Karuna, if the measure of success is the ability to bring about a betterment in the lives of people, then you are already on the way to becoming a very successful person. Your mother and I have always tried to help people in our own individual ways because we are aware that life is a transient journey and the productive time at one’s disposal to contribute to other people’s lives is really short. We all have the opportunity to make a difference and yet, so few of us actually go on to do something for others without expecting something in return.
Achieving success in life is certainly not easy, Karuna, but then, nobody promised you a shortcut to success either. Part of being a successful person is also the ability to relate to people, build enduring relationships, and help other people achieve their goals. Your mother and I personally know and take an interest in the people who work for the organizations that we built in the last decades.
You yourself have spent more years away from your country and your family and have been the recipient of the kindness of countless people that you have come in touch with along the way, so you know how important it is for each of us to reach out to those around us and lend a helping hand. Be good to people, my dear. If the only way to success is by trampling on other people, there is no point in it. Competition will always be part of our lives but our success should not and need not be at the cost of other people’s happiness. I am convinced that money, success, recognition are by-products of your life goals and life missions.
Karuna, your mother and I have worked hard to ingrain in you a sense of how important a family is in the larger picture of our lives and we are hoping that when you start your own family someday, you will remember to keep them at the centre of your priorities too.
So what are my hopes and dreams for you, dear Karuna, as you embark on the next stage in your career which will see you emerge as a mature member of an elite physician-scientist cadre? You should and will be successful in your own pursuits and I hope you will retain the love for humanity and the bonding with your colleagues that are always as important as individual career success. I am sure that in your own life partnerships and family matters, you will choose well and build a nest that will nurture and keep you happy in the midst of all the pressures that your global career will surely entail. But most importantly, I am sure that three generations of family who have been successful in their own right but still remained good human beings will give you the power to be a wonderful inhabitant of this planet in your own right.
I wish you all the best and the power to be the best you can be and realize all your dreams.
With all my love,
Appa
Jatin Das
atin Das is one of India’s foremost contemporary artists. Born in pre-independence India in 1941 in the village of Mayurbhanj, Orissa, the acclaimed painter grew up in a joint family amid a large bunch of siblings. As a young boy, Das developed a keen eye and a passion for art and would spend hours in the fields and woods around his ancestral home, keeping himself immersed in drawing and painting. Often, he would wander around the village craft fairs, returning home with prized possessions—handcrafted, lacquered toys fashioned by impoverished artisans in the colours of the rainbow.
When he ultimately told his family about his intention of pursuing his passion for art, they were disappointed, partly because in those days, art was not an accepted profession to follow for sons from respectable families. A career as an artist was also seen as a low-paying job, not remunerative enough to support a family. Regardless of the opposition he faced, Das decided to leave home and study art at Mumbai’s prestigious JJ School of Arts. Those were tough days and money was scarce, but the young man revelled in his passion and got other treasures along the way—artist friends from around the world and friendships that have endured to this day and have changed the way he looks at the world.
With an illustrious career spanning over half a century, Jatin Das is revered for the honesty and boldness of his work. He is credited with 55 one-man exhibitions in different parts of the world. Das is also a keen teacher who has lectured at art and architectural colleges and museums like the National School of Drama and the Jamia Millia Islamia University, among others. A humanitarian sensitive to the human condition, he has often expressed his strong views on incidents of social injustice in the community on public platforms.
His fascination for traditional Indian handicrafts continues to this day. He is currently consumed with his grand passion, the JD Centre of Art at Bhubhaneshwar, Orissa, a private, non-commercial institution which celebrates tribal, traditional, and contemporary Indian art. The Centre will eventually house his large personal collection of handcrafted pottery, terracotta, old utensils, folk and tribal crafts, toys, tools, and jewels.
Over a quarter of a century ago, Das was presented with an antique, handcrafted fan (pankha) in Rajasthan.The beauty and the ingenuity of the pankha fascinated him enough to set him off on a quest to collect pankhas from all over the world. Das is today the proud owner of over six-thousand five-hundred fans and is on the way to setting up a dedicated fan museum in New Delhi. Along the way, his fan collections have been exhibited at the Fan Museum, London, the National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, the Reitberg Museum, Zurich, and the National Museum, Manila.
In 2012, he was
