Sunday Special-Meet Sobha Singh, the model behind iconic ‘Sohni-Mahiwal
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Sardar Sobha Singh — One of the greatest Indian artists of twentieth
century S. Sobha Singh was born on 29 Nov. 1901 at Sri Hargobindpur
(Gurdaspur), India. it was ...
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Meet Sobha Singh, the model behind iconic ‘Sohni-Mahiwal
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If
you have been smitten by the beauty of Sobha Singh’s iconic painting
‘Sohni-Mahiwal’ and wondered who the model was for Sohni, the answer is
here: it was none other than
the artist himself.
Sohni’s
cheeks came from his 15-year-old brother-in-law; Sobha Singh’s right
leg reflected in a mirror became Sohni’s left leg and a doctor friend’s
brother was the inspiration for Mahiwal.
The models used by Sobha Singh to paint ‘Sohni-Mahiwal’ and other
paintings have haunted historians for long, says Dr Madanjit Kaur,
Dr. Madanjit Kaur Historian
and former professor, Department of Guru Nanak Studies at Guru Nanak
Dev University, Amritsar. She had edited a volume ‘Painter
of the Divine’ on his life three decades back. She says it was a
question she also battled with during her research. “I first came to
know about this fact from a piece written by Dr Kulwant Singh Khokhar, a
very close friend of the artist,” she says.
Dr. Kulwant Singh Khokhar
Though Sobha Singh was a little reluctant to use models, the case was a
little different when it came to ‘Sohni-Mahiwal’. Between 1937 and
1980, he painted it five times. The most famous
was the third one, painted in 1952 and which is part of Karan Singh’s
personal collection. This painting was widely printed and sold by Sobha
Singh himself. In conversation with Dr Kulwant Singh, Sobha Singh
revealed, “To paint ‘Sohni-Mahiwal’, I covered
my limbs with a thin wet cloth and used the reflection from an electric
heater to study the effect of water and light.” The conversation is
part of ‘Painter of the Divine’. Later, Kulwant Singh documented the
entire story behind the painting in his book. At
that time, Sobha Singh’s 15-year-old brother-in-law visited him at
Andretta, Himachal Pradesh. “The artist drew the outlines of his cheeks
for painting Sohni. He sculpted the bust of Sohni in terracotta and
transferred its outlines to the painting. He wrapped
his own body in thin wet muslin cloth and his right leg’s reflection in
a mirror became her left leg.” An electric heater with copper reflector
gave him the light effect of a setting sun. He took the face of Mahiwal
from a boy known to Dr Dhanwant Singh Thind,
who was an eye surgeon at Army Hospital, Palampur. Dr Hirdayapal Singh,
grandson of Sobha Singh based at Andretta, says the information given
by Dr Kulwant Singh seems true as it was not possible to get models in
those days at a place like Andretta.
Searched,Compiled nd Illustrated by Tejinder Kamboj
The tragic love story of Sohni Mahiwal
In a village along the Chenab River in Punjab, there was a potter who created the most lovely earthenware pots in the region. He went by the name Tulla. His pottery was known in all the land and people would come from all over would to purchase his beautiful pottery. The pots were well baked and sturdy while coming in various shapes and sizes. All of the pots had wonderfully intricate hand-painted designs that would set them apart from any other pot.The day Tulla and his wife had a daughter was the happiest day of their lives. She was the prettiest baby girl they had ever seen. Others agreed, so they named her Sohni, meaning “beautiful” in Punjabi. Their wonderful daughter only grew more and more lovely with age.
Tulla had taught his daughter the art of painting lovely designs on his pots. As she grew older and Tulla’s eyesight grew worse, Sohni was the only one who painted the designs. She added her own style to them. One day, a very wealthy young man from the great city Bukhara in Uzbekistan came to Tulla’s home to buy some pottery. His name was Izzat Baig. While he was examining which pieces to buy, he happened to see Sohni, in full concentration on a pot she was painting. He could not take his eyes off of her. She was bent with her head in tilted over a small pot used to store sweets in. Using a small, fine brush, Sohni used meticulous strokes to achieve her desired pattern. Izzat Baig was in love. He asked Tulla if he could buy the pot that she was painting. He replied that that pot needed to be baked still before it could be purchased. Otherwise, it would be useless and fall apart without being baked. Izzat Baig said he would return the next day for it.
After purchasing the pot the next day, he found excuses to return day after day just to buy more and more pots. He had had his fill but his eyes had not drunk enough of Sohni. They wanted more. When it was time for him to leave, he told his fellow travelers to go on without him. He was going to stay in this village for a while longer. Days passed and his money supply dwindled but he continued to visit Sohni at her father’s shop. Tulla decided to hire Izzat Baig as a buffalo herder. Because of this, he became known as Mahiwal, or buffalo man. Sohni saw Mahiwal day after day. She knew he came only to see her and she had grown accustomed to it. Whenever he was late, her heart sank but as soon as she would see him coming up the road, she felt like she was flying again. Love had taken a hold of her, too.
The two lovers began to meet in secret. Their union was blissful. Their separation, intolerable. But each day they would meet whenever they could, happily stealing moments just to be with each other.
Love never hides though. Neither did Sohni and Mahiwal’s love. This kind of love was forbidden. It was arranged then that Sohni would marry another potter who lived nearby. When the marriage ceremony was completed, Sohni moved to a neighboring house.
Mahiwal, distraught, took up residence in a small hut across the river from Sohni’s house. He renounced the lands he came from and believed that the earth under Sohni’s feet was his Dargah, or shrine.
Sohni’s husband was a pottery merchant who had to travel long distances that caused him to be away for days on end. At night, Sohni would sit up and look across the river at her lover. One night she got the idea of using a baked earthenware pot to aid her to stay afloat as she crossed the river. Because she did not know how to swim, she held on the pot tightly. Her life depended on it. Mahiwal saw her coming and swam until he met her and they successfully made it across the river in each other’s arms.
After Sohni returned from her nightly meeting with her love, Sohni’s sister-in-law saw her replace the earthenware pot that she had used to travel across the river in the bushes underneath a window. She stood aghast and thought of a plan to wreck these unsolicited meetings. Sohni’s sister-in-law placed an unbaked pot for Sohni to use the following night.
The next night, Sohni took the pot and began her journey to meet her lover. When she was a quarter of the way across, she realized something was wrong. The sturdy piece of pottery that served as her lifesaver was melting into the water. She called for her Mahiwal. Mahiwal heard his love’s cries. He swam as far as he could with his limp leg. He met her drowning body halfway through the river but he could not hold himself up against the current. While holding on to each other, they both drowned in the Chenab River.”
Legend has it that the bodies of Sohni and Mahiwal were recovered from the Indus River near Shahdadpur, Sindh, somewhere near Hyderabad, Pakistan.
The tomb of Sohni from the folk legend of Sohni Mahiwal in Shahdadpur, Sindh
Compiled and Illustrated by Tejinder Kamboj
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