There is much talk these days of the need for a spiritual revival.I should think that this need is evident enough, considering the state of our country in several aspects. But such revival will happen when the soil of outgrown dogmas and supersttions is swept clean.Still a new order of experience is thrusting itself up like a young sturdy grouth of an old tree.

What better sign of this new concern with inner awakening than the return of a genre  like Surekha Sadana bearing as it does on the light of the heart. This light has increasingly become dim in the present day Indian personality.It needs to be fanned so that the inner light rays out with supreme effulgence.

Surekha’s work with large and medium sized compositions, surely introduces us to key symbols.So that though her work is artistic craft,it also is designed to instill self-reflection in us. By arts processes of color and form,old truths are given a fresh lease of life,and Surekha is seen trying hard to master the craft,which is of course a severe task master.But then she also has a meaningful and indeed, invaluable, point of view to express.So that in expressing herself she is expressing the truth we still live by. Only few of the artists are doing so,good in other ways though they often may be.  Surekha’s work is her self initiation into an elevated state of mind.

There is however one matter which all artists must know of, that their vision must be ever unique , an unfolding of the unpredictable part of the same universal order.So that each artist’s messages are those of an imperfect personality aware of something far supreme than him or herself.

I assume that Surekha  will become even more aware of the truth as time passes ,and thereby be more absorbed in the spirit of forms. One does not paint to flatter oneself, as we do in the workday world.Thus the quintessential message of this work could become further luminous. Art is hard work done only in solitude. In the meanwhile Surekha’s compositions could be enjoyed by viewers, each one with his or her own understanding and choice. But not to forget, finally, that art has ever been greater then the artist. True artist never stray far from this key truth. Surekha is wise of this on present evidence.

Keshav Malik is a renowned Indian poet, critic, arts scholar, and curator. He has been awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India for his contribution to literature.