Sangeeta Singh in conversation with Johny ML

Romancing the rickshawallah

Studio

Recently at the GLiterARTi - an Art and Literary Extravaganza held at Gurgaon, I met two learned writers. In conversation with one of them, I expressed my envy towards writers. Interestingly, she too expressed her envy towards painters and artists.

On a similar note, while in conversation with the second writer, I anguished about not being able to gather the courage to express myself through ‘words’. He told me to initially write for my own consumption. There may be failures but eventually, the flow will come. I could easily relate to what he said because the process is quite similar to my expression with colours on canvas. His words immensely influenced me, and here I am, writing this blog.

For every new composition that I begin to paint there are over twenty compositions that I reject and send them to the trash bin. Inspired by the encouraging thoughts, I attempt to pen down my thoughts about my upcoming show-‘Chalat Musafir’. Although this is my first write-up, I am not trashing it, as I intend to share my thoughts behind my artworks with my viewers. I welcome honest and critical comments on the same.

I paint to express my emotions on the canvas. Painting to me is process of story telling. Chalat Musafir is a story of the musafir or the traveler-me. There are many themes which artists get inspired to paint, so how did this particular theme capture my imagination? Why are my subjects related to movement? Why this fascination for a rickshaw rides and attraction to the working migrant class that I chose to paint my romance on the Delhi streets? There was a need for some introspection.

Chal chala chal

These questions could only be answered once I looked back at my journey from my childhood. I was privileged to be born in a defence environment and have always been on the move. As a child, I frequently changed schools due to recurrent transfers of my father who served the Indian Army. With every transfer there was a thrill to move to a new accommodation, seeing new places and settling down. My memories of early 70s were stepping out of my house in those olive green army jongas and jeeps. In those days very few people owned private cars and we were privileged to always get a vehicle. The army cantonments are generally in far flung areas away from the hustle bustle of the city, in a very protected and confined area. We had all the facilities in the complex be it clubs, theatres, mini shopping complexes, schools etc., and therefore we rarely moved out of the cantonment. Moving out of the cantonment entailed going to the railway station for vacation, going to the marketplace or for picnics in the fauji vehicles. At the age of twenty-two I got married to an army officer and my journey continued in a similar environment of living in different cantonments and frequent transfers.

Chal chala chal

Having spent four decades of my life in the cantonments I rarely got an opportunity to sit on a rickshaw. In 2007 after my husband took premature retirement we shifted base to Dwarka, a suburb of New Delhi, where we spent three years. I loved our stay there, as amongst other things it gave me an opportunity to travel by public transport and explore the city life. Often I would ride the rickshaw till the metro station line while on my way to Triveni Kala Sangam, near Mandi House where my studio was located. So in a way I felt enthused that along with fulfilling the passion for painting I got an opportunity to travel in the rickshaw. During these small trips I would regularly converse with the rickshawallah. While talking, I tried to understand their lifestyle as most of them are migrants who have come to the city to earn a living. Their stories always made me emotional and I had a soft corner for them as they worked tirelessly for an honest living. They make our lives comfortable as they paddle away in the extreme weather conditions, braving the afternoon heat in the summers, the cold shivering winter mornings or the heavy downpour in rainy season. I pleasured these rickshaw rides so much that during my entire stay I consciously attempted to hire a rickshaw rather than driving. On the way the beauty of the sweeping movements of their shadows, the conversations with the rickshawallah and their daily struggle collectively evoked in me a strong desire to express these emotions on canvas. This inspiration that I drew from them, in essence, created a painterly vision for my upcoming series- the Chal chala chal.

Euphoria

Simultaneously, the Euphoria  series also spawns to showcase the hustle-bustle of the city life where the birds are used as metaphors to symbolize the people- the musafir, who is constantly on move with the desire to seek freedom from confinement. In consequence, three years down the memory lane, in an effort to capture the mystic moments of both these series has emerged my current collection titled ‘Chalat Musafir’.
This is an ensemble of 20 recent paintings which are being exhibited at Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Azad Bhawan Art Gallery from 27th Dec 2013- 08 Jan 2014.Thereafter the show travels to Gallery Artspeaks India from 10 Jan 2014 -25 Jan 2014.  This collection is a tribute to the hard-working migrant class. It is a celebration of those moments that have inspired and triggered my thoughts.