Rajesh Bedi with one of Nek Chand’s creations in Chandigarh. Express Photo
“THE ONE and only Nek Chand, there’s no one like him. His art and talent was a gift from god and no one now or in the future can be compared to Nek Chand,” says Rajesh Bedi, a close friend and someone who has been managing the many aspects of the work of Nek Chand. At his office in Sector 26, Chandigarh, Bedi has preserved and archived the many aspects of the work of Nek Chand, including his art works and sculptures, and calls the space the Nek Chand Art Gallery. The gallery was set up by Nek Chand and Bedi in 1989, to manage and preserve information and details of the art by Nek Chand, with the gallery containing precious information and data about the Rock Garden, one that tells the story of Nek Chand’s life and journey to success from the very beginning.
Bedi goes back in time, talking about how he was stunned by the Rock Garden and its art when he visited Chandigarh in 1988. That was the time when Bedi contacted Nek Chand for the Rolex Awards and filed the papers for the award, with Nek Chand honoured for his art. That day onwards, Bedi became an integral part of Nek Chand’s life and his work in the Rock Garden. “He held my hand and told me ‘You are with me from now on’ and I was a part of his life from that day,” shares Bedi, who wrote all letters, speeches, etc. for Nek Chand, also organising events and exhibitions at the Rock Garden.
“We both understood each other so well. I remember Nek Chand as a person who was always full of laughter and made everyone smile. He always had a big collection of jokes for every occasion. Nek Chand was a carefree, open-hearted man,” remembers Bedi, who managed all letters, photographs, papers related to Nek Chand’s work. Bedi recalls the time when a waterfall at the Rock Garden was under construction and a famous French architect visited the Garden and witnessed the testing of the fall, “He was stunned by the beauty of the art, talent and ideas of Nek Chand and had tears in his eyes.”
Bedi owns a collection of Nek Chand’s art works and books in his office, as well as his Sector 15 home, and has preserved every minute detail, memory, photographs, books and things related to the Rock Garden and Nek Chand, archiving it all with love. A book that is special in Bedi’s collection is Nek Chand’s Outsider Art by Luciene Peiry and Philippe Lespinasse. “His sculptures, each with a distinct expression, style and using different waste material artistically, hangings made with hand-made beads and photographs of the artist and his work, fill my home and gallery office with so many precious memories and it is all a treasure-trove,” reflects Bedi.
Bedi is looking forward to the upcoming Kargil War Memorial in Palampur and also an exhibition of Nek Chand’s art in Mumbai in October and Serbia at the end of September. “Nek Chand’s determination, simplicity and talent are qualities I idolise. He was a simple man, with an open heart and an abundance of talent and love,” he adds.
