Between the archetypal Australian yellows and greens, and between the oompah beats of the Australia Day celebration and the joie de vivre of the Australian Open final, I never thought I would find Lord Ganesha in Melbourne. No, I was not seeking Him. Certainly not in a waif-thin lane.
I was peering at the vibrant reds and blues and greens on the walls of Hosier Lane, when I saw Him around the bend – a large painted Lord Ganesha smiling beatifically from the brick wall of a bluestone cobbled pedestrian and vehicular lane in the southern edge of Melbourne.
Surprised, I sure was. Between political statements sprayed in aerosol and stenciled art in what is touted as one of the most ‘arty’ streets (rather, ‘street arty’) lanes in the world, I had never imagined I would find a Hindu deity there.
But that was not the only image which subtly or loudly hinted at the borrowings from Hindu mythology. On the adjacent wall is a line-out of a tonsured Krishna devotee in white dhoti and kurta, one hand raised in a blessing, the other holding a stack of books. Not too far away amidst the clutter of sprayed paint and tagged names, the face of another Krishna devotee peers starkly from the overwhelming palette of blues, greens and yellows.
Before I could tag the renderings as graffiti, I stood corrected. Wearing a Lucknawi kurta, Fiona Sweetman, who conducts Hidden Secrets Walking Tours, shunned ‘graffiti’ and picked another adjective for Hosier Lane art – ‘street art’, an art that is urban, sophisticated and very contemporary. Often, street artists remain anonymous and murals remain unsigned, but Deb is the street artist who has painted Lord Ganesha in Hosier Lane. Melbourne-born Deb (she is only known by the monosyllable of a name) is one of the leading artists in Australia.
The biography on her website describes her art as a “mixture of fantasy and fiction; the fusion of reality and a fairytale world that exists in her mind amongst thoughts and emotions from present and past lives. Her inspirations are both diverse and forever changing as she evolves as an artist”. On her ‘Walls’ section of her website is a thumbnail of Hosier Lane Ganesha image.
Unlike most street art that gets repainted or redone within days or weeks, Deb’s Lord Ganesha image has remained on the walls for nearly two years. Says Sweetman, “It is very rare for any design to stay that long on the walls”. As I step away from Hosier Lane, I looked back at Lord Ganesha – he was still smiling beatifically… I had forgotten that last look at the Krishna devotee in white. I sighed and ambled towards Federation Square. Call it absent-minded coincidence or destiny, but before the image of the Krishna devotee could fade in the Australian yellows and greens, I saw a group of ISKCON members singing hymns by a sidewalk.
In Melbourne, I had not stepped out in search of Hindu mythological myths. Strangely, I found them in unusual corners. Perhaps, that’s the omniscience of gods. They are everywhere. Even in an alley in Melbourne!
Preeti Verma Lal
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