meeting Abu -the famous cartoonist

Cartoons and cartoonists have been always my favourites , with a smile they point out the faults ! In my school days i used to like every cartoon ,national / international , but Laxman's apart from shankar 's were my favourite . powerful lines and the punch lines ..unparallel ! Though Dar's wit, Mario's crispness ,tailang's and ninan's their own unique styles ,all i admired and enjoyed .Rajendra Puri's sattirical lines were also amazing for me .

Cartoons and cartoonists..it so happened one day that while standing near the gate of triveni gallery ,delhi. i saw one tall ,bald man moving out of the gallery and a small crowd was following him .I thought perhaps he is some scholar or some top man from govt. till i heard somebody calling him Abrahim sahab , and again somebody elase calling him Mr. Abu . ' Is he the famous cartoonist Abu Abrahim ',i asked somebody standing near him .His reply 'yes' was something like great achievement for me .I in a hurry holded my pen and sketch pad and started drawing his caricature . He was moving a bit fast, so i too had to be fast .After drawing few lines i showed to him ,he too saw it with a great interest .He looked at me ,' Are you a kashmiri ? ' ' Yes ' ,i said . ' Good ,keep on making cartoons ' , after saying this he signed the caricature and i felt as if i got the treasure and a blessing from him !

In delhi's Sirifort Auditorium , packed with audiences who were attentively listening the speech of veteran Indian movie director sh. Mahesh Bhatt , i was trying to find a sit for myself .It was completely dark .There was only one spot light that was focussed on sh. Bhatt . After a little struggle i found a seat for myself . I sat and started studying his face . Wanted to make his caricature /sketch but it was too dark .I couldn't control my artistic instinct even though there was not a proper light . I started drawing his caricature . It was a guess work , a try . After he completed his speech lights were on and i was so excited because i had succeeded in drawing his caricature ,defeating darkness and making my guess work to win .I went to him ,showed him .He starred at me and said ,' how could you do this in darkness ?' He talked to me for a while after signing my drawing . He liked what i had written on my drawing ..there is no but other than mahesh bhatt ....

meeting with Sikander Bakht

It was somewhere in seminar in delhi where i was making the caricature of sh. Ram Jhethmalani ,who was ( perhaps a law minister at that time ) addressing the invited audiences , when somebody sitting near to me was continuously watching me .I got bit irritated with this person as he was making me more uncomfortable by his comments like ..good, well done..etc etc. Because of this i couldn't concentrate and enjoy my drawing .

After Sh. Jethmalani's speech was over moderator announced the name of then Industries Minister sh. Sikander Bakht .And to my surprise the gentleman who was sitting near me and making me feel a bit restless was none other than Sh. Bakht . I realized this when after announcement he stood up .I gently holded his hand and requested him ,' can you please sit for a moment ?' .He perhaps read my mind ,he gave a smile and sat . Without wasting a minute i started drawing his caricature .And it was a bit difficult task as he was sitting so close to me that i was not getting the proper depth/ space to study his face .By now almost everyone was watching my activity ,that was more challenging. But this time i was so focussed that i felt nobody's presence except Sh. Bakht's .His profile caricature was ready after few minutes .He got immensely pleased almost hugged me and gave his autograph . Dais was waiting for him , but before heading towards dais he gave me an invitation ..' come to my place on any day !'

presenting sh.vajpayee a series of caricatures

' meri 51 atal rekhein '

some of the unforgettable moments of my life !

' ye zindagi ke mele duniya mei kum n hongey...

afsos hum na hongey.....'

- anil nakhasi

my meeting with sh. vajpayee

He was PM and i had an appointment to meet him at 7 race course road. On the same day i reached delhi as i had gone to shirdi. Sai's thought had dominated my mind to the extent that i had no excitement , as one perhaps carry if one is meeting country's PM . I reached PM's residence ,showed my appointment letter , was made to sit for a while , and finally was told that PM is ready for a meeting . The moment i entered the room i found a man standing ,angelic smile on his face ,expression full of warmth and peace . Atal Behari Vajpayee ! I presented him a series of 51 caricatures ( his caricatures ) , his smile became more volatile .He was minutely looking at every caricature and i was busy in looking the original character of my 51 series subject .He laughed so much that i realized my work is upto the mark . making PM to laugh means country laughing !!! He appreciated my work and requested somebody to have our photograph .We clicked together ,with each other .After sometime We said goodbye to each other and exchanged good wishes .While leaving the room i turned back and again went close to him ,shook hand and like a philosopher said - ' n janey fir kabhi mulaqaat hogi ki nahi ', and he immediately replied ,' zaroor hogi ....'And there was a pause from both sides . I'm waiting to see the end of this pause ( of many years ) and resume again may be again for a while !

