Recently while in India, we were
driving from Pondicherry back to Chennai, we spent an afternoon at Dakshin
Chitra. It was a nice cultural treat for us. The highlight however was catching
an exhibition on “The Tale of the Talking
Face” the book Illustrated and narrated by the great K. G. Subramanyam. An
illustrated story, probing deep into a democracy gone all wrong and totally
webbed in satire, this book makes you sit up and wonder at the genius behind
those lines, whether etched or written.
K. G. Subramanyam was born in
Kerala in 1924, and in his youth he was actively involved in the Gandhian ideology
and movement. He was always interested in art, but during the freedom struggle
he was imprisoned and later banned from the govt colleges during the British Raj.
Art was his calling and he went and realised this dream in Vishwabharati jumping
straight from the Gandhian principles to the philosophy and understanding of
Rabindranath Tagore. Under the tutelage like artists & art stalwarts like
Nandalal Bose, Benod Behari Mukherjee and Ramkinkar Baij, he completed his art
education by 1948. In 1951 he moved onto teach at Baroda at the Faculty of Fine
Arts in M.S. University in Baroda. In between being an academic, in the arts he
did some learning in London and a stint at Rock Fellar, U.S. He came back to
Vishwabharati this time to teach in the year, in 1980 and he continued till,
1989 when he retired. At 89 and still an active contemporary artist he has had
a versatile career spanning in painting, murals, various craft traditions of
India, toy-making, pottery, illustration & design, terracotta and sculpture. His paintings are noted for their
inherent wit, ironies, satire and critical social commentaries.
The best example of his satire
and wit, one can find in The “Tale of the
Talking Face”. An entire democratic regime it takes on, with illustrations
and ruthless, truthful black humour, it cuts the illusion one had, of the
longest “democratic regime”. It analyzes the psychology of a young girl trying
to fit into her father’s big shoes. Caught between cruel shrewd politicians,
who push her into a role, she was not ready for. Compelled to be something she
was not cut out for she had to become ruthless to control them. What ensues is
the growth the illusion of “doing good” and the “green” washing of eyes that
chose to wear green glasses, which she “generously” distributes. Be it the
slicing of the touting the “third world syndrome” or the useless “five year
plans” or the eye wash of “festivals” these lines just force you to sit up and
read through the psyche of this young princess and her ego gone all wrong.
“You planned things in the first
year
You fanned your hopes in the next
You discussed them in the third
You detailed them in the fourth
Then canned the whole thing in
the fifth”.
Its lines like these and many
more that present to us, the not so silent oppressed observer of an artist’s
mind, who is the ultimate recorder and also a decoder of his times. On a more
personal note I was hugely attracted to this book as a political observer and a
sceptic of the entire myth of democracy. Also the illustrations and the strong
use of black, white and red probably just caught my attention more so. (I have
hugely been stuck in a phase of painting and etching in these colour's for the
past two years).
The bold lines speak of the
courage of an uninhibited mind. While I have not had the opportunity to meet
this amazing “mind” I have got a glimpse through this book. Treat yourself to
this amazing book by clicking on the links below and getting yourself a copy. Meanwhile
I shall once again go back and remove the cloth that draped on the “talking
face”.
Book details online
