There can never really be another M.F Husain, ever. A man who charted his journey from the humble by-lanes of an Indian city to the center stage of world art; he gave Indian art an international face long before any other Indian artist did. A maverick, he could reinvent himself as a painter and creator continuously, and till the very end has remained an artist whose art holds a relevance despite other trends and fashions that come and go.
Husain had this amazing ability to make you feel that you were the most important person when he was spending time with you. His agelessness was because he was in fact a true free spirit who never conformed to the expected. He lived life on his own terms and when hounded in recent years by fundamentalist forces, he chose to hold his dignity and never retaliate to the provocation and humiliation of betrayal that his country meted out to him. It is this very grace and elegance that set him apart from others of his fraternity, and allowed him to be free of cynicism or anger. He has lived each day of his life within the orbit of his creative energies and he leaves for us a legacy that holds the vigours of his beliefs: that creation through the vision and soul of the mortal spirit is a space of freedom, unfettered by the dictates of religious bias and politics; and is a universe of infinite being.
Dear friend, you gave to each of us a part of yourself to hold forever. Indian art history owes you a huge debt.
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