When anybody , anybody means layman, atleast not from the cinema world , in the first meeting cannot recognize him and even if you will give him clue still he won't succeed to identify him . When i saw him first time in one of the film festivals i was literally moved to see his humbleness .I'm talking about the great film maker Sh. Adoor Gopalkrishnan ! Seeing his humbleness i said ,' sir ! nobody will take you as a film maker that too a serious film maker ,it seems as if you have left home to get some vegetables ( as he always carry a bag ) and you returned home with a film in your hand .' On hearing this he gave a gentle smile but when i told i have made your caricature his smile went into uneasy zone ..may be he got a bit scared and a bit happy that i'm also a cartoonist .Anyway he liked his caricature !

I've read and seen the cinematic excellence of many great ones whom i call visual writers .Cinema ,a good cinema is my love .Orsen welles ,Hitchcock ,Jean Renoir, Truffaut, Bunnel,Guru Dutt ,Copola ,makhbalbaf and there are many others whom i admire ,world admire .Kurosawa's 'roshomon' , Satyajeet Ray's 'Pather Panchali' and 'Aprojita' ,Guru Dutt's 'pyasa' ,Ritwik Ghatak 's 'Meghe Daka Tara '-they dominated my visual grammer for a long and there has been another master whose cinematic attempts just not only gave me a visual treat but as an artist painted and connected me to the world which i always carried in my sub concious ,i'm talking about Godard . Wish i could have met anyone of them ! But i'm happy that atleast i had an opportunity to meet , and have a cup of coffee offered by him only , one of the present day's master Shyam Babu ( shyam Benegal ) at his Tardeo office when he was making ' welcome to sajjanpur' . His whole body language ,eye movements ,gestures speak of art .I said ' Shyamji ' ankur' aur 'junoon' ..de jaatey hai sakuun ! He smiled and signed his own caricature which i drew .

Few years ago our team had gone to have a live recording of then Indian President sh Kalam ,who was supposed to interact with the children .There was another genius who didn't made his presence felt till his name was announced ,even then he maintained low profile .He was none other than A.R Rehman .

Sh. kalam while interacting with children got so involved that he himself started approaching children ,went very near to them ,shared his own thoughts them and answered their question .One boy said 'sir i want to be a musician like Rehman '.Sh. kalam straightway went towards Rehman and said ,' Rehman ,he wants to be you ,kindly guide him ! Rehman was standing politely and Sh. Kalam was with his known humbleness . And i was thinking what makes somebody a real genius ..an honest ,humble and compassionate approach !

Remembering my first meeting with sh. khushwant Singh .It was one hour long meeting at his delhi residence .He was not only good to me but he actually made me feel that to be a compassionate human is more important .I was moved the way he interacted .I perhaps behaved like a naughty student ( though my intention was genuine ,my approach was honest ) ,and he reciprocated the way a mature master behaves .More than his writing his behaviour ,his attitude ,his straightforwardness impressed me !

we must awake now !

here a journey starts !

IT IS BETTER TO ELIMINATE THE SERIES AND SEQUENCES OF DESTRUCTIVE THOUGHTS AND PROVIDE SPACE TO FRESH WORTH KEEPING THOUGHTS .WE OFTEN MAKE WRONG STATEMENTS
IN OUR MINDS , AND IN ACTS WE TRY TO BE DIFFERENT .WE FORGET THAT MIND HAS A GREATER INFLUENCE .THE VERY BASIS OF OUR THINKING PROCESS AFFECTS OUR CIRCUMSTANCES AND THAT IN TURN GIVES OPENING FOR OUR FURTHER HOPES OR
ERRORS .
DOES LOVE , PEACE AND GOOD DEEDS NEED ANY SORT OF
CALCULATION ,WHETHER AT MENTAL OR PHYSICAL LEVEL !

- ANIL NAKHASI