A Lifetime Of Memories

Eminent painter, sculptor, architect and Padma Vibhushan awardee Satish Gujral may be 93 years old, but his tales of home and the world are many. Here, he reminisces his days of travels and tells us how travelling shaped his life.

- Satarupa Paul

How has travel inspired you and your work?

“They travelled across the seas and changed their skies, but couldn’t change their minds.” Until few years back, I used to travel so much that I went around the world twice. Even though I’ve travelled widely and been exposed to so many cultures and people, I believe that inspiration need not come from the outside—it comes from the within. No matter where you are, things will happen to you and create their own inspirations. Having said that, I’ve made friends in every country I’ve travelled to and many have come to visit me here in India. They have all made me so rich, not by money but by ideas.

How did you catch the travel bug?

My father was very fond of travelling too. In fact, it was my father who discovered Pahalgam in Kashmir before it became a traveller’s haven. Nobody knew about Pahalgam before that. One day, while on one of their explorations, my father and a friend reached Martand, which is about eight miles before Pahalgam. They hired a pony from there and went further ahead; there were no roads but they managed to reach Pahalgam. They both liked the place so much that they decided that every year for four months they’d stay in Pahalgam.

Which place would you say changed your life?