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Glimpses of Indian culture
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It takes 230 images and crisp commentary for the richness of Indian culture to come out
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Photo: K. Ramesh Babu
Real delight Saryu Doshi and Jagdish Mittal hold the book ‘Sublime Delights Through Works of Art’
On a rain-dappled evening, a glimpse of ‘the city set on a hill which cannot be hid’ was brought into view as a coffee table book offering vistas from the ever-expanding collection of Kamla and Jagdish Mittal was launched on Sunday.
As one lady walked and talked with the artists wearing a beaded chain with a Thota Vaikuntam’s Durga as its centrepiece on Bonalu, Jagdish Mittal showed a series of slides to prove the aesthetic sense of Indians where they saw art even in a spittoon, a gunpowder holder shaped like a deer, a dagger’s hilt with a mythical Krishna trying to reach the crow, and a host of other household knic-knacks that would please even the most discerning aesthete.
One of Mittals’ associates walked down the memory lane and described how the collection was put together and how the couple denied themselves luxuries in their effort. The story of labour of love unfolded with acquisition drama of a Valmiki Ramayana manuscript. Unlike national hand-wringing over a Gandhi letter being auctioned at Christie’s, Kamla Mittal dipped into her personal savings to ensure that the manuscript returned to the nation where it was created. “Once it was acquired, the agony of pooling finances, flying, wrangling made way for ecstasy as if the schoolboy has scored 100 per cent marks,” said Nadzar Chinoy. Now, the manuscript is part of the slice of Indian history spanning 1900 years housed in Domalguda.
Then it was Jagdish Mittal’s turn to traipse through the art, craft and bric-a-brack of Indian civilisation and aesthetics with about 50 images. Aided by a simple to-the-point commentary, Mittal unshackled himself from the period-fascination and delved into the aesthetic part of paintings that have been collected from not just Rajasthan but as far off as Kangra, Ahmednagar, Bijapur, Golconda and Mughal works but also the play influences on the artists.
Then the bronzes, wood carving and metal objects showed how close to art the Indian civilisation has been. They were drawn from Chamba, Telangana, Malabar, Naga, Khond and other regions of the country.
If you want to get in touch with this aesthetic side of Indian culture grab a copy of ‘Sublime Delights through Works of Art from Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art’.
SERISH NANISETTI
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