As a child, artist Adarsh Baji grew up in a politically aware household. His maternal grandmother was a municipal corporator in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, in the 90s, who had a strong sense of justice and social milieus. Baji is a chip off the old block; his first solo art show, Give Peace Another Chance at Hyderabad’s Kalakriti Art Gallery, pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 154th birth anniversary. Why the Father of the Nation, though? “In the last few years, I started noticing the disdain towards the Mahatma. This is unnerving,” says the 39-year-old artist.
The 15 works on display are massive in size—some measuring 6ft x 8ft—and use a multitude of mediums, from oil to acrylic and charcoal. The artist points to a piece in which Gandhi is transported to the grand buildings of Rome, and says, “This is to signify the fact that while he is feted internationally, from South Africa to Australia, his own country is moving away from everything he espoused.”
The lines, colours and mood point to one idea: are we doing enough to live up to the dream of a nation the Mahatma fought for? “Imagine the times when he lived, there were few newspapers and zero technology. His ideology made him larger than life,” says Baji, who studied at the JNTU College of Fine Arts and the University of Hyderabad, and was later influenced by Atul Dodiya’s political messages.
The most powerful canvas on display is that of the Mahatma and the man who killed him, Nathuram Godse. Baji’s interpretation with flowers and blood show how love always rises up and blood always flows down. “Those who kill will go down, but those who are loved will rise. This work was a result of politicians praising Gandhi’s killer,” says Baroda-based Baji. For him, his canvases are both his strength and stay, besides a means of rising above his physical fragility— Baji cannot walk due to paralysis, which struck him in infancy. “I may be physically challenged, but with art I never feel alone. It is my way of negotiating with the world around me,” he says.
His canvases are filled with attention to detail. From animals to battle tanks, every aspect is painstakingly etched. One painting shows Gandhi as Christ crucified while another shows him surrounded by aggressive animals. “For the last one year, I have been living and breathing him,” says the artist. As many wonder about the Mahatma’s modern-day relevance, Baji says, “A hundred years from now, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi will still be loved, but the same cannot be said of those who disrespect him.”
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