So I went away...

"बहुत बुरे दिन आने वाले हैं....
This will be bring misfortune and bad times to India..." uttered my new companion, Ravi Thakur or 'Raja-Sahib' as I would address him later... and he would call me 'Prince'!!.
We were sitting on the balcony of the 'Kullu Naggar Castel' restaurant.. I was returning from a very long ardours trip to Ladakh by road. The year was 2004, Summer.
Election in India had ended and Vajpayee had lost!!
We looked around and down into the valley from our balcony seats... Raja Sahib was then the manager of Naggar Castle and a very passionate and unorthodox man!!
We hit it off rather well... He recounted how Vajpayee would come every summer and rest here in this very hotel.. how he loved these mountains... How for his evening tea he would get him hot jalabi...
I have always admired Vajpayee and was shocked to know he was send packing without a solid reason... it baffled me and it baffles me to this day...
"When Nehru died, continued Raja-Sahib... "they scattered his ashes on top these beautiful Himalayan rivers and mountains... can you imagine that?! .. such sick wishes of a very sick man?
"And you know what happened after that? We had years of drought, landslide... Our pure mountains were desecrated by this man's ashes...!!"
We laughed but something was telling me things would get bad... and it did.
The 10 years of (Indian) socio-political scenario and 'my life' now looked so very similar.
My personal life went into a horrible tail spin.. till it crashed! Family and friends left me, my finances nose dived and every one cheated me. I got caught up in property litigation which drained the last bit of life out of me... My creative side was shut off completely.
Everyone said I had "Shani-Dasha"!!
By 2006-7 I had enough of this and decided like my childhood hero...'Netaji Shubhas' to escape!!
So I went away...
Now let me finish this with another character from 2004, he was a highly qualified IITian engineer, a Sardar. My then neighbour in Delhi. He was most pleased with the new political development!! He reasoned with me, "Look Roy, here we are going to be lead by a clean educated man and an Italian lady... nothing can go wrong!! And Sonia is not even interested in being the PM, she would bring in the "European" culture and we will all prosper etc etc."
10 years just went by... Vajpayee is now a vegetable. Modi has become very popular and the darling of the youth...
The question that haunt me most is not: 'If he will come to power?'
But 'Will he get a second chance?' and 'An absolute majority?'
Both were denied to Vajpayee... By our voters!!

Winter : Paintings

www.facebook.com/animeshroyartist

Rataje-Polanka-2
Oil on Linen
40cmx50cm
15.7x19.7"
2 January 2009
For Sale
Rataje-Polanka: A small patch of wilderness behind our home.. my den! Many of my works are done here. Its a forgotten piece of land and full of beautiful subjects for me to paint. The snow on the path makes the composition very striking.

Rataje-Polanka-4
Acrylic on Linen
30cmx30cm
11.8x11.8"
9 January 2009
For Sale
A rare attempt at acrylics!! I don't paint much with acrylics anymore. But wanted to do a quick study and in the freezing evening it turned out more torturous as water and paints froze and it took more time!! But the result was worth it.

Himalaya
100x81cm
39.4x31.9 inches
Oil on Linen
Jan-Feb 2012
For Sale

Tree, Winter
62x52cm
Oil on Linen
Dec 2010
For Sale

Lanckorona-2
Oil on Linen
22cmx27cm
8.7x10.6"
March 2009
For Sale

Rataje-Polanka-3
Oil on Linen
40cmx70cm
15.7x27.6"
4 January 2009
Rataje-Polanka: A small patch of wilderness behind our home. Many of my works are done here. Its a forgotten piece of land. The snow on the path makes the composition very striking. Painted on location. For Sale

Winter
50x40cm
Oil on Canvas
Jan 2011 For Sale

Snowscape
50cm x40 cm
Oil on Canvas
January 2011
For Sale

Old Mill-2
44.5x28.5 cm
17.5x11.2 inches
Oil on Canvas
Dec 2010

River Warta-2
Oil on Linen
40cmx50cm
15.7x19.7"
12 January 2009
Warta river snaking around Poznan had finally frozen and I went out to paint. Painting in subzero temperature is not new to me but painting a river which has frozen was!! And it was a spectacular sight!
Painted on location on River Warta banks
Poznan, Poland
12 January 2009

Winter
Acrylic on Canvas
33x41cm
Jan 2010
Poznan, Poland

Old Mill
Oil on Canvas
33x24cm
13x9.4 inches
Dec 2010

Lacnkorona-5
Oil on Linen
22cmx27cm
8.7x10.6"
March 2009
For Sale



Warta River
Oil on Linen
40cmx70cm
15.7x27.6"
Warta river snaking around Poznan had finally frozen and I went out to paint.
Painting in subzero temperature is not new to me but painting a river which has frozen was!!
It was a spectacular sight!
Painted on location on River Warta banks
Poznan, Poland
11 January 2009 For Sale



Lanckorona-3
Oil on Linen
33cmx27cm
13"x10.6"
March 2009
For Sale



Rataje-Polanka
Oil on Linen
40cmx50cm
15.7X19.7"
2 January 2009
Rataje-Polanka: A small patch of wilderness behind our home.. my den!
Many of my works are done here.
Its a forgotten piece of land and full of beautiful subjects for me to paint.
First snowscape of 2009.

Lanckorona- 6
Oil on Linen
41x33cm
March 2009
Poland
For Sale

Winter, Lanckorona-4
Oil on Linen
33cmx24cm
13x9.4"
March 2009
For Sale

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My paintings available on other online galleries on the Internet:


http://www.gallerytoday.com/gallery/painters/a-roy-285/

www.indianartcollectors.com/artist/AnimeshRoy

http://kolkataarthouse.com/artists/37/animesh-roy/

Music of Assam

Years ago we had to spend one night in a waiting room of Guwahati Railway Station.. my father with great difficulty procured a little corner for his family of five... we had just arrived after days of travelling in buses, trains et al from a very small Himalayan town to the far eastern plains of Brahmaputra. We had grown up there as Kumaonis... and now after 3 long years of childhood we were excited and very curious about Assam and Goalpara, where ultimately we were to go..

As we camped in the waiting room for the night, we heard sound of a strange language, close to my mother tongue Bangla but their 'स' being 'ह' it sounded exotic. Being away in the Himalayas we were more familiar with Komaoni or Hindi.

We children were very exited to be in a new place. Though growing up in the mountains was very adventurous.. but we being very adventurous children had exhausted all avenues around our Himalayan hamlet..

As night fell and after eating a sumptuous meal of rice and दाल we went off to sleep. It has been days since we left our home of 3 years behind and have been travelling with all our belongings in trucks, buses and trains.. it was one of the longest journey for us. I remember my father being very upset with a group of young men in the waiting room.. he even went to complain about their boisterous behaviour etc. Later in the night as we slept soundly.. I awakened by strain of someone's singing.. a strange tune, sung in a strange exotic language. The tune was lilting and catchy, dramatic... even to my young ears they sounded very different.

It didn't take me much long to know it was the music of Assam.. songs of Bhupen Hazarika!!