To ‘disrupt and discover’ like Satish Gujral

On the artist’s 96th birth anniversary today, his daughter shares key life lessons and memories

The world knows Satish Gujral (25 December 1925 - 26 March 2020) as the acclaimed muralist, sculptor and architect but to me, he was a truly expressive father. He would hug and kiss his children, his smile telling us that we were his universe. He was the quintessential storyteller too and would never tire of telling stories of life in Mexico (where he trained with the radical Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera), the beauty of Jhelum river, the camaraderie at his art college in Mumbai.

My earliest memory is of him driving his Fiat, with me on his lap. We would be going to my mother’s pottery factory in Okhla where he was working on his famed mural for the Baroda House. Once there, I would be left alone to play with the clay, spin away at the potter’s wheel. We were living then in Tilak Marg in a typical Lutyen Delhi bungalow allocated to him by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, in recognition of his art. It was a typical sarkari house and my father had converted the garage into his studio. Palettes, rows of easels and many tables decked with murals filled this space. There was also this drum of oil, which became my throne each afternoon. Soon after school, I would rush home, parking myself next to him to observe him work. The deal was that I had to remain quiet, so we spoke with our silence. Mohit and Alpana, my elder siblings, were both away at boarding school and I grew up almost like an only child, my father’s constant companion.