principal from Government of India's Extension Institute, Hyderabad used to teach fine arts to students from India and developing countries.
       
Hingorani has drawn the caricature by using Gandhi's selective proverbs like --'To me the greatest artist is surely who lives the finest life','He who does not know himself is lost' and 'There is victory in death' amongst many others.
       
Recalling his younger days, Hingorani said, "I had sketched a 'live' picture of the Mahatma lying in a pool of blood after he was shot dead on January 30, 1948."
       
With not much security and policing, Hingorani found his way to the room where Gandhiji was laid on ground, half wrapped in white sheet, blood still fresh on his chest, sheet and floor.
       
"As a young 21-year-old lad, I was staying with my parents in a refugee camp in Delhi. On hearing Mahatma Gandhi's assasination, I rushed at Birla House with my painting kits. I composed myself with my emotions and captured Mahatma lying in a pool of blood on a paper," he said.
       
"As the news spread like wildfire there was complete chaos in Birla House and in Delhi, with people crying and yelling," he recalled.
       
"By the time I finished three-fourth of the artwork, I was physically pushed out of the room. Luckily, I managed to save the sketch but lost all my art materials," he said.
       
"On the lawns of Birla House the security guards grilled me for hours, as I was a refugee from Sind in Pakistan, but was later released and managed to complete the paintings late night at the refugee camp," he said.