Born at Shikarpur Sindh on Nov.8, 1924, Meghraj Talreja, a renowned painter, lived in Thane city of India
Mumbai Correspondent
Meghraj Talreja, a renowned painter, who lived in Thane city of Maharashtra state of India, passed away at the age of 99 years on Monday July 20, 2024. He was born on November 8, 1924 in Shikarpur city of Sindh province of Pakistan.
Meghraj Otandas Talreja was a renowned stalwart of his art- a veteran painter, and master calligrapher in Sindhi. He was author of 30 books, and several of his vivid and detailed paintings appeared as book covers and illustrations in many Sindhi publications. He made paintings of seven queens of great poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai and Sindhi folklore. He was senior most Guru to many aspiring Sindhi artists.
He had been awarded by the Sindhi Sahitya Akademi (Delhi) and felicitated by the World Sindhi Congress, Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha (Thane), Akhil Bharati Sindhi Boli ain Sahit Sabha, and many others.
In 1947, Meghraj Talreja, found himself on a ship from Karachi to India just as he was in his early twenties. A drawing teacher then, he enrolled for a degree in fine arts from Sir J. J. School of Arts and followed it up with a Masters course.
According to Talreja family, Marka Pagdi for the late Meghraj Talreja will be held 4 to 4.30pm on Tuesday July 23 at Shiv Mandir, Kopri Colony Thane East, reported the Radio Sindhi on Instagram on July 22.
In an interview published in Times of India back on July 12, 2003, Meghraj Talreja said, “I have been painting, ever since I can remember.” Sitting in a tiny, cluttered flat in Pestom Sagar Chembur, the tall and gaunt Talreja was happy doing his water colors irrespective of whether he has a buyer for his paintings or not.
Talreja was not happy with contemporary world where the art is synonymous commerce. “I used to feel bad,” he had said on a question. “But just because I don’t have proper means to sell my work, doesn’t mean that I would ever giver up something which I have nourished and cherished throughout my life,” he had remarked.
Meghraj Talreja told the interviewer that in Shikarpur, he was self-taught and didn’t have requisite qualification to teach art. However, by virtue of having a good hand at drawing, he had got a job. “In India, I needed testimonials to prove my skills and talent.”
The books of Meghraj Talreja on line drawing are of great help to art students as they depict different aspects of human expressions. The Indira Gandhi Centre of Arts in Delhi invited him for his skills as a Sindhi Calligrapher way back in the late 1980s.
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