English Literature – Poetry ☆ ‘Maqbool Fida Hussain’ – within quotes! ☆ Hemant Bawankar ☆

Hemant Bawankar

(This poem has been cited from my book “The Variegated Life of Emotional Hearts”.)

☆ ‘Maqbool Fida Hussain’ – within quotes! ☆ Hemant Bawankar ☆

(Birth – 17 September 1915 (Pandharpur) – Death 9 June 2011 (aged 95) (London, England))

Maqbool Fida Hussain

Master of all arts

an immortal legend

an eminent artist

an eminent Indian

beyond the definition of

so-called “citizen”.

One can’t bind

an artist

or

an author

within boundaries of the nations

who fought

are fighting

with a mission

for

‘freedom of expression’.

He/She may be

Joseph Brodsky;

Tasleema Nasreen

or Maqbool Fida Hussain

living

or

lived in exile

with a painful smile.

Not only his arts

but

his sayings too

enthral me

strongly

and

deeply invokes

and that

I would like

to keep within quotes.

He says –

“I am in ecstasy

for the last forty years

creating films

writing few words

 here and there

creating the vision.”

“I have expressed

only ten percent

and

ninety percent is

still inside.

I have to take that

with me

to my grave.”

“It’s God’s gift!

Pardon my insolence

but,

I observe the world

with a child’s eyes.

To me

each day

the world unfolds

like a magic box

full of surprises

resplendent

with colour’s exercises.”

“Nudity

in Hindu culture

is a metaphor for purity.

Would I insult that

which

I feel so close to?”

“Citizenship and passport

are simply a matter

 a piece of paper.”

“Remaining as an Indian

would be

my birthright.”

“I crave to come back.

How can anyone

forget

the mother’s lap

that nurtured him?”

“Death!

has never scared me.

I believe

an afterlife

and

nothing dies.

It is just

a point of transition

a change of grab.”

“I am just

a living being

in the universe

created by the God!

I will have

a small patch of land

where

I am going to be buried.”

And, finally

he has been buried

like rest of the artists

and authors

with his unexpressed

ninety percent

to his grave

in so-called exile

with

a painful smile.

2nd August 2011

(Inspired with tribute by ‘The Times of India 10th June 2011 edition’).

© Hemant Bawankar