Sushma Bahl in conversation with Sidharth on Barahmasa

Your work over the last many years has been centered around the theme of Baramasa. Could you please tell us a bit about the essence of Barahmasa and what it means to you? How did your interest in this subject begin and when?

For centuries, poets all over the world have been writing about the rhythmic changes and evolving patterns of the seasons. Besides our own literary masters, we find poets across the Orient from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China and the Zen Masters, attempting to describe in words, the constantly evolving seasons and the cosmological changes. For me however, 'Barahmaha' found its true meaning only around the 16th century, when it began to be seen as a key to self awareness, to Nirvana in the preaching of saints and gurus as they recreating the magic of the seasons in words.

My search in this domain began around...when... I attempt to portray it at various levels and in different forms through my art and imagination. To me, human awareness, human consciousness changes with seasons...it finds its own as the season evolves... Through , my work, I search for that elusive peace, the awakening...a state where one is at peace with one's environment and with ones own self...a state where there is no joy...no pain...no anger...no hatred...no love...a state where one is free of 'self'...the 'Chait awastha'...A state of quiet acceptance and awareness.

Yes, the meditative essence and beauty of your work is fairly prominent. But I find a marked contrast in its omission of sagas of love that are at the centre of much of early Indian literature on the theme in classical texts such as Kalidasa's Ritusamhar or Jaidev's Geet Govind. How would you explain that?

A soul filled with devotion, can see love all around, sharing this boundless love, beyond the human.. Omnipresent. To love the self is the state of "Chayet" the awakening. In this awareness of self , where is the dichotomy? The great poets, abundant, overflowing, perceive their beloved And immersed in that passion create sublime works. Sometimes becoming the lover sometimes exalting the beloved. Their symbols and metaphors are of this world, the language of expression is of the people. There is not much difference. Only the answer varies, metaphors are different .The journey to the path of realization is the same.

Tell us something about your perception of different seasons of Barahmasa and what each one means to you and how?

This is the season of 'Chayet' when the birds are singing in quiet harmony, the serene waters flow, the flowers have bloomed to their full glory...and now, seeds are forming ...the seeds that may pave the way for another season.

'Waisakh' or Vaibhav Shakha as its called in Sanskrit language. The season is also referred to as 'Sona' or gold and 'Mrityu'...which is death in different other language. A season where life and death are simultaneous. The seeds of Chaitra have died to give birth to a new awareness ...with a sense of waiting...of hope...of expectation...when all around you is slowly wilting. The trees are beginning to shed, the waters are receeding, the birds have quietened too and so has the sky...quiet and somber, and, all around is the sheer brilliance of gold reflected in the golden grain of wheat in the fields.

'Jaith'... literally means 'Bigger'. To me, it's also the Surya or the Sun at the peak of its glory, its heat...for the sun has inched its way closer to the earth, the days are stretching and the heat burning...like the heart and the soul of an ambitious worldly man...emanating only scorching heat. A restless burning soul, burning of desire...money...power. There is restlessness all around and, heat... harsh and ruthless...tormented skies and burning souls on earth.

'Asaad'...means 'aasha hui' or in other words 'hope arises'. Just as the heat reaches its peak in the month of Jaith, and burns up the earth ...what survives is one that's firmly rooted to the earth...the heat has left nothing but a vacuum that storms rage in with all their fury to fill just like a herd of wild elephants...the thunderstorms, dark ominous clouds, raging waters...with the hope that soon the Gods above will relent and shower this earth with their blessings and soon life will flower again.

'Sawan' ...The earth is blessed again ...the divine rains have given life to all around us...the trees, the waters, the mountains, the skies. Life is young and green again bringing with it a sense of energy and fulfillment.

'Bhadon' depicts a duality of the season's characteristics. The second month of 'Sawan' on the one hand brings excitement, life and abundance while on the other there are thundering skies and somewhere, a lurking fear of the past...of over abundance.

'Aasun'...come, listen, quietly. Its quiet and calm outside...try and find it within you too. Hold on to your restless spirit and listen. Listen to the quiet harmony of nature, to the song of your own spirit. A time to listen and imbibe the stability and the stillness ...the 'sthirta'.

'Katke' a month when the skies have cleared, all insects and reptiles prepare to move in to their holes. Kartik brings with it soft, pleasant and cool air. A time to clean up your home, to decorate it and prepare to welcome Ram, to welcome your own self and your soul...a season of correction.

'Manghar'...a time to come home.A time for fairytales, of story telling...searching...a time to be with one's own self. When the birds are on their way home and the skies are beginning to get cold. This is the time to remain inside ones own space.

'Poukh' ...A time for hibernation. A time when it so cold that the birds have all flown away and the animals choose to sleep in, when the waters have frozen and the mountains hidden themselves under a blanket of snow.

'Maagh'...the seeds that were sown have now sprouted...a new life is being born again...

