And colors fell silent today A sun struck with Anecdotes and animals Screamed somewhere Narrow yellows merged in Thick orb of orange Streets were blown In a dupatta of white A smile tinged in a ravishing Blue suddenly looked back I had seen them all at Garhi In the seventies The eye had then staged Plays of a turntable Time Twice even thrice In a single day Violence was the afternoon Manjit drew in rude Delhi summers Riding words of a chiasma Violence is the afternoon We saw him in flames Of years and layers Untold by a dark Violence he left Is you and me And a coherence of Irrefutable days He chose to give Away.
Manjit Bawa passed away today at his home in Delhi. He had been in a coma for three years. One of the first painters to break out of the dominant grays and browns of the western art and opt for more Indian colors like red and violet, the maestro was influenced by nature, Sufi mysticism and Indian mythology. Renowned Poet Pritish Nandy who had given shows of his poetry and art with him was one of his closest friends.
