Farewell, Somnath Hore
From Gopal Krishna Gandhi’s moving tribute:
Somnathbabu was at the door to meet me, standing tall like a Painted Stork on stilt-like legs, stooped and lost to thought. Rebadi stood just behind him. He was wearing a sweater though it was not cold, and had his head covered in a hand-knitted woollen affair. There were half-finished clay and wax forms placed on the floor and tables, besides books and plants. As he asked me to take a seat, I was struck by his fingers — unusually long and, strangely, as thoughtful as their owner. They moulded the air while he spoke…And the closing paragraphs:I asked Somnathbabu whether he had ever met Gandhi or sculpted him. “In 1946, when Gandhiji had come at the time of the riots, I made it a point to follow him wherever he went. Even though I was — and am — not a believer, I attended his prayer meetings because I was fascinated by his personality. I did an engraving but did not sculpt him.”
He then told me of the engraving he had done of Gandhi addressing a Hindu-Muslim congregation in August 1947 at the Mohammedan Sporting Club galleries in Calcutta. This is a remarkable work, showing MKG in the distance, standing like a little matchstick on a far platform, with a multitude of Hindus and Muslims in telltale attire, listening rapt. One listener has a child — his future world — perched on his shoulder, as another in a fez sits with a combination of awe and hope. Difference, again. Somnath Hore was showing MKG not as an iconic superman but as the masses saw him through the hectic jostle of their fears, hopes and emotions…
Somnath Hore was more than an artist. He was a witness of the human drama but a witness with a skill that translated his witnessing into art. In an age when secularism, socialism and peace can be seen — or rubbished — as shibboleths, he knew them to be vital needs. In times when art can become a plaything of drawing rooms and auction halls, he kept it close to its springs — his very human sensibility.
When Tara and I met him last, on September 27, he was prone, oxygen being ducted into his lungs, nourishment into his veins. But he could talk clearly. His sensitive fingers, bearing the tubes and needles of life-support, moved to his eyes as he said: “Your Excellency, I have lost my vision, I am blind now….” The honorific, never a favourite, was crushing. Here was a man navigating the twilight between this world and the next, maintaining the courtesy of terrestrial constructs.“I do these wax sheets,” he had told me when I first met him, “and use these channels for the hands and legs.” I felt like wax, my hands and legs weakening as I rose saying “Get well soon, Sir”. I cannot remember how I responded to Rebadi as she too said in a courtesy of yesteryears “you have been ever so kind”…
Image: Somnath Hore, “The Holocaust”.
Moving. I didnt know much about Somnath Hore, but this is a moving account. I especially liked the way he ended the article “Remember this: only the works remain, only the works.”
Indeed!
Comment by Kishore — October 3, 2006 @ 2:14 pm
This is my first reading here. I found you yesterday.
I have no idea who Somnath Hore is but will now learn.
More than anything, this is how one needs to be introduced to an artist, a living human being, a witness of life’s story.
Thank you,
Kim
Comment by Kim — October 3, 2006 @ 3:52 pm
I loved Somnath Hore’s work. Wonderful article.
Comment by Aishwarya — October 3, 2006 @ 4:52 pm
Very wonderful. I need to know who’s Somnathbabu.
Comment by Amorica — October 5, 2006 @ 6:09 pm
thank you for this piece, we had one of his paintings at home that i used to spend ages looking at..and belated Bijoya greetings.
Comment by bidi-k — October 5, 2006 @ 6:34 pm
here i collect songs from all over the world, sung in a dialect
http://www.oskarlewis.com/weblog/native-tongue/
Comment by oskar lewis — October 7, 2006 @ 1:02 pm
I would like to extend an invitation to you to join in on a collective blogging section of our upcoming winter issue of Reconstruction. The issue is the “Theories/Practices of Blogging.” In addition to the special section of posts on blogging there will be about a dozen essays on blogging.
The deadline is October 27th.
Our intent in this section of the issue will be to collect a wide range of bloggers and link up to their statements in regards to why they blog (something many of us are asked) and any statement they have on the theories/practices of blogging.
If you already have a post on this you can feel free to use it, or, if you are interested, you can submit a new one.
We will link to each statement from the issue at our site, with the intent of creating a hyperlinked list of statements on blogging that can serve as an introduction to blogging (or an expansion of knowledge for those already blogging).
If you are interested please contact me at mdbento @ gmail.com
Comment by michael benton — October 8, 2006 @ 10:33 pm
I would like to extend an invitation to you to join in on a collective blogging section of our upcoming winter issue of Reconstruction. The issue is the “Theories/Practices of Blogging.” In addition to the special section of posts on blogging there will be about a dozen essays on blogging.
The deadline is October 27th.
Our intent in this section of the issue will be to collect a wide range of bloggers and link up to their statements in regards to why they blog (something many of us are asked) and any statement they have on the theories/practices of blogging.
If you already have a post on this you can feel free to use it, or, if you are interested, you can submit a new one.
We will link to each statement from the issue at our site, with the intent of creating a hyperlinked list of statements on blogging that can serve as an introduction to blogging (or an expansion of knowledge for those already blogging).
If you are interested please contact me at mdbento @ gmail.com
Comment by michael benton — October 8, 2006 @ 10:33 pm
A wonderful post! I trully enjoyed reading it. Would you be kind enough to give me an email address where you could be reached at? And about myself - I am a 23 yr old working at an investment bank in NY and I loved reading all your posts.
Comment by Barnali — October 9, 2006 @ 9:03 pm