WHEN THE SKY REIGNED TEARS OF BLOOD
SUGHRA RABBABI STABBED TO DEATH IN HER STUDIO

One tear that became Zeba Vanek

Rich men do not usually beget very sensitive children. Satiated with their worldly needs, few traverse the path of art itself. Sughra Rabbabi was really an exception. Her heart beat for the cause of the tyrannized people, whether it was in Palestine or elsewhere. She always tried to raise funds for such needy people and her generosity of UNICEF was recognized by the Mayor of San Francisco, who declared 19th January, 1999 as the Sughra Rabbabi day in San Francisco, USA. But we have moved ahead of time, it is actually time to trace the roots.

Ghulam Ali Mandiwala was a very rich businessman of Lahore, and he was in touch with the artist Abdur Rahman Chughtai. We do not know how they got in touch or where they got in touch, but a relation existed between them. Perhaps they met at Governors House in 1934 when the Governor General of Punjab decorated M.A. Rahman Chughtai with the title of Khan Bahadur, and where all esteemed citizen used to be there. In any case there was mutual respect with the two, and the artist enjoyed a very good reputation in Lahore as a person who always listened and gave good advice. The profession of Sughra Rabbabi was consulted with the artist, and the artist was happy with the workmanship of Sughra Rabbabi.

Ozzir Zuby used to have his studio in the Open Air Theatre in Lawrence Gardens, and the story of Ozzir Zuby and Sughra Rabbabi was well known to Hameed Al-Makki, who is now dead. That directly or indirectly, both Ozzir Zuby and Sughra Rabbabi was inspired by the work of the artist Chughtai, is self evident in their work, but obviously they developed their own individuality from that. Even the themes are same at many places. The husband and wife team were both very patriotic and that is well understood. But rugged individualism creates its own problems and the man and wife did drift apart, although we do not know the inner story well.

It is indeed paradoxical that Lahore became the focal point of Sughra Rabbabi and Amrita Sher-Gil, and in their art they met in quest for a modern medium, although personality wise they were very different. Amrita Sher-Gil was a heart breaker, but Sughra broke her own heart. That is seen in her life as well as in her art. Ozzir Zuby found happiness in another woman, Zebun Zuby, who managed his school. By now the area was Karachi and not Lahore anymore. Sughra vented herself in her art. And then one day she fell into the intrigue of material wealth, and was stabbed to death in her studio. How sad! Not enough. A sensitive woman met a most insensitive death. It was more than cruel. The sky burst into tears. And one tear became Dr Zeba Vanek, who has resolved to dedicate her life to her mother, in quest of promoting her. We wish her well!

The present set up in Pakistan is allergic to Art as it is composed of literal nincompoops. But it is worthy to save some artists for our future record (we will give a list one day and the so called pseudo Masters’s names are not in them), and Sughra Rabbabi is one of them. Right now the existence of the National art Gallery is even under threat, and it may become a gallery of IMAGINATIVE ACHIEVEMENTS OF RUTHLESS REGIMES. Allah have mercy on us!

OUR HYDERABADI BRETHREN IN DECCAN INDIA
M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI AND HYDERABAD DECCAN

Civilized, cultured, educated, loving- Hyderabadi essence

A long time back Lahore was the cultural capital or the Mughals. Then some preferred Delhi for same. But Emperor Aurangzeb beat them all by shifting his attention to the city he founded, that is Aurangabad. Out of a different city, he carved a Mughal city and was obsessed with that area. All his life, from that of a Prince to a King was devoted to Deccan. He even died and was buried in Khuldabad. Even today people remember him as perhaps the greatest Emperor of Hindustan. Where other areas could muddle the history of Emperor Aurangzeb, the Hyderabadi Deccan people always knew better. Even today Aurangzeb is loved there.

The interesting part is that many people from Lahore migrated to Hyderabad Deccan in that period and there are records and mohallas attesting to the Lahori origin of some of those people. Ustad Jameel Baig, architect of the Panch Chakri had Lahori origins too. In fact Ustad Ahmad Mimar Lahori , Architect of the Taj Mahal, is also buried in Khuldabad graveyard. M.S. Vatts, and his Archaeolgical team has recorded his grave there and the epitaph composed by Lutufullah Muhandis on his father’s grave.

M.A. Rahman Chughtai was so much attached to Hyderabad Deccan, that Beverly Nichols in his VERDICT ON INDIA records him as a Hyderabadi artist. In 1927 Dr Allama Iqbal had written to the Nizam of Hyderabad for financial assistance for the publication of Murraqqa e Chughtai edition on Mirza Ghalib. The letter is still there in Hyderabadi archives. A sum of Rs 5000 was alloted for the publication but in exchange many of the paintings were physically taken for the Nizam’s Palace in Delhi, where they were for a number of years. The book was dedicated to the Nizam himself, but unfortunately the book could not be presented at the Court of the Nizam, and was handed by a disgruntled brother, Dr Abdullah Chaghatai, at the Jamia Masjid in Hyderabad. As a result no grant or gift was given to the book.

Hyderbad could not forget Chughtai the artist. An exhibition on Dr Allama Iqbal was held in Hyderabad in 1948 and inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister, and attended by the Prince Asif Jah, son of the Nizam of Hyderabad. A number of painting were purchased. The Salar Jang Museum had many Chughtai paintings. The National Museum had literally hundred of them. How many are left we do not know? But choice works of the artist were in Hyderabadi museums as well as homes.
Disaster struck Hyderabad when the Indian Government took Hyderabad on verge of accession to Pakistan, and the Army disbanded. Then Hyderabad broken down in different divisions, for it to never to show up her head again. From deep in our heart, we pray that one day Hyderabad be Hyderabad Deccan again and all its son of souls scattered all over the West come back to the land of their ancestrors, where they lived and reigned for centuries. Amen!

We meet a lot of Hyderabadis here even today, as they still come to visit us at the museum and we are delighted to receive them. Many did migrate to Pakistan and many are settled in Karachi. But many did move out to the USA and other places. You can recognize a Hyderabadi by simply his essence, which is unique in all ways.

P.S. With special regards to Ali Hassan from Hyderabad Deccan.