“When a man goes to a mountain, it becomes tough; but when a mountain comes to a man, it becomes easy.” everybody had suggested that I invite Mr. Jamshed Bhabha, chairman of Tata Sons for my solo show at the Jehangir art gallery in Mumbai. While I was young and confident, I enthusiastically wrote him a letter of special invitation. Maki Masani, his secretary very sweetly replied saying that Bhabha doesn’t inaugurate shows else he would be only doing this every other day. In the meantime, someone helped me get in touch with Mr. Sahdruddin Daya (Former sheriff of Mumbai and owner of Dawood shoes), one of the biggest art connoisseurs and collectors of modern art those days who inaugurated my show. I rushed home post the show as I had my M.A. final year exams to give. To my surprise there were four missed calls from Mr. Bhabha and he called again before I could even return his calls, he was all praises about my works as he had heard a lot about it from his wife and she had specifically asked him to attend my show. He soon started making enquiries about my works after which he humbly asked me to show him the works in Mumbai and also handed over a letter of recommendation from the graciousness of Maharani Gayatri Devi, who visited my home in Pune in 1987, appreciated my works and wrote to him recommending to see my works. This encouraged me to retain my spirit as an artist and he continued to patronize my works over the years. Late Jamshed Bhabhaji after personally collecting my works also promoted it on their Tata corporate calendar in 1988 along with some of the biggest names in the Indian art world, like the legendary M F Hussain, K H Ara, Laxman Shreshtha and Anjolie Ela Menon. This was the biggest learning lesson for me that all things unfold, just as they should in its own course. When something has to fall into your lap it will find its way, you don’t have to push, and fix leaks, and put out fires. You just let things work on their own. They happen.
