CR Pakrashi, well known artist and leading stamp designer, left us
on 16th March 2016 at the age of 95. During his association
with the Department of Posts that lasted many decades, he produced some brilliant
stamp designs that now form a proud part of our philatelic heritage. Sankha
Samanta, fellow artist and stamp designer, reflects on the teacher –pupil equation
that he shared with the senior.
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| Picture courtesy www.dnaindia.com |
Some time back in the late 1980s at the headquarters of the
Department of Posts, I was introduced by the Director Philately to a remarkable
gentleman whom I came to look up to as a guide and philosopher. He was Chitta
Ranjan Pakrashi, who had to his credit the designs of some of the most
beautiful stamps issued by India Post, which I had always admired. I was then a
young artist myself, freshly out of Delhi Art College having done Post
Graduation in Fine Arts, and was a newly empanelled Postage Stamp designer of
Department of Posts.
For me then, Pakrashi Sir was
an icon. However that awe was soon made to diminish by him himself during our
conversation. I was amazed that a man of his stature, age and experience could
be so simple and full of grace. Later I was surprised that he knew my family
also, as my father who is an artist of his generation was known to him. In our
nearly 3 decades of association I would often exchange notes about stamp
designs with a view to improve the designing standard of postage stamps.
Of the 54 stamps he designed from 1956 to 2008, the one that I admire the
most is his first which was issued in 1956 on the occasion of the 2500th Buddha
Jayanti. The Stamp depicts a stylized Bodhi tree on a full moon night. Buddha
attained enlightenment when he went into deep meditation during a full-moon
night under a Bodhi tree. The simple single sepia colour stamp plays with the
negative spaces of the paper white in such a way that it shimmers with light,
across the half concentric patterns of the Bodhi leaves in two radiating rows.
The deliberate focus on single leaf in the centre of the image creates a trance
that is experienced in meditation. The stamp blends the moonlit night,
Enlightenment, tranquility, peace and celebration in an extraordinary design
format. I assume he could have achieved this only after elaborate research and
after the process of elimination of all that is not necessary (a fundamental
aspect of Stamp Designing process). Like his own persona, his designs reflect simplicity.
The other stamps which are landmarks in his extraordinary journey
are the Jai Bangla stamp issued in 1973 to commemorate the first parliament
session of Bangladesh, the 1982 INPEX stamp depicting railway mail
service wagon and the J.R.D. Tata stamp issued in 1994. Of
course, this is a subjective selection and many more among his designs could be
described as outstanding. Each of these designs can be analyzed in great detail
as each design is embedded with a history of research, devotion to the art
form, sensitive handling of the subject and great dexterity in doing the
artwork.
Chitta Ranjan Pakrashi was a
man of many talents. And like a guiding star he left us with a book written by
him. Titled A Stamp is Born, it was released on 6 May 2014 by the Vice
President of India, M Hamid Ansari.
Today as a stamp designer, I
miss his valuable advice, and as somebody who had the fortune to be close
enough to him, I will always cherish the moments of love and affection he gave
me all these years.
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