My mom and I visited an exhibition by late Nagji Patel this weekend at the TLC Gallery at Bikaner House, Delhi. He was a artist, but more known for his sculpture. He worked using stones found in different parts of the country. In the long introduction given at the entrance of the exhibition, which my mother read out loud for me, I found out that he was from a small village in Gujarat. He used to make toys using clay and later started working with sandstones and marbles. 

There were many sections, the one that i most liked was the lake section. He had created different forms of lakes using sandstones. I found them very remarkable. There were these toys made out of stones, but they were huge. He also had a black cat, that so much reminded me of my cat, Deenu. He passed away a few years back on the day of my birthday. 

Late Shri Nagji Patel, the artist of this creation, came from a simple background and was raised in a small farm of Gujarat, where he found interest in clay modelling. Even though it took lots of hard work to make the clay toys, he still did it for his friends. Later in life, he stumbled upon working with wood. Then he slowly he worked his way from wood to stones. He apparently chose to continue to work with stones, as it gave him the opportunity to engage with a particular piece for a much longer duration.

This exhibition made me wonder how even in stone he could capture so much life and made things used in our daily life, alive. So, even though they were still, they could speak.