Sleepless in Pandharpur

Ratjaga in Hindi or jagar in Marathi point towards Hindu rituals of remaining awake for a Lord or a Goddess Married women in Maharashtra enjoy such celebratory nights in the honour of Gauri Mata their counterparts in North India have similar nocturnal fun during teej and dooj observancesPainterpoetphotographer Rajesh Eknath 50 has good memories of such sleepresistant musical nights both in his ancestral home at Veni Ganeshpur in Maharashtra and his current residence in Indore where he has been living for five decades Yet his latest Ratjaga series has little connection with the staple of bhajankirtan nights on which he was raised His seriesmdash40odd charcoalink paper drawingsmdashderive its titular significance from the romantic popular qawwali Saakiya aaj mujhe neend nahi ayegi suna hai teri mehfil mein rat jaga hain But he isnrsquot portraying a sleepless wait for the loverEknathrsquos Ratjaga drawings that first started as notebook sketches lament the sleepless fearful frustrated and helpless state he experienced as a virus paralysed humankind He in fact created them in the first and second phase of the COVID19 pandemic a time when he was mostly in Pandharpur He was accompanying his friend sculptor Umesh Thakar who was entrusted with an art project The duo travelled to Pandharpur DehuAlandi and AkkalkotldquoRatjaga is about my encounter with famed pilgrim towns that were enveloped in an unusual pall of gloom Fear was widespread and the governance systems of these townships seemed to emit a sense of relief considering the curfewlockdown normsrdquo Eknath says of the towns which before the pandemic used to host large congregations It set him thinking about fearstricken sleepdeprived depressed souls in every city and village of Maharashtra He started dwelling on the quiet moments experienced in these flowerladen incensefilled holy precincts ldquoEarlier I always wondered if the peoplesystems over here needed rest and rejuvenation of course one wasnrsquot expecting the eerie silence that COVID19 brought inrdquoIt is a coincidence that Ratjaga has triggered conversations on social media platforms at a time when the Maharashtra government is about to reopen October 7 places of worshipEknathrsquos charcoal drawings reflect the universal cessation of activity which points to loss pain breathlessness lack of verve slowing of reflexes and repetitive patterns of daily chores which includes panic groceryshopping His images catch the COVIDimpacted life in abstract ways The fragmented forms revolve around living room spaces floor plans building clusters oblique references to the everalert media platforms and the lack of human presence Circular and oval shapeshifting amoebalike blackandwhite microorganisms characterise each image the fastmutating allpervasive forms make an ensemble creation ldquoWhile the virus is repulsive it contributes to a distinct aesthetic in the Ratjaga construct The coexistence of fear pain and beauty is the soul of Eknathrsquos charcoal seriesrdquo says art historian Shubhalakshmi Shukla who had included Eknathrsquos photography works in her Body as Text series three years ago She says Ratjaga is about the isolated and distanced self in current timesPainter Rajesh Eknathrsquos charcoal images catch the COVIDimpacted life in abstract ways The fragmented forms revolve around living room spaces floor plans building clusters oblique references to the everalert media platforms and the lack of human presenceJust as Ratjaga is about the loss of definite sleep hours and the abnormal dystopian life thrust on people it is also about the restoration and reset button It is an affirmation of the true rhythm of life that humans have lost because of the selfcreated ldquomayajaalrdquo ldquoWhen something as basic as sleep and oxygen are beyond reach we are awakened to the lack in our lives It pushes us towards natural elements and hopefully at some point will connect us to the artsrdquo says EknathRatjaga is in one sense a departure from Eknathrsquos earlier mixedmedia work which was centred on saint poetry Both his parents were wellversed with abhangs of saints like Tukaram Dynaneshwar and Kanhopatra No wonder it reflected in two of his key series Abhang and Shabdanugat which were displayed in Chennai and Delhi ldquoMy fascination for the oftheard verse found an expression on the canvasrdquo says Eknath whose abhangconnect manifested in an identifiable pattern till 2015 He has moved on to new media and materials but saint poetry remains his recourse Be it his workshops at Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal or participation in the Silk Route Festival 2002 or visual poetry shared on social media Eknathrsquos oeuvre is defined by his belief in Bhakti poetry as a source of strength Itrsquos also a guiding sentiment in the Ratjaga charcoal drawings as well as his ceramic sculpturesEknath has been an itinerant soul much before COVID19 struck His works have been displayed in places as varied as Gwalior Mumbai Paris and London Although a resident of Indore he has lived in Delhi and Mumbai He is currently operating from a studio space in Phursungi in Pune As someone deeply interested in the evolution of villages towns and cities Eknath says he has so far embraced life in many homes He chose to be a guest in Lord Vithalrsquos abode Pandharpur during the lockdownmdasha memory that will permanently inspire his artSumedha RaikarMhatre is a culture columnist in search of the subtext You can reach her at sumedharaikarmiddaycom