'Falgun' ...Life blooms all around us. Full of colour, music, hope and ecstacy. The trees, the flowers, the singing waters, the dancing skies, a celebration of life, a celebration of the soul.

What I find central to much of your work specially in the Baramaha series is also your use of hand made materials specially the paper, canvas and mineral or vegetable pigments. It seems integral to your work ethos. Did your interest in the subject prompt the use of organic materials or was it your fascination and expertise in making your own colours and material that fuelled your interest in the theme?

You have rightly said that I mostly use handmade materials and have been doing so since my early years .I have learned that to seek colours from nature is a meditative exercise in itself. Nature is copious in its bounty. To take from nature what it so generously offers, to assimilate its richness and represent it via the medium of colours derived from it has been my artistic endeavor. The images and metaphors that I use originate form natural life forms. When an understanding of a colour and its source is attained, a bond, an attachment to it is formed. It cannot then be disparaged or unjustly dealt with. To me, art is an expression of peace and tranquility.

In working on this theme of "BarahMaha", it has been my aspiration to portray the life forms distinctive to each season - be it birds or flowers or indeed the whole world and it's changing landscape, the experiences and ebb and flow of life. In the rendition of each season, I have tried to source the colours from the flora and fauna peculiar to that time of the year and like an Ayurvedic doctor, perceive and gain awareness of their essence and transmute them pictorially.

Do you see any link or connectivity between your earlier work and the Barahmasa series? If so, what?

One grows in years, times change and awareness waxes and wanes. When one is constantly working through a medium, the medium itself becomes a guiding force. This has been my experience. From embellishing stately homes in my early years to depiction of the serene Gurus, portraying the calmness of Buddha in Thangka paintings , then onto the maternal softness of Madonna. In my paintings, the human element is represented sometimes as standing solitary in a void, or part of a queue on a bus-stop, as a child playing hopscotch, skipping, dancing, bounding, playing cosmological games, Lively enduring forms or sometimes as a lifeless entity, chaos , terrorism- these are all part of my environment. To gain deeper awareness of this shifting worldscape, the "Barah Maha " series is crucial, there is a single unifying thread between previous and In my entire body of work- being one with nature - the search for peace and realization.

And what does Barahmaha mean to you? How would you like to describe its Rooh Rung Roop Rachna as reflected in your work?

For me, 'Barahmaha' has been a journey. One of seeing things in my environment that otherwise I may not have done, of comprehending and understanding the play of each season on nature...on life...my environment...and, myself. Its been a journey of self discovery...of knowing that just like that flower blooming in the spring, I am blooming too...in my full pristine glory today. Someday, I too shall produce seeds that would, perhaps lay down the path of the seasons to come. I also see a tiny leaf falling off a tree, with the knowledge that someday, I too will fall...

I find your figuration more universal and less specific. Often located amidst natural surroundings in a sort of trance and dressed in long flowing robes. It looks amazing though always appears nose less. What is the take behind that?

History has witnessed much turbulence - enmity, violence, greed, hatred- man against man and against nature. It is an ongoing battle. To counteract these forces, man has tried to create countless devices to increase his comforts and make his surroundings pleasant- elegant homes, comfortable furniture, a variety of apparel, musical equipment, computers, ease giving drugs, aero planes and cars etc. Despite this, human nature being what it is, creates uncomfortable situations and tries to balance it by surrounding itself with a harmonious environment. In actuality, the only wish is for peace and survival.

My paintings deal with this most basic human aspiration. To portray serenity and the endurance of the human spirit, at the same time to convey harmony with nature and create this awareness is my wish. Maybe, at a subconscious level, this is how I would like the world to be.

It is often seen that the ancient statues in rock temples have broken noses - maybe the ravages of nature and time or the result of vandalism. In life, man pokes his nose where it does not belong and is disfigured in the process , he cuts off his nose to spite his face or sometimes seeks to disfigure others in the same manner. Metaphorically speaking the injury caused is to the ego, to human arrogance. Keeping all these connotations in mind, I decided to do away with painting it altogether.

My work portrays the tranquil being, at one with his surroundings, assimilating his environment - swaying with the trees and undulating with the grass. Where there is human presence it is with complete egolessness. There is only one melody - a yearning for harmony.

And what is next on the horizon for you? Do you feel you have reached your peak? In what direction you see your work going in the next few years?

One is always standing at the peak of the present. From this vantage point, there is always another peak visible, a mountain that the human mind aspires to scale and which is seldom attainable because that lofty summit is beyond the scale of human endeavour. Nobody can foretell the future. What will be is unknown - one can only hope and yearn. As in a mountain trek, traversing an unknown path, one chances suddenly upon a babbling brook, or a tranquil pond, a constricting track or open spaces, a snarling animal or placid herds, sometimes cooling showers or unrelenting sun. The traveler progresses towards his destination, at least he knows where his journey ends, but in my work, nothing is certain. I only wish for my quest to proceed tirelessly and that I continue to create. Other than this, I know nothing.

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