To position works in an exhibition, however unavoidable and necessary, is to pull them from place and time, and, as a good likeness does, in stasis represent the motion that was truth. The language of contemporaries continues forward in time: in 1959, when Jawarharlal Nehru visited Parasher’s exhibition of sculptures in Delhi, he exclaimed, “Your works are very powerful.” When Le Corbusier selected Parasher’s design for a steel sculpture mural in Chandigarh, he was struck by the intense significance of the forms of his design in relation to the architectural space. “Parasher’s design is ‘most’ interesting.” About this sculpture mural Mulk Raj Anand writing in remarked - “a superb achievement of Parasher.”

Jasleen Dhamija in her article on found, “to my mind, the most exciting mural done so far is done by Parasher at Nirman Bhavan. He has created a mural which is more in keeping with today’s architecture. He uses a pebble surround, within which rise cement concrete shell forms, creating a movement of thrust and counter-thrust. One feels a certain tautness of line and balance of forms. The lines of the pebble background radiate outwards and carry the movement out to the open sky.”

 It was when Parasher was studying for his Masters in English Literature at Lahore that he met his teacher, M.A. Aziz of Mysore. That proved to be a turning point in his life, for it was this teacher who saw the potential in him. It was under Aziz’s supervision that Parasher went through his initial training until he achieved proficiency in portrait, landscape painting and clay modeling. Later when he met V. P. Karmarkar in Bombay, the master sculptor invited Parasher to work in his studios at Tardeo, Warden Road and Deonar Road.

Parasher does not seem to have strictly followed any particular school. What is obvious is that he is always responsive to the inner urge, to each individual combination of subject, idea and material. The art journal sums up the quality of Parasher’s works -”His sincerity and fundamental good sense combines with a daring experimentalism.” Ram Dhamija in a writes “Parasher combines in his work - sculptures and sculpture murals - mature sensibility with the energy and imagination of youth.” Dhamija continues: “Refreshingly Parasher is not one of the present day champions of technique in whose work one looks in vain for something more than mere technical skill, though he believes that technique has its place and importance.” According to Parasher, “It [technique] represents some means of revealing simplicity in complexity.” He also feels that “it can be most successful when the technique itself is invisible - when it becomes a seamless part of the creative act, and tends to, so to speak, forget itself.”

In the early sixties, Parasher was acclaimed as one of India’s most significant sculptors and painters. Despite the modern means employed, his works have the vital quality of rhythmic movement which Parasher claims to be the core part of the ancient Indian tradition; he was aware of the contemporary creative trends but found consanguinity where one might have anticipated conflict. He provides proof, if proof indeed is required - “ I do not believe in masquerading in outward trappings. I hold that art must communicate a deeper experience of one’s being, must express some vision, otherwise it sinks down to the level of external mannerism, just sound and fuss signifying nothing. It is my firm conviction that modernity is first and foremost a matter of consciousness. I do not make images because of my desire to follow any particular style. Nor do I make them to seek new or original means of expression. The aim before me in my work is to discover in my mind the lie of the land, and to strike upon the realm of that land, where it is said forms countless and innumerable are continually fashioned and chiseled. I have come to notice that the images I create carry me, as it were, toward that realm.”

PUBLIC WORKS