Hyderabad: For Ramlal Agarwal, history is everything. As a collector of many things, Mr Agarwal remembers the splending past through a vast collection of pens, inkpots, some incredibly rare cars and film posters. The history buff travels the world to take part in auctions and is always on the lookout for that special addition to the showcase.
“I once bought a 1924 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. It took me 25 years to land that car,” he says.
Mr Agarwal's love for art helped him form a strong bond with M.F. Husain.
“I was one of his best friends, you see. He would visit me at my home and we would chat for hours. Let me tell you this about the man... you will not meet a kinder soul,” he says.
The Hyderabadi is also not surprised about Husain's deep respect for Mother Teresa. “I feel he understood her. He was a man with an extremely good heart and he worshipped Mother Teresa. This painting I own is from 36 years ago and even back then, Husain knew her importance and relevance. No other artist here has so many works of Mother Teresa.”
Agarwal's friendship with Husain started when the artist was already well known. “He often had this regret about the film posters he had drawn. He would always ask me if I had found even one of them. But they're all gone. I really believe those film posters make the list of some of Husain’s rarest works,” adds Agarwal.
Tracing his roots back to Rajasthan, Agarwal's ancestors arrived in the Deccan over 200 years ago. “My father, Motilal, opened Hyderabad's first petrol pump. He too was an avid collector. In fact, my love for everything historic, comes from him.”
Ahead of Mother Teresa's canonisation, Agarwal gets a little emotional.
“One of the greatest human beings I know paid this wonderful tribute to another humanitarian. Mother Teresa gave the painting away to a couple who asked her because that’s what she did — she would give away everything valuable. And today, in Hyderabad, I'm able to bring this to my favourite newspaper — the world works in mysterious ways,” he says.
At the bottom of the painting, in Mother Teresa’s own handwriting are the words, “Let us love others as God has loved each one of us. God bless you.”
The note within the painting is adressed to a Danielle and Sidney and is dated May 29, 1980, in the city of Montreal.
