Remebering Somenathda

Bangalore based painter and a student of late Somenath Hore, M.S.Prakash Babu remembers his master.

Whenever one writes about another person, it is but natural to remember the first meeting with him/her. But there was nothing unusual or extraordinary in my first meeting with Somenathda (Somenath Hore). I was a student in Shantiniketan’s Kalabhavan, and it was quite usual for students to invite senior artists and critics to their studios and show them their works. I did so by inviting Somenathda to my studio. 

My ‘introduction’ to Somenathda had actually happened much earlier to my meeting him.  I had read an article about him in a Kannada weekly long ago when I was still in high school; that article had an assortment of his drawings and engravings too.  This habit of collecting any art-related material or visuals has been with me since my childhood days. I have a huge collection of such material, but this particular article on Somenathda is still fresh in my memory.

In Shantiniketan, when I was in my first year of post-graduation, my studio was just next to a mural done by Somenathda.  I have seen this mural for a whole year, everyday.  I am sure this is the only work that I have seen for such a long time in my life.  During those days, Somenathda would not be as visible in the campus as Manida (K G Subramanyan).   I had observed that only when any student specifically invited him, would he come to the campus.  Thus we would create occasions to invite senior artists like Manida, Somenathda, Kanchanda, Chidananda Das Gupta and Shivada (R.Shivakumar) to our studios and hold discussions with them.  Strangely, we would rarely invite our own class teachers to our studios. 

It is an age-old tradition in Shantiniketan that every student removes the footwear before entering his/her studio.  Some of us – playful and mischievous as we were – would leave our chappals outside our studios, close the doors and on barefoot, go wandering in the village, often in search of country liquour.  Our poor teachers would think that we are engrossed with our work inside the studios, and even mark our attendance without wanting to ‘disturb’ us in our work! So we had made it a habit to move around with our chappals.  

In my two years of stay in Shantiniketan, Somenathda visited my studio twice.  He would not give attention only to aesthetic aspect of the work; he would look more for a meaningful content in the artwork.   He never believed that the role of the artist was restricted to producing a beautiful image; it had to have a purpose, a relevance.  In later years, when I read his book, ‘Tebhaga’, I realized his social commitment, political struggle and participation in farmers’ movements.