I had read this week in a magazine about two opposite personalities and i wanted to share it with you.Here before i progress i want to acknowledge that i'm really novice to politics and general affairs and all that i share are all the limited knowledge i have and i would appreciate ur comments.
There has been a lot of news made after the death of Hussain.Almost 2 to 3 pages were devoted in The Hindu to M.F.Hussain.I'm too illiterate to appreciate about art,but what i don't agree to is in media it is made as if in India we didn't give him a life he deserved and that he didn't deserve to spend his last few years in exile.I would like to share first a few of his paintings that had been subject to controversies.
The one thing to be observed here is that his obscene art was only limited to hindu gods and he refused even to offer an apology for hurting the feelings of Hindus and claims it to be his freedom of expression.
M.F.Hussain's Hypocrisy
 Goddess Durga in sexual union with a Tiger |  Muslims ladies fully clothed |
 Goddess Lakshmi naked on Sree Ganesh's head |  M.F. Husain's mother fully clothed |
 Naked Saraswati |  Mother Teresa fully clothed |
 Naked Sree Parvati |  Husain's daughter well clothed |
 Naked Draupadi. |  Well clothed Muslim Lady. |
 Naked Lord Hanuman and Goddess Sita sitting on the thigh of Ravana |  Muslim poets Faiz are Galib are shown well-clothed |
 Fully clad Muslim King and a naked Hindu Brahmin. The above painting clearly indicates Husain's tendency to paint a Hindu in the nude and thus openly expose his hatred for Hindus. |  Naked Bharatmata - Husain has shown a naked woman with names of states written on different parts of her body. He has used the Ashok Chakra of the Tri-colour in the painting. By doing this he has violated the law & hurt the National Pride of Indians. Both these things should be of grave concern to every Indian irrespective of his religion. |
Out of the four leaders, M. Gandhi is decapitated and Hitler is naked. Husain hates Hitler and has said in an interview 8 years ago that he depicted Hitler naked so as to humiliate him as he deserves it ! How come Hitler's nudity caused humiliation when in Husain's own statement nudity in art depicts purity and is in fact an honour ! This shows Husain's hypocrisy and perversion. | |
The other personality that i want to talk about is Bismillah Khan.He was awarded the Bharath Ratna,the highest Indian civilian award.Though a pious Shitte Muslim, he was also, like many Indian musicians, regardless of religion, a devotee of Saraswathi, the Hindu Goddess of wisdom and arts, and often played at Hindu temples, including the famous Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, on the banks of the river Ganges.He used his music to reach to God.Bismillah lived to soothe souls of many generations and is what i would consider pure art.
Also unlike Hussain's gimmicks of a rich lifestyle but not wearing shoes cannot stand in front of the simple and ordinary life of Bismillah khan.
Also i wanted to share this piece of an an interview published in INDIA TODAY, July 15, 1986, pp. 122-131
"Uncle used to do his riyaz (practice) at the temple of Balaji (an avtaar of Vishnu) for 18 years. He told me to do the same thing. I would begin my riyaz at the mandir at 7 pm and end at 11 pm during which time I usually played four ragas. After a year and half, Mamu told me, 'if you see anything just don't talk about it'. One night as I was playing, deep in meditation, I smelled something. It was an indescribable scent, something like sandalwood and jasmine and incense. I thought it was aroma of Ganges. But the scent got more powerful. I opened my eyes - and when I speak about it I still get goose flesh - when I opened my eyes, there was Balaji standing right next to me, kamandal in hand, exactly as he is pictured. My door was locked from inside. Nobody was allowed to enter when I did my riyaz. He said 'play, son'. But I was in cold sweat. I stopped playing."
"He smiled, and disappeared. I unlocked the door. I thought a faqir may have come in. I took a lantern and searched all streets. They were empty. I ran home, ate quickly and slept. Mamu had understood what had happened. But he teased me, pretending he knew nothing, But as I blurted out the experience, Mamu slapped me, because he had asked me earlier not to talk about anything that might happen to me. Then he kissed me and asked me to go and buy vegetables. Mamu always told me 'never look back, keep going forward'. Even now I go to Balaji's mandir alone, at night and play all by myself. When I play before others, in my heart I'm listening to my gurus. In my heart, they clap for me at the appropriate time."
"In music, the sur is a clean thing, it is a pure thing. It cannot be deceived and it cannot deceive anybody. It is like a mirror in which you see the world, in which I see my own face when I play. When I start playing, the mind wanders here and there and takes me with it. But all the time I am striving for the assar. But when that comes, when the sur clicks, it is like I am unconscious and the heart has taken over. Sometimes I don't understand who is playing. Or I feel that I am playing at the mazaar, or in front of ancient sages. And all I can think of is 'he mere maalik tu mujhe lele (God, take me away), tu hi nirankaar, tu hee phool aur phal mein (God, You alone are formless, You alone in flower or fruit).'"
"I am getting old now. Not in my heart. But in my body. The heart yearns to go on and on but this body sometimes tires and these wretched knees start aching after four hours of playing. And I now have that all-too-human worry. Thirty years ago, I used to think I had conquered or was about to conquer the world. What foolishness! Now I say, Bismillah, you haven't reached anywhere. The world may know and listen to your ragas, but Bismillah, life will soon finish and your yearnings will still remain. This music is still an ocean. I want to cross it. But I have barely reached the shore. I haven't yet even taken a dip in it."
What a difference in their personalities!!
