|
|
the-south-asian.com February 2003 |
||||
|
FEBRUARY 2003 Contents Music Cello in
Indian
In News South Asian voice at Siblings - achievers
Serialisation
of 'Knock at every alien Events Cricket World Cup Lehngas - a limited collection Books
|
|
||||
|
Editor's Note A Requiem Achyut Kanvinde, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Bhabesh Sanyal all passed on within a few days of each other. All were men of great creativity, progressive ideas, ingenuity, and have left us with great bodies of their respective works in architecture, literature, and painting and sculpture. All were humanists, a belief that found expression and was etched firmly in their work; and all were pioneers of modernism in their chosen field. Achyut Kanvinde, at 86, was the youngest of the lost trinity. Considered a giant among architects, he was truly the father of modern architecture in India. A gentle, soft-spoken, modest person, he imbibed the values of simplicity in his personal and professional life. His buildings were simple but powerful lines a reflection of his inner self. Harvard educated, he designed and planned many institutional buildings for the Government IIT Kanpur, Universities of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore and Rahuri (Maharashtra), Science Centres in Bombay and Delhi, are only a few of his creations. Gujarat, Rajasthan and Kashmir were also blessed with his buildings. He was a teacher, an author, and recipient of National and International awards and remained an extremely spiritual person. The Krishna Consciousness Temple in Delhi was one of his last passionate involvements with design. He will be remembered and missed not only as an architect but also as a very loving and caring son, brother, husband, father and grandfather. The likes of him are rare. Harivansh Rai Bachchan, at 95, wrote poetry and prose that was radical for its time. His Madhushala must be the most-loved and the most-translated poem in Hindi literature. A bi-lingual writer ( Harivansh Rai Bachchan held a Masters and a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge), he wrote with equal ease in English. His autobiography, written in Hindi, was translated into English by Rupert Snell who named it In the Afternoon of Time. The autobiography is a virtual record of an era gone by and the times we are living in an articulate blend of multiple existential levels of romanticism and classicism. Bhabesh Sanyal, at 101, still had the exuberance, and a positive outlook that so defined his youth. The world around him excited him and inspired him he was madly in love with life to the very end. He is credited as the Father of Modern Art in India. His zest for life, so visible in his paintings and sculptures, also made him a very endearing and an engaging person. His memories of Lahore a city he so loved were amazingly lucid and unfolded a society so advanced from what the city is now. They will be missed they may have been born in a sepia age but their memories will be alive with colour. I can only conclude with the following verse from Bachchan's 'Madhushala' as it appears in the English translation of his autobiography - so meaningful and significant in this troubled time: O Muslim, Hindu - faiths are two,
Roopa
|
|||||
| Copyright © 2000 - 2003 [the-south-asian.com]. Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. | |||||
| Home | |||||