Outside a market in a south Delhi locality is a signboard announcing the services of a handyman. “Car panter”, it reads, leaving us guessing whether he carries a hammer and saw or a spray painting kit.
M F Husain and his painted Fiat.
I was perhaps 5 when I first met M F Husain, well before he had become hugely famous, though by then he was a local celebrity in Delhi. It was at the house of our dear family friend, the well-known architect Mansinh M Rana. Husain was a close friend of the Rana’s, and was often at their house. He was a gaunt bearded man with a big smile, shabbily attired and without footwear. He used to come in his Fiat Millecento, which was painted in his imitable style, different colours on each side. We children were welcome to tumble in and out of the car.
Mansinh Rana in his living room.
Mansinh Rana had an endearing trait of befriending everyone — from the famous and powerful to the young. I was his special friend. On his birthday (September 1), we would always be at his house. It was perhaps 1967 or 1968 that on his birthday Husain gave him a wonderful canvas. Innocent that I was, I too pulled out a watercolour of a windmill I had made for my dear Rana mama (on the card sheet that comes in the packaging of shirts), with a “I too have made a painting for you”. Everyone had a hearty laugh, and Husain, with a twinkle in his eye, ruffled my hair calling me "the little painter”.
No comments:
Post a Comment