Abbas Batliwala, a prolific artist from Udaipur, has unique, inimitable painting style

Rana Siddiqui Zaman | NT

Bengaluru: A 65-year-old Abbas Batliwala has recently captured the attention of art lovers, viewers, art gallerists and auctioneers alike.

Yet he lives a low-profile life. Batliwala is a businessman in the alleys of Udaipur (Rajasthan) runs his family business of Ayurveda herbs and dry fruits, creating artworks for passion and peace.

He lives in a large joint family of in his “complex”. His daily routine includes going to his “shop” and observe customers and people and situations around.

His role as a shopkeeper and a conversation with buyers unveils the people they are, soon to be found an expression in his unique style of oil paintings.

His images stand out for two main reasons; firstly, all his characters have unique eyes, which light up like a tube.

They are large, slanted almost popping out of faces -- men, women, children; and articles – dolls, kites, walls, et al. These eyes, are a take from the images of goddess Durga and Ganesha created by sculptors in Molena, the hub of terracotta in Udaipur, a style that has almost died out now.

Abbas added his own observations and some humour to create a signature style of his own.

Secondly, his each work attempts to tell a tale, leaves a viewer guessing what the people in it are up to? Why are they holding thread that illuminates like a string of lights in Diwali, why their shapes are so unusual, why is there a nimbu-mirchi hanging in the air?

His people gossip, peep in, whisper. They are curious, fearful, conspiratory, bored, busy or relaxed. One of his works has a child watching a moon like it is a chapatti (bread), and much more.

His creations have dark backdrop against which the large eyes radiate lending an obscure meaning to the theme. Batliwala has a story of struggle to become a painter, and making it to the connoisseurs and buyers.

Abbas flunked in high school twice to be labelled as “dhobhi ka kutta” (a stray dog) and “ye to gholne-potne ka kam karega” (he will just wash and paint) by his father and grandfather, respectively, who coul never think beyond business – a profession closer to heart of the entire Daudi Bohra Muslim community he belongs to.

However, he read the Quran in his childhood, went to convent school too, but had to take recourse in Hindi medium to complete his studies. He did post-graduation in Hindi, having the likes of authors Namwar Singh and Kashinath Singh as his inspirations.

For his guru, he has a veteran painter Shail Choyal in the vicinity to learn art technically from.

After sustaining in business while giving art its own time every day since 1982, In the early 90, Abbas was finally found out by art galleries, buyers and connoisseurs for his exceptional style of work, and in no time, since then, he made it to various biennales, triennials and to as far off countries as Holland in Europe and most other nations, globally.

His family still doesn’t value his passion. They just feel happy that he creates something and it brings home some economic benefits too!

Yet, contended with life, Abbas, a grandfather of various children of his sons and daughters, has now “almost” forgotten spoken language. Look ma, no language “My verbal language seems to have been erased. I can’t speak either English or Hindi properly now. They all have translated in my paintings,” is his relationship with his creations.

Abbas breaks all rules and paints free. Abbas is unremorseful about not reading any books anymore, know politics of the nation and the globe, visit art shows to delve deeper into their making, or paint anything that is beyond the people he meets and greets anywhere.

He doesn’t want to be influenced by what he reads and sees. He considers a villager having far more wisdom than those “educated fools and donkeys” who visit his shop and flaunt their halfbaked bookish knowledge of nature and politics.”

He “never paint to suit the market trends”. He doesn’t believe that art should always be used as a medium for social change either.

Political works become the historical document of the time. However, people, the likes of Abbas and Farhad paint, also document the socioeconomic times they live in.

His pretentionlessness inherently reflects the mood of the nation – peace, not politics, please! How right or wrong is it, is anyone’s guess.