Silent town

  Acrylic on canvas

The vibrant streetscapes of Hyderabad fascinate me. A rickshaw-puller shares the space jostling with auto rickshaws and people are sandwiched between old crumbling buildings & ageing edifices with domes... cracking under the noise and pressure of increasing traffic... Also, it is the unique set of inhabitants who motivate me to make them come alive on the canvas: Fakris, Sweepers, Young & Old Pedestrians who share the space with animals, carts on the road and soon the new fast-growing mall culture also inspires me when I see their glass covered facade & displays, the contrast and the opulence juxtaposed with the reflection of the old street-life outside, that is a canvas worth bringing to life in colorful paint. "For more than four decades, I have been working on painting about various socio-economic issues, albeit inadvertently. I grew up in Hyderabad, when it was the end of the Nizams’ reign, and there was wealth all around. Over time, I saw the old city deteriorate, and its residents go from riches to rags. It left an indelible mark on me, and gradually reflected in my paintings too! Though, I wasn’t consciously looking to paint any specific issues or problems, I was just painting what I saw around me and the things that struck me. Such as old men pulling rickshaws at the Charminar to fend for themselves, young girls picking kachra [garbage) to earn a living; people begging to be able to put food on their tables. These could be those folks who belonged to prosperous families once. But, they are now on the periphery of society, economically. I observe my subjects, even follow some of them for days, to understand them better and be able to articulate those issues through my imagery. Art is my way of venting and reacting to situations, to talk about problems that we know exist, but hesitate to acknowledge or talk about! Then I leave it to people to decipher or interpret my work. I don’t tell them what to make of them...”