Drawing out UG Krishnamurti
Suparna-Saraswati Puri
The graphic novel by Cambodia-based artist Nicholas C. Grey and Scotland-based writer James Farley is devoted primarily to those ‘who have given up’. The illustrated book is a revelatory experience, to say the least. The collaborated work, a well researched biography, features ‘the most unruly and profound character of our times’.
If the human mind is an ‘idiot-box’ fitted in a machine-like body with limited functions to perform, it is amusing to see the extent of it being over-rated especially, with regard to its truth-seeking endeavours. This, along with de-constructing all kinds of myths and self-indulged theoretical explanations that U.G. Krishnamurti was infamous for, has been brilliantly showcased by both Nicholas and James.
In an e-mail interview, illustrator Nicholas Grey (N) and writer James Farley (J) talk about the book aimed at a readership of “people interested in graphic novels, Hindu philosophy and gurus, trendy but perplexed middle-class Indians, spiritual seekers, back packers, philosophical types, passive nihilists.”
Excerpts from the interview:
What made you select UGK as the subject? Why not Jiddu instead?
J: Jiddu Krishnamurti (JK) does feature in the book and he and UG clearly shared a complicated but important connection. UG’s style and ‘message’ seem more powerful and relevant to the present time.
Nic and I were both aware of and influenced by Jiddu Krishnamurti prior to becoming aware of UG. This seems to be the usual way that people come to hear about UG. And it can seem as if one can only really ‘get’ UG if you have a prior understanding of/affinity with what JK was saying.
Also, in purely narrative terms UG’s life story has better dramatic potential that that of JK’s, plus JK’s life has already been well covered by biographers.
How did the idea for a graphic novel come about? Was it meant for a target readership?
J: Nic first asked me to help him write the book 12 years ago — and we have been working on it ever since.
N: In some sense this book came together organically, meaning that we worked on it, off and on for many years. Eventually, I realised the only way to finish would be for me to concentrate on it full time, by then we had done years of research and produced many pages (many of them edited out). Having being involved in underground comics, I felt the UG’s story would work well if told in this form, there was something anarchic and freewheeling that I thought fitting. I also thought his story would be of interest to people not necessarily interested in philosophy.
As an artist, how was the experience of ‘sketching’ a persona like U.G.? What kind of challenges did you face?
N: Essentially, any art work (including that in comics), is an exercise in self-expression, so the essence of my drawings most likely, say more about me than UG. It was very difficult to capture UG, who is an enigma. However, there were certain eccentricities that drew me to him, like his fondness for chess, his preference for small rooms, etc. that provided a way in for me while illustrating UG.
In some ways my artistic style is quite downbeat. I was unable to capture the more humorous and perhaps tender parts of UG, but maybe this worked out okay, as these aspects of him that people experienced only from being in his presence.
How stimulating was it for you to script the book, James?
J: Perhaps the core challenge was in distilling what we felt were UG’s key concepts, and conveying them — in all their paradoxical complexity — to readers that would probably be new to UG, and to Hindu philosophy. We provided readers with all the information they needed to able to make some sense of what UG was saying.
Actress Parveen Babi’s interaction with UG is missing from the published version of the book. Why?
J: We wanted to include Parveen’s story in the book. It is an interesting part of UG’s story and we were also keen to include it, as UG’s relationship with Parveen in the 1980s reveals a more caring side to UG that doesn’t always come across in his blunt and confrontational style of speaking.
Initially, we wrote and drew a whole section for the comic around UG’s relationships with both Parveen and Mahesh Bhatt. However, this simply didn’t work in the structure of the book — the whole ‘Bollywood Section’ just stuck out like a sore thumb — and damaged the structural shape of the book. So it had to go!
N: UG and his friend Valentine De Kerven tried to help Parveen Babi during the early stages of her mental illness. It seems UG felt that due to her vulnerabilities Parveen would always struggle to cope with the confusing and high-pressure world of Bollywood — but ultimately Parveen opted to continue with her ‘filmy’ life, and her mental health continued to deteriorate.
