A LETTER TO KABIR

 TOBA TEK SINGH

                                                                                                     NAME : V.VIJAYSHREE

                                                                                                     ROLLNO: 20SJCCC363 

WATERCOLOR PAINTING

THE LETTER

A POTRAIT OF KABIR AND TOBA TEK SINGH

The mode of creative expression I used was, a painting and a letter to Kabir from Toba Tek Singh. Along with the letter I drew an image of Toba Tek Singh and Kabir and cut the image and placed the drawing on the computers screen and used an image from the internet as the background, according to the idea this portrait was drawn by Toba Tek Singh himself as a gift to Kabir. He wanted Kabir to know the bond they shared and how they looked in the 1940’s. This letter was sent by Tek Singh 6 years after the partition. Ever since, Kabir reads this letter every year on the 15^th of august and also on the days he remembers Tek Singh and his grandfather. I also made a watercolor painting which according to me has a deep meaning. In the video which shows the painting, has a song playing on the background Doh Dillon Ke which has the most beautiful lyrics based on partition.

 

A creative mode of expression of history brings back those moments to life. I feel words can convey a lot but paintings can convey beyond that. Each aspect like the colors and symbols used, the way the lines move, the texture, the emotions portrayed, everything has its own reasons for usage and different people who look at the painting imagine things to be in different ways. This helps us imagine and gives a better and clear view of the history. For example, the painting describes partition the crossed lines in between show’s how our nation was torn apart. One can draw lines and create borders but one cannot divide the air, water, families or emotions. The women in between, has mixed feelings of anger, agony and sadness. Anger because she did not know why they had to split, why the had to give up so many lives in the name of war, protests and communal riots, why was it difficult to live united. The borders that were drawn around her has torn her into pieces. On the left people are going to places in search of a home, in search of their families, or some might find their families dead in the riots which broke out but still the move on is search of hope. on the right we see on one hand houses burning, families suffering and on the other hand at night we Indians rose with freedom and independence.

 

Through this letter I tried to show the experience of people who lived during the partition. In 2021 when Kabir was 82 years old he reads the letter again on the 15^th of august, tears filled in his eyes and a desire to do something for the nation is what he feels each time he reads the letter. Through this letter I tried to briefly explain the struggles faced by many during the British rule in India. For many years we were treated as slaves, our country’s treasures were looted and many more.

1.   1.  The Britishers who tried to break the unity to make Indians weak and powerless from within.

2.    2. The riots which broke out in various parts across the country.

3.     3.People from different religions fighting among themselves.

4    4. The partition, which led to hunger, death of millions, strikes, the feelings of losing someone, separation and abandonment.

 

There are questions in our minds about what could have been different, what if this happened? what if this did not happen etc. I feel things would have been different if we Indians stood united even if many tried to sow seeds of hatred and anger in the minds of people based on religion.

Things would have been different if the Britishers dint rule us, though there were a lot of negative effects of them ruling us but I find a positive factor in their rule in India. They treated men and women equally, they built schools for women and encouraged them to learn and gain knowledge, this would have taken a lot of time if the Britishers weren’t there.

 If india was not partitioned dreams of many leaders would have come true. 

This assignment helped me gain knowledge and get to know the history better. I watched movies and videos of many who lived during the partition to understand things better. For example, I saw a video of Mountbatten’s daughter talking about her experiences during their stay in India and few videos of the survivors of the partition.

There are countless stories that are unknown, we cannot find each one of them but we can try listening to a few of these stories and get to know our country better.