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OCTOBER

Artist: Jaspal Singh, IN
Title: Bidhi Chand
Medium: Digital Art
Commissioner: Rajinder Singh Bassi
Jodh Rai stood witness as Guru Hargobind made a request to his loyal disciple, a request which Jodh Rai knew would normally be considered impossible. Except that he knew this was no ordinary Sikh who had accepted the Guru’s challenge.
Escaping with one horse from the fort of Shah Jahan was outrageously daring, but returning to the fort in order to retrieve the second was surely impossible?
And yet standing before them was Bidhi Chand, having only just returned from Lahore, where he spent months undercover in Shah Jahan’s fort planning and successfully executing the audacious escape of Dilbaag, one of the emperor’s prize horses. Bidhi Chand had agreed to the Guru’s request to return to the fort in order to retrieve Gulbaag.
“If anything is possible it is only possible through your grace Guru Hargobind. Not only will I retrieve Gulbaag, but if it pleases you, I will remove Shah Jahan’s shoes from his feet [without him realising] and bring them back!” The Guru smiled at Bidhi Chand’s words and gave his blessing.
And so it was that Bidhi Chand, disguised as an astrologer, pulled off a brazen escape with Gulbaag, directly taunting the outraged emperor as he made his escape.

Artist

Jaspal Singh

Jaspal Singh is a self taught fine artist who loves to experiment with various media in his practice of creating life on paper. His work has been exhibited at the National Museum, New Delhi (February 2020). In the spirit of pushing, and breaking barriers he ventured into digital art. With a deep passion for miniature portraits in his own words he expressed that “Each portrait for me is a gift, as I get to meet new people, learn their stories and experiences and explore deeper meanings to not just my subject and my work but even life. Every piece of artwork I make, I cherish. It gives me immense satisfaction, a reason to rejoice, a chance to dream big and think beyond predefined lines.”

With great pride in embracing his Sikh heritage and instiling those values in his life. Jaspal has dedicated his life to his artistic work, embracing a deep sense of duty and responsibility to use his artistic skill to provide for his household. Jaspal creates wonderfully detailed works with limited resources and materials, such as using a single stick of charcoal, or simple biro pen. He describes his approach to learning and inspiration as “I love reading up on the works and lives of artists, to try to understand their inspirations and struggles to gain knowledge from their experiences, with a goal to build myself and our community stronger and better.”