Whenever urban history of India would be written the name of Gautam Bhatia as one of the profound thinkers would be included in the list compiled. Architects have this unique tendency of flirting in various directions and in various fields of creativity. Gautam Bhatia is no exception.

He has initiated a new project that interprets the public figures of the country in a new light and the medium of expression chosen by Bhatia is through the paint and canvas. Among the figurines, the first public figure with which he has dabbled is Sachin Tendulkar, and an exhibition has already been mounted on Sachin Tendulkar in Delhi, and is expected to move to Mumbai and Bangalore shortly. The exhibition has been christened as ‘Desh Ki Awaz, or the voice of the country.

Under this project Gautam Bhatia has tried to give the public figure an association with the popular gods. So Sachin Tendulkar has been depicted as Hanuman, and instead of his gada (An Indian Mythological Weapon) in the hand, Sachin is shown holding his cricket bat.

It is an apt description for Sachin Tendulkar as he is like the god Hanuman for the Indian cricket team, the real crisis resolving personality, and removing all the cobwebs of doubt through his personality as he is presently doing with his team Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League's second season in South Africa.

For Sachin it indeed is another personal milestone, and is demonstrative of the love that his fans have for him. Sachin has been represented in all forms of representations, four biographies have already been written on him, he has been conferred with a Padma Vibhushan and Madam Tussauds already has immortalized him in wax. To add to his persona, the honours were done in India for him, which is one of the firsts for Tussauds as well. Tussauds has this tradition that who ever they wish to immortalize has to travel to London to inaugurate the same, but in Sachin's case, the Mountain moved to the Mohammed. For Sachin it indeed was a matter of time before he got equated with the gods in India, and one may find a temple built up in his memory shortly as well.

To execute this project Gautam Bhatia has taken the help of traditional artists from West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar and Delhi. It was clearly informed that the depiction should have modernistic connotations instead of relying on images from epics or folk tales so that it could appeal to a wider audience.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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