Mr. Khan

The above portrait of mine was done by my friend Mr. Kareem Khan. Out of the three portraits he has done of me so far, (in his characteristic impulsiveness of sudden zest), I feel the portrait above has captured me in my elemental, (cheerful, energetic, optimistic) best.

Everyday Mr. Khan sits at Nehru Place, New Delhi selling books from his pile of literary collections. Mr. Khan is a highly temperamental person (as most artists intrinsically are). To the frequent passer byes asking about the location of the nearest ATM/ cybercafe/ Bank etc he either responds by a cold, stony, silent gaze or a hot, sour/ bitter/ acidic reply .

To those in query of a particular book/ magazine he's informative, civil, laconic. But to the rather rare queries about any literary manuscript of some worth, he suddenly comes forward in a loquacious, friendly, patronising, candidness (in fact, it might have been the starting point of our friendship too). Thereon he goes onto chat about various other books, offering random information about classics and manuscripts of a wide variation. If he then feels, that, the enquirer is of suitable merit/ fiber, he opens up to his favourite topic of art, culture and creativity. It is then, that the interaction begins to zest up, and then onwards, Mr. Khan opens one up to an alternative world of multitude doorways (somewhat similar to the internet).

What I like most about Mr. Khan's viewpoints are that they are charged, strong, electric, and inflammable. His age and experiences allows him to talk of art/ aesthetics from a viewpoint that is SIMULTANEOUSLY passionate, from the gut, visceral and yet airy, ethereal, lofty & inspirational at the same time.

In our modern world of politically- correct, sanitized, hypocritical and convenient conversation, people like Mr. Khan provide us a refreshing alternative. Since I, myself am a soul who's immersed in my own overtly opinionated world, viewpoint, of Religion, philosophy, Vedic astrology/ Rahu Ketu/ Vaastu and what not, my conversations with Mr. Khan can fall under Jean Baudrillard's classic definition of Radical Exoticism. Where, radically divergent/ different entities combine to create Synthesis/ Metastasis on another unforeseen level. Purely Rahu Ketu indeed...100%!!!