FOR Ghulam Rasul, painting is and always will be his first love. But GR, as he is popularly known, has been a movie-goer since childhood, long before he started flirting with paints and brushes.
“In those days, Indian and Pakistani movies shown in cinema houses offered a complete entertainment package with a moving story, terrific music, good songs and outstanding performances. People did not choose any particular type of movie, any new movie was a must-see,” GR remembers.
Besides the movies running in cinema houses, he says touring talkies would arrange travelling shows in small villages and towns. “Conservative parents did not allow their children to go to a movie. Instead, they encouraged them to watch the circus. So much so that they would accompany their children to the circus whenever it came to town.”
Going to a movie in the 1950s and ’60s was an adventurous experience. “I preferred matinee shows as I would reach home before sunset without being missed.” He made sure not to be spotted around the touring talky, for fear of his parents.
Considering the night show to be a good option, GR once opted for the 9 to 12 shows. “It involved taking the chowkidar of the house into confidence.” He remembers it as “an extremely risky and nerve-wrecking experience.” Going to movies after Isha prayers was considered unethical by the society then, he explains. Therefore, it happened only once and he never dared to repeat it.
Bedari, staring Ratan Kumar as a young boy, was a movie he can never forget. “It left a deep impression on my mind and helped me plan my life. It guided me to my destination. I wish such movies could be displayed in colleges and schools today to guide students in the right direction. Swiss Family Robinson is his other all-time favourite, which he can watch anytime.
In music, GR likes both classical and semi-classical, with ghazal being his favourite. “After painting the whole day in a valley, when I am tired I listen to music. Sitar, flute, sarod, shehnai, tabla, etc, are my favourite when played by ustad Baray Ghulam Ali, Chootay Ghulam Ali, Begum Akhtar, Roshan Ara Begum, Ustad Barkat Ali and Mehdi Hasan. Classical music transforms me to another world and elevates me to spiritual heights. I feel like a bird or a cloud over the highest peaks of the world.”
Besides being a source of strength, music relaxes and refreshes him. “It is my sole companion when I am all by myself. I listen to all kinds of instrumental music while driving in the Northern Areas, particularly on Sharae Resham, where I go to paint quite often.”
GR says he reads when he is not in a mood to paint. “I must read before going to sleep and if I get up in the middle of the night, I revert to the book again.” Besides books on art, he loves to read English and Urdu poetry and short stories. Alif Laila, which he read after his Matric exam and Qissa Chaar Dervesh, were his favourite books as a child. When older, the poetry of Ghalib, Iqbal, Anwar Khalil, Mir Taqi Mir, Nasir Kazmi, Munir Niazi and Kishwer Naheed inspired him. He believes that besides adding to knowledge, books are a distraction from worldly problems.
Young, contemporary writers and poets also interest him. Living in Islamabad, he feels we ignore people living in remote areas. In his favourite short-story book, Jungle Kahani, the author, Rizwan Mahboob, sensitively depicts the feelings and an insight to the lives of people living in the far-flung areas of Pakistan.
In this new world of “computerized generation” GR feels teaching of arts is not being given due importance. “Study of nature has altogether been forgotten, and all the emphasis is given on information technology and science subjects, which has created a certain imbalance in society. This has destroyed the thinking patterns of human beings altogether. He feels disappointed that “our present generation wastes time browsing the Internet or chatting” and does not find it productive at all.
Fa Hian is another book that fascinated him greatly. Originally written in Chinese by Yuan Weixue, it was also translated into Urdu and English. It describes the life and adventure of Fa Hian, who visited India, Nepal and Sri Lanka at the age of 65 with young people to carry out research on Buddhism. What interested him the most were the historic and cultural insights of the area and the adventures of a 65-year-old man learning about Buddhism. “It is a book of human determination and how you can achieve what you desire when you make up your mind,” explains GR.
FOR Ghulam Rasul, painting is and always will be his first love. But GR, as he is popularly known, has been a movie-goer since childhood, long before he started flirting with paints and brushes.
