The world of painting is a whimsical one, even if it is not the imperceptible yet always in vogue abstract act world or the planned, definite masterpieces. I have been taught by a well known painter in my masters, Sh. Amit Kalla, whose reputation I saw a proof of when I visited the Lalit Hotel last Sunday and on the floor and the room where I was staying, coincidentally had three of his paintings from the years 2006-2007. Now there have been many cases where after tasting the wine of fame, most men would stumble and lose every ounce of civility, but my teacher has to be the most humble person I have seen/read about. I remember tears flowing down my cheeks when he bid us farewell after our first semester ended but to preserve his memory, I wrote him a poem that I feel suitably touched the right nerve.
Now I am no painter myself, although I read about the subject in magazines and books and can list painters, known and some obscure, without struggling. I do believe that artists are a special bunch of people, a cut above indeed and even the ones that aren’t so, should at least possess the basic sense to appreciate the subject. It does not help to have artists as your role models, almost all of them had the debauched element to their personal lives and on a silver lining, exceptions do exist.
62 year old Ravindra Pabrekar, a renowned painter who was casually googling his name found his paintings being auctioned off without his consent, along with some others that weren’t even his, and it seems like the work of a practiced con artist, who to add salt to wound, was selling them for only 15000, which were less than 4 times the amount they would actually sell for, and for a year he tired of registering a FIR which was to no avail and artistic atrocities were committed in this talented, innocent man’s name, for a prolonged period of time.
Not all hope is lost though, the Human Rights Commission has taken up his case and hearing will begin in October.