I am perhaps not big on patriotic sentiments, but I do get teary & goose bumpy when I hear the national anthem, or the Ai mere watan ke logon, or when a Sachin scores a 200, or even when the Armed forces looses one of its heroes. But definitely, I am not patriotic enough, because I really fail to understand the reason why a painter like Hussain should have to live in exile & be a fugitive. Perhaps, India no more celebrates art, but more keeps it in the shackles of dirty & petty politics. Even then, I guess, politics gains more keeping Hussain an Indian. They could have boasted of having one of the finest painters of modern India, who has painfully given to the world few of the best pieces of art. I guess, India could not see, what the queen of Qatar could, who commissioned him to do a series of paintings depicting Islam. It's disheartening really to see something like this happen. While we are still bragging to be the worlds biggest democracy, we could not give an artist the space to paint in his own country.
I do not claim to understand how sad/happy Mr. Hussain might be, but it really would suck for me if my parents would ask me to not come home one day, only cause I had made a mistake...really what could be worse than that.
