Dr. Chitralekha Singh (The Artist)

An autobiography or a biography of a celebrity is always a questionable document. Despite its immense value, the book has to go through an uncharitable scrutiny for the simple reason that it has to satisfy the prying eyes of thousands of its readers. Most of the autobiographies fail to satisfy the readers as the author is keen to defend his or her lifetime problems and mistakes in an aggressive manner to the extent of going out of the way to be defensive rather than admit the follies or regret some unpopular acts. The authors at times even fail to highlight their own lifetime achievements which have made them a celebrity. The problem, however, will continue forever as it is human nature to justify the mistakes rather than admit the same. This is one big reason that most of the autobiographies receive a lukewarm response from the public as their high hopes are belied by their favorite celebrity. Most of the celebrities avoid writing their own stories and some prefer ghost writers to do the job for them.

However, there is a different problem with the biographies of acknowledged celebrities. The author is usually biased in favor or against the person who is the central figure of the book. The writer makes the character either a hero or a villain and that too, to the extreme extent as a result of which the whole exercise becomes unpalatable. The question that arises now is why this author has ventured into the subject which can raise more problems than solve them. So an explanation for this type of parody is obligatory on my part.

First of all, I unhesitatingly, admit that I am writing this book on the life and achievements of my favorite niece whose qualities of head and heart cannot be easily counted and most of the books written on her do not justify her talents but I admit even this book does not. When I started writing, I never knew that the simple looking subject will pose so many complex problems to cover the personality of Dr. Chitralekha Singh but all the same it was an enjoyable work for me to do and hope the reader will also appreciate the effort.

Secondly, I want to tell the readers that I selected the subject purely on personal grounds when I was writing the family book AN EVOLUTION OF A CULTURE which covers each and every member of more than five generations of my family consisting of 178 members with a 97 percentage of graduates including 13 doctors, 40 engineers, 17 MBAs, 10 Law graduates, 39 Post Graduates which further include a D.Litt, 5 Ph.Ds, an LL.M., a CA and a M.Tech and about sixty members spread abroad all over the world. While writing the book, I had to go through the manuscript a number of times and every time I read it, I stopped on the lines written on Chitra as she was the most towering personality in the whole book and my lines were not delivering justice to this person. So I decided to write my impressions about her entire personality.

And finally I am not at all apologetic for selecting this person having a rare caliber as you will hardly find a person of such immense talent,. who has achieved success in a variety of fields. There are better painters, writers, teachers, travelers, diary writers, poets, sitar players, singers but hardly anyone who has got all the qualities plus something more besides being an excellent daughter, wife and mother, good Samaritan, social worker and one who extracts happiness by helping others. If all that is not enough, please think that the person is also a decorated officer by the Ministry of Defense of India. So without standing for too long between you and the celebrity, I request you to enjoy this book for the great qualities of Dr. Singh who is a living inspiration for daughters of middle class families for acquiring a name and fame for themselves on the basis of sheer determination and hard work.

A solitary voice of an eminent educationist, a devoted scholar and a celebrated painter started to find a space in the educational circles of India, more than a decade back. The voice that started emerging at the beginning of this millennium is becoming louder and assertive with the passage of every day. Still that voice is quite feeble as compared to the electioneering decibels heard in the country in the year 2014. The slogans of politics are always short lived but the appeal for sanity is everlasting. The nation is destined to witness the positive outcome of such an appeal.

The selfless appeal to the Prime Minister and all the authorities that matter has got a basic content and that is to save and promote fine arts of the nation which prevails in India since times immemorial and is appreciated by the whole world. Any art lover would love to see that this great legacy of ours is preserved and efforts are made to knit the various cultures of Indian art to spread across the universe in a systematic manner. This is the field in which Chitralekha Singh is voicing her concern from all the forums with which she is concerned. She never missed an opportunity to bring it to the notice of the visiting dignitary in her college and university days that the country needs a Central University of Fine Arts. Blessed with a sweet voice and a natural grip on oration, she is always the first choice of the organisation to welcome the chief guest. She never disappointed the authorities and always impressed the all important guest of the day.

Whatever time she was allotted at the podium, she always squeezed some moments for her penchant of putting the Fine Arts of India on the high pedestal that it deserves and also a solemn appeal for preserving and spreading the same. She had been doing it for the past more than thirty years and was appreciated by all including the presiding guests but none has taken a single step to enhance the glory of our art and culture. The huge list of guests include the present Prime Minister Narendra Modi, all Union and State ministers of education, Vice chancellors and other politicians and educationists of important grades and standings. Her demands and requests had been always to the point. She refrained from making a general or vague appeal. She always spelled the requirements in no uncertain terms and continues to do so even today though the forum had been changing from time to time.

Now she herself is the chief guest and important speaker in various seminars, exhibitions and national and international meetings. She enjoys the luxury of talking to a captive audience who not only appreciate her efforts but are ready to do anything for making her dreams come true as the speaker as well as the audience share the same dream. Only an artist understands the language of the artist with the same zeal as the exponent of the scheme possesses. Her students, scholars working with her and the greater scholars and great artists are joining the voice for Fine Arts. A silent wave has started blowing across the nation amongst those who know and understand what art is. The artists are communicating and spreading the message through the electronic media as well as through exhibitions of various arts in which they excel. The time will come when the present sophisticated requests and appeals will gain momentum to become a vox populi and the government will have to fulfill the desires of millions of art lovers and artists of the country.