Benares in his blood

Celebrated artist Manu Parekh tells us why the holy city will always remain his muse and how he is looking at the lockdown differently.

The world has been in lockdown and I have been busy at home — painting,” says the celebrated senior artist Manu Parekh from his home in New Delhi. The only time he needed to step out was to visit the dentist “for a treatment that couldn’t be avoided.” While for most people, WFH (work from home) has been a novel experience, for Parekh, “it’s nothing new” as his sprawling studio lies in the basement of his house itself.

Home-bound he may have been, but the 81-year-old artist has been “extremely disturbed” by the news of migrants who, for want of any form of transportation, have had to walk for hundreds of miles to reach their homes in places as far as Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand. The experience and sufferings of these people, he says, “will always remain like a dark cloud over our heads.”

While being pained by the sufferings of these migrants, Parekh looks at the other end of the spectrum as well — at how the lockdown has unleashed an ‘amazing phenomena’ — and cleansed the earth. “Now that it has shown the way, we need to keep our carbon footprint in check and act more responsibly,” says the artist famous for immortalising the holy city of Benaras in his paintings.

Learning experience

Going back in time, he remembers the days when he was working with the Weavers’ Service Centre under the legendary Pupul Jaykar. “That was a great learning experience when I was exposed to the rich textile weaves of Bihar and Orissa.” And then, after a 10-year stint in Calcutta in 1975, he got posted to Delhi. For one who had also dabbled in theatre till he gave it up consciously to pursue art, the City of Joy had been a virtual haven. “At that time, stalwarts like Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Utpal Dutt were taking the city to great heights. It was great to be there,” he recalls. “I also became part of the Society of Contemporary Artists that had people like Bikash Bhattacharya, Ganesh Pyne and Shyamal Dutta Ray as its members.”

Unable to adjust emotionally and relate to his new city, Parekh says, “I was looking for a replacement for Calcutta and happened to visit Benaras after the death of my father.” And the rest, as they say, is history.

“The city that has even inspired the likes of greats such as M F Husain and Ramkumar had me completely floored as well,” Parekh smiles, recalling the “dramatic experience” of the evening he took a boat trip, his first, down the Ganga. “What I saw before me was sheer magic — lights reflecting on the flowing river waters, sounds of bells coming from temples proudly silhouetted against the dark red and orange sky, people praying on the banks… I sure was mesmerised — for life,” he smiles.

Soul of a city

And that’s when Parekh felt he would be able to “create something different with the quintessential Indian landscapes” that Benaras unveiled before him at every turn.

Needless to say, the ancient city has since continued to be one of the most oft-visited destinations on his itinerary. Walking around its narrow alleys always throws up new experiences and anubhav (feelings). “But you’ll never find me sitting in a quiet corner with a sketch-book or paints and easel. I make notes in my mind, or at best, take snaps with my camera or my phone,” he informs.

But, before Benaras became his muse, it was abstracts and organic forms that figured on Parekh’s canvas. This was while he was also working with The All India Handloom Board that he joined soon after graduating from the J J School of Art in Bombay.

A look at some of his recent work, including the paintings from his last show, also reveal his fascination with flowers “that have such a huge presence in Benaras — being so inextricably linked with all human beings and their faith.”

Naturally then, as he says, flowers find an important place — “not poetically but dramatically,” in his work. “You ask me for their names and I wouldn’t know. But for me, they are very powerful symbols; they denote not just beauty and innocence, but also sexuality and spirituality.”

He likens the journey of a flower to a man’s life. “Each flower comes with its own fate — to either be placed on a god’s altar, be on a bridegroom’s sehra or be part of a person’s last journey from this earth.” Flowers, Parekh feels, have a lesson for all of us — for, “like them, we too don’t know what life has in store for us.”

“Likewise, did we ever imagine that a tiny virus would make us feel so helpless and remain confined to our homes for so many months?” says the artist and wonders when he would next visit his beloved Kashi and partake of its powerful spirit, colours and beauty. “But till then, we must let Mother Nature work her magic and make the city, nay the world, more dramatic, energetic and beautiful than what it was.”