“Gwalior city has a lot of stones scattered here and there, this is a city of stones; I will spend the rest of my life cutting and carving these stones.” This was the response of a son to his father. When a young man’s father wanted to know what he would do if he did not enjoy the family business. How will his life progress? This talk, which occurred around fifty or fifty-five years ago, inspired a young man to become a sculptor, despite the fact that no one in his family had ever considered becoming a sculptor or an artist in generations before to this.
It is another curious irony that in a country whose rich history has been engraved on stones for ages, becoming a sculptor or artist is still regarded as a risky endeavour. So it is understandable that when a young man embarked on this journey roughly five decades ago, the father must have had many concerns. However, now that this sculptor has a unique national and international character, the enormous and massive sculptures he made are erected on the campuses of different places and institutions around the country. Also, his participation is practically essential in significant sculpting camps and symposiums hosted in many locations across the nation and abroad, he stated a few years ago, intertwining his experiences in the art world – “I have been moving in this sector for more than forty-five long years. I have sipped the entire bitter and delicious cup of life. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been tossed into the dark abyss and battered to the ground, yet I keep rising back up. My desire to live a life on my own terms has not been quenched.”
This sculptor had his artistic education in Gwalior’s Kala Sansthan in the 80s. He selected sculpture as his topic, and there was no professor or lecturer to teach it. You’d want to know how this study may have been accomplished without the assistance of a topic specialist or professor. So the solution is “Ek Patthar Ki Bawdi” in Gwalior, where various statues fulfill this duty. This stepwell, built in the eleventh century under the reign of the then-Tomar monarchs, served as the Gurukul for this young man. He had first visited it out of curiosity during his school days, and the picture of the exquisite sculptures there had left an unforgettable impression on his heart and mind ever since. Anyway, we now know him as the famous modern sculptor Robin David, and this narrative is a part of that remarkable personality’s life. Whether you call it an act of fate or anything else, roughly a thousand years ago, the one stone stepwell chiseled by the sculptors of that era produced our present sculptor.
Thus, it is our Robin Dada’s birthday today. Given that he was born on October 3, 1950, today marks the beginning of his 75th year. We wish him a very happy birthday on this momentous occasion on behalf of all of his admirers. Under normal conditions, he or other senior artists like him should have been the subject of extraordinary felicitation celebrations arranged by the nation’s art centers or institutions as well as the state. But regrettably, after having been independent for so long, we haven’t been able to establish a custom of this kind, even if there is opportunity to do it.
For those who don’t know much about him, Robin David was one of the forerunners of Central Indian sculpture, having been born on October 3, 1950. He led the effort to open the then-defunct Gwalior Art College’s sculpture department, where he earned his National Diploma in sculpting in 1977. He has held over a dozen solo exhibits around India, including New Delhi, Mumbai, and several other places. In addition to actively curating artist symposiums in India and other countries, such as Turkey, Italy, and Mexico, he has won several accolades and left his imprint on the national and international art scene with his distinct aesthetic. His manner of working and cutting stone on a massive scale has inspired artists to focus on the majesty that sculpture can provide. He is a living legend who encourages others to dream big and have the confidence and determination to achieve great things.”
– Suman Kumar Singh