Manoj Chhabra’s painting
Imagine, there is a lion on the wall in front of you and a painting hanging next to it. First you read the couplet and then you looked at the painting. Now you start to think if the poem was written first or the painting was made first. That is to say, the couplet was written after looking at the painting or the painting was made after reading the couplet. What could be more mixed than this? Pratap Somvanshi’s verses have been mixed with the colors of Manoj Chhabra’s paintings.
It seems that just like the colors green, red, pink, yellow and blue, ‘Shayari’ also has a color. Which dissolves in this painting. It would not be wrong to call Pratap Somvanshi a poet of the times. His poetry is as much about life, relationships, people and society as it is about traditional poetry. It says so in the couplet in the title of this book.
I received dozens of stories every time I met him, Sundays seemed short.
Or Pratap Somvanshi writes
Every green tree is being cut down, we are being divided into percentages, our hands are being cut off by giving weapons in our hands, your courage has started to increase, your name is being shortlisted.
Manoj Chhabra brings out his same style in these paintings.
This idea arose during the lockdown.
Manoj Chhabra says he has been reading Pratap Somvanshi’s verses since before. But the foundations of this exhibition were laid during confinement. Well, there are many more such stories during the lockdown. People living in different areas of Mumbai had formed a guitar band. Some artists made videos on the balcony itself. Manoj Chhabra also has a similar story. These lions forced him to lock himself up.
He says: ‘I felt like the lions were getting deep into my mind and disturbing me. This sale was such that it forced me to make a sketch. Little by little it happened that every time I read a couplet, an image began to form in my mind. It seemed as if the colors of those paintings were smiling in front of me. I used to take the paintbrush and put that lion on the canvas.
Manoj Chhabra himself is a poet. Many of his books have been published. It is important to talk about a book under your direction. He has edited the book by Pradeep Singh, who suffers from cerebral palsy. When Pradeep grew bored with his physical challenges, Manoj Chhabra showed him the world of books. Pradeep now also writes poems.
This exhibition will be held in more cities now.
Pratap Somvanshi has been saying lion for the last three decades. This couplet, which often goes viral during Dussehra, has been written by him.
Ram, Ravana of your time was good, he kept every face out of ten.
Regarding the planning of this exhibition, he says that the response of many people was such that now we will take this exhibition to other cities as well. He mentions lawyer Tarun Goyal, who came from Muzaffarnagar. It is said that Sanjay ji went to the District Court with many copies of the book and distributed it among his fellow lawyers and clients. Now it has been decided that the next stop of this exhibition will be Gurugram. After this Kanpur. Then Prayagraj.
The cover of the work ‘Loi-Chalai Kabira Saath’ written by Pratap Somvanshi is also displayed in this exhibition hall. We often talk about the interrelationship of the arts. That means that a singer understands poetry very well. Whoever understood Kabir, his presentation of bhajans became different. A good dancer will often be found performing in historical pieces. For example, you will find thousands of presentations on Geet Govind.
The Chota Pad Gaya Sunday exhibition is also an extension of this. Where poetry and painting complement each other. As if each line of poetry was complete in itself. Similarly, in Manoj Chhabra’s images, each color is complete in itself. No color “disturbs” the other.
