Kalidas' tragic vision

As he progressed from his life in Calcutta Art College, when his wife died to the time his mother died, tragic incidents continued to assail him. He was there with his mother when she died in his studio, with "one long breath", as he puts it. "That experience was very painful for me," he says. "Yes, I have gone ahead with my work, as you put it, yet the despair arises. I admit I have my two daughters and my grandchildren in USA. I have received adulation, yet I'm not flushed with success. You ask me if God hasn't given me some happiness in life. I don't believe in the word success. The word success has a different meaning from person to person. When I paint I don't worry my head over the success of the exhibition. I paint because I've no other option.

"I find life a challenge -- with my soul and that of my late wife. I took up this challenge in 1969, when Koruna, my wife passed away. True, I've been able to look after my two daughters, Keya and Konka, and my two grandchildren, Kushol and Krishan. You say that my eye is almost that of a goldsmith and you admire my 3-D approach. You praise my poised presentation. Again you admire the fact that I'm not flummoxed despite my pain and anguish. You speak of my depth of understanding of art and patience. People have criticised my flamboyancy. People have said I'm not serious enough. They have branded my work as 'swift'. Within myself I feel like a stone. Inside myself I'm systematic but I'm not so on the outside. I paint for myself, thinking only of the colours, images and symbols."

Kalidas continues that he has brought in "alluvial pain" and hopes that people will enjoy and study this. He said that true art should reflect true feelings. He has kept in mind the Liberation War in his first display, the acid burnt women in his last exhibition, showing women in pain. Right from the outset he has shown a human being in agony, where he brought in his own portrait, set in a bed of hard metal nails, portraying the angst of the soul. Despite the pervading gloom in his work there is the sharp vision and in built buoyancy. Often, in the present installation work, he has used handmade paper with meaningful collage, bearing meaningful symbols, which are fascinating and nonpareil. "And so I end my refrain and thrust home" is the final impact of the message of his superb work.