Pigmentation and painting

The report “SA Indians ‘confused about their identity’” (September 23) refers.
Some self-proclaimed “cultural leaders” and “researchers” are so confused about race, culture, pigmentation and nationality/nationhood that they are contributing to the “identity crisis”...

As for Vande Matheram, although it was the previous national anthem of India, it is also a hymn, especially to those who choose to emphasise the motherhood of God.
Sri Aurobindo Ghosh and Subbhas Chandra Bose considered it a hymn. So do millions of Hindus, especially Bengalis.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, even in “researchers”.
Thillayvel Naidoo is a knowledgeable, qualified academic who is not seeking self-advancement, political office or business deals. — B SINGH, Verulam

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But in one important respect, Shankar’s diplomatic career has had no bearing on his painting. All of Shankar’s paintings take their subjects from his preoccupation with philosophy and spiritualism. Indeed, before he became a diplomat (at his father’s prodding), he was a professor of philosophy at the University of Allahabad. “I’d read Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, the vedas and upanishads very early in my youth and for a time, even became a sanyasi,” Shankar recalls. It’s not just the Indian mystical tradition — Shankar also draws inspiration from Western mystics like the German Eckhart and Armenian-Greek Gurdjieff...

But what’s most striking about Shankar’s paintings is their dream-like quality, reinforced by his use of rich, vibrant, sometimes lurid colours — indeed, Paul Cézanne and Salvador Dalí are two artists whom Shankar has liked. Shankar has found a name for his mode of painting — neo-expressionism, wherein, he says, depicting the idea is of prime importance, far more than shapes, lines or colours... Mild Machiavelli
Gargi Gupta / New Delhi October 28, 2007