On artist’s 96th birth anniversary, his daughter shares important life lessons and memories
Satish Gujral (25 December 1925 – 26 March 2020) is known to the world as an acclaimed muralist, sculptor and architect, but for me, he was a truly expressive father. He would hug and kiss his children, his smile telling us that we were his universe. He was also a quintessential storyteller and never tire of telling stories of life in Mexico (where he trained with the radical Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera), the beauty of the Jhelum River, the camaraderie at his art college in Mumbai.
My earliest memory is of him driving his Fiat, with me on his lap. We were visiting my mother’s pottery factory in Okhla where she was working on her famous mural painting for Baroda House. Once there, I would be left alone to play with clay, to be turned around on a potter’s wheel. We were staying at that time in an exclusive Lutyens’ Delhi bungalow in Tilak Marg, which was allotted to him by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in honor of his art. it was a special official The house and my father had converted the garage into his studio. Palettes, rows of easels and several tables decorated with murals fill the space. There was also this drum of oil, which became my throne every afternoon. Immediately after school, I parked myself next to him and went home to see his work. The point was that I had to keep quiet, so we spoke with our silence. Mohit and Alpana, my elder siblings, were both in boarding school and I grew up almost like an only child, my father’s constant companion.
Our house was a melting pot. Where culturally knowledgeable people of all creative nature will meet. From dancer Indrani and her architect husband Habib Rahman to cultural activist Pupul Jayakar. Modernist Krishna Khanna will be indoors and out. The art scene was less pocket-friendly and far less competitive. Ideas flowed freely, as did Rai. Their contemporaries, who would later be called Bombay Boys, MF Hussain, GR Santosh and SH Raza, would share their journey with each other. My parents hosted gala parties and were like lighthouses for independent thinkers. His home in Pakistan is always full of freedom fighters, poets, writers and activists. Father’s eyes moistened when he remembered how as a child he had swam across the width of the fast flowing river Jhelum. How his elder brother and former PM of India IK Gujral joined his father in the freedom movement. He often spoke of his closeness with the painter Frida Kahlo, who became his best friend in Mexico.
finding nancy
My biggest art acquisition from his work is also an accidental one. It’s called Nancy and it’s a very muscular, candid portrait of his American girlfriend in Mexico who was, in fact, a stunning blonde with blue eyes. I discovered it while sorting out the storehouse within the studio and was so charmed that I asked my mom to hang it in my bedroom. It was the first interior space I ever designed.
It was a very simple world where artists were really absorbed in their art and not in the fruits of their success. I learned from him not to let success limit my creative flow, which motivates me to ‘work’ again and again. Instead, he told us to search, let the mind roam free, disrupt, discover, and tinker with success. He had an indirect way of influencing all of us through example.
art as religion
My father was the pivot around which our world revolved. His work spanned many disciplines, and when he turned to architecture, all of his architectural models would stand out on our dining tables. While the world was amazed at his projects like the Belgian Embassy or the UNESCO building, I came to know of his mastery only recently when I visited the Ambedkar Bhavan in Lucknow, which is now a little less than the ghetto style of government. There was so much going on in our house, so many mediums—wood, metal, canvas, burnt wood—were being explored. The only religion practiced was art and the only way of thinking was creative.
My parents were one unit and my mother, her bridge to the world. They did everything together and shared this extremely close and volatile relationship. Right till the end. She will interpret for him at each meeting. As we know, he lost his hearing in childhood and was not a part of the world before the ASL split. So his family developed their own means of communicating with him, a terminology that my mother further elaborated on. I call it my mother tongue!
(Sculptures of Satish Gujral with burnt wood will be displayed in honor of the maestro at the India Art Fair 2022. The family is planning a large retrospective at Bikaner House later this year)
Rasel Gujral Ansal is an interior designer and art connoisseur.
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