M AQBOOL KA jigri dost Maankeshvar Indore school mein saath padein. Use bhi painting ka shauq magar Gita aur Ouran zabaan par. Aksar dono saath Ramlila ka natak dekhne jaaya karte. Maqbool ke nana Siddhpur Gujarat, mein masjid ke pesh , imam, isi vajah se Maqbool ko chhe saal ki umar hi se Quran ki aayatein zabaani yaad. Anek deen aur dharma ki baatein suni aur padi.
Maankeshvar ki dosti aur 50 baras ki umar tak ka saath, Maqbool par Ramayan aur Mahabharat ke charitron ka gehra asar pada, jise barson baad ‘M.F. Hu sain’ ne, unhe aajkal ki art zabaan mein, rang, rekha aur roop de kar canvas par utara, Maankeshvar bhi Indore chhod kar Bambai rehne laga aur kuchh arsa Maqbool ke saath kaam karta raha. Ahista-ahista vah duniyadaari ko chhod adhyatmik sadhana mein kho gaya. Maqbool phir bhi use kahin na kahin se dhoondh nikaalta aur ghanton uske ruhani faaslon ka saath deta. Khud Maqbool ka androni lagaav bhi usi taraf kheenchta raha, jiski buniyaad bachpan mein nana ne rekh di thi. Magar Maqbool ‘BambaiPlay House’ ke chamakte dhamakte stage aur cinema par 18 saal tak backdrop banata raha aur Maankeshvar dheere dheere sab kuchh tyaag kar sadhu ki saadgi le kar Himalaya ki ore chala gaya.” The above is an extract from Hu sain’s handwritten autobiography in Hindi (MF Husain ki Kahani, Apni Zubaani, September 2002). He has as much deep apnapan with Indian culture as anyone who has grown up within the mainframe of India, its holding template, which is un deniably Sanatana Dharma.
It is wrong to automatically as sume that he ‘desecrates’ Hindu deities. They are part of his identity. Let us not assume the worst because the Hindutvists urge us to think the worst.
Let us use our own judgment without being jealous of Husain’s glamour and success, as many of his detractors are. Let us be happy for him as a fellow-Indian and not be pinch-hearted. Husain hamara hai.
Courtesy: HT, Aug. 30, 2008
