DARPAN SPOTLIGHT
THE
of the renaissance masters - of Michaelangelo, Da Vinci and Van Gogh, along with those of Prof. Puran Singh. His eyes light up equally when he talks about Punjab and the Ten Sikh Masters, and when he talks of Van Gogh’s letter to Theo. Then it dawned on me, choosing to paint Punjabi and Sikh subjects are not his limitations, but his choice. Yet there was no sign of paintings depicting the face of any of the ten Artist Parminder Singh Sikh Gurus. “Is it intentional?” I asked him. “The Guru is my source of light. Attempting to draw how he looked wires sent from British India would be akin to bringing the light to reporting of the Khalsa empire the closure of my own thought. of Punjab. Their ferocity and The Guru is much larger than, much prowess on the battlefield was instrumental in establishing the more divine than my own limitations,” BY ARVINDER SINGH he calmly said. largest secular Sikh empire in I met him a second time around Punjab under Ranjit Singh. the 150th anniversary of Canada. In the first Anglo-Sikh war, He was painting the Vancouver when the Dogra general skyline with a young Aboriginal boy, Tej Singh backstabbed the half in traditional attire and half in Sikh army on the Satluj colonial clothing. A few days later river, burnt the bridges and he posted the painting on Instagram abandoned the Khalsa Army, and the tagline read, “It requires about 10,000 Nihangs took sincerity to close that which is open, the stance to fight than to to stitch that which is raw, to embrace accept defeat. The British those pushed away, to respect as almost banned the Nihang we expect to be respected, to adopt way of life after the fall of Sikh “sarbat da bhala”, a goodwill for all. empire in 1845. After Indian The totem poles do not have to sink independence, and further has turned emerald green. attempts by the government to to make room for skyscrapers. In the distance, you see a The eagles do not have to stop tarnish the image of Nihangs, hint of a white dome and a soaring the skies, just to make small groups of the Nihung Nishan Sahib (Sikh flag). For room for the flags.” order have survived 150 years a moment, I was immersed in I feel Punjabi culture is going of neglect. the painting, and could almost Having lived close to Nihangs through a renaissance of thoughts, hear a faint echo of the songs while growing up in Punjab, arts and literature. A new generation of Guru Nanak reaching my of Punjabi poets and painters, native Parminder Singh’s paintings ears. and in diaspora, are breaking the explore a fresh perspective on I met Parminder Singh the life of Nihangs. When I met mold of confined perimeters of a couple of years ago in him in his small studio in Surrey, thought that confined their expression Vancouver, Canada. I came in the later half of last century and he seemed fascinated by their across his painting on finding new meaning in exploring way of life. Nihangs seem to Instagram of Baba Maan Singh appear often as subjects in his both our past and our future. Nihang along with several of “I dream of painting and then I paintings - but not just their his other works entrenched in paint my dream.” Van Gogh, the prowess in the battle, but as the life of the Nihangs (Sikh famous Dutch Post-Impressionist family men, as caretakers of Samurais)! painter once wrote. Parminder society - the saints and the Nihangs are the traditional Singh’s painting of the faces and warriors. military order of Sikhs, who places of Punjab are one of the best Parminder Singh is softcommit to the lifestyle of the impressions of nostalgia, seen from spoken, driven by the ethos of Sikh warriors. The mention of the Sikh and Punjabi traditions, a Punjabi eye, dreamed in a Sikh Nihangs - often referred to as heart and then beautifully painted on yet keenly aware of the current Akaalees (Immortals) - was a canvas. global affairs. I found his found often in European news bookshelves lined with books
Painter
OF
IMMORTALS
PARMINDER SINGH
L
et me describe Parminder Singh’s painting “Anandpur: The city of bliss” for you: There is a sprawling field, where the sun-burnt earth from the hot Punjab summers is drunk with the monsoon showers and
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M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 9
Reflecting The South-Asian Lifestyle
DARPAN
TM
