Amrita's Husband

Victor and Amrita

Victor's life and character have always been analyzed under a microscope, mostly by those who had never met him let alone known him.There was always a great deal of speculation and raised eyebrows about how he tolerated Amrita's bizarre and scandalous life style and how he was responsible for her untimely death.

Victor and Amrita had grown up together in Hungary and their relationship was one of intrinsic familiarity. They were never wildly in love and she asked him to marry her because she trusted him implicitly.He always had the amazing ability to accept a loved one completely and without question and she was confident that he would never criticize,condemn or sit in judgement of her sometimes erratic behaviour.  For some reason of her own she craved the security of marriage to Victor, in spite of having a long list of eligible suitors wooing her, yet at the same time wanted the freedom to express herself as she chose. She felt there was no one who could understand and accept her free spirit other than him.

Victor realised Amrita was eccentric and highly strung and they would have an unconventional relationship.  He agreed to follow her to India partly to avoid getting conscripted into the Hungarian army just before the second world war and partly because she felt her inspiration to paint lay in the colors and people of that land.

 Victor found himself in a strange land, surrounded by people who adored his exotic and talented wife and only knew him as "Amrita's husband". He never claimed circumstances were easy, but learned to make the most of  difficult situations. It was not that he was immune to the hurt caused by her unpredictable moods or notorious affairs, or that he did not feel completely isolated at times, but he had married her with a certain sense of commitment which did not allow him to ever interfere with the choices she made. She ensured that she got the excitement and stimulation she needed when she was painting one of her masterpieces and he in turn accepted that as part of her genius. 

In one of Amrita"a much talked about letters she writes - "I and Victor are very fond of each other, and yet have nothing to say to each other. When we are alone together, we sit by the hour in silence, he begins to yawn, and I sink deeper and deeper into a depressed and depressing silence, and we weigh intolerably on each other till, unable to bear it longer, one of us gets up and suggests a game of patience or chess."  When Victor was once interviewed and asked to comment on Amrita's seemingly bored discontent he said he had not given it a second thought since to him  it sounded  like any normal married couple he knew!

Victor, Amrita and Nehru

In October of 1940, Jawaharlal Nehru was tried in a Gorakhpur Court supposedly for some inflammatory speeches he had given in the area a few months earlier. Before his arrest he made a quick trip to Saraya to meet Amrita, whom he admired and had great affection for. After her death Victor destroyed all correspondence that Nehru and Amrita shared, saying with a deep sense of integrity, that the letters were too personal  and should not ever fall into the wrong hands.

A few years later, Nehru requested that Victor donate Amrita's paintings to the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi. He felt  her work  deserved the status of "national treasure"and should be seen and appreciated by all. Victor generously agreed and presented the gallery with thirty five canvasses that he had in his possession, not keeping even one for himself!

I often grumbled at him about this big-hearted gesture, knowing the value of her work today, but he would always say it was better that her art be well preserved and maintained in a museum where everybody could  admire her unique gift. He also added with a smile, that if he had known he would ever re-marry or have a child with such an acquisitive nature, he might have actually kept a few!

When I asked him why he did not refute the rumours about his involvement in Amrita's death he replied that the facts were not as exciting as the murderous rumors and he thought no one would be particularly interested in his version of what happened.

Maybe I will put it all down here some day........

Victor and Amrita

Victor and Amrita

"Through Sick and Sin" was originally the title of the book I once thought I would write about my father. That never materialised but I must give a brief background about him as much of the writing in this blog will revolve around his amazing experiences and his humour

Victor Egan (my father), was born on Oct 5th 1910  and grew up on a country estate in Dunaharaszti,, thirty kilometers from Budapest in Hungary. His mother Blanca had one sister Marie Antoinette who married Sardar Umrao Singh Shergil, whom she met while travelling as a companion to Princess Bamba of Patiala. They had two daughters Amrita and Indu.

Victor and Amrita grew up together and were always the best of friends.He was studying medicine and she, the ever eccentric artist claimed he was the only one who kept her grounded and understood her. She was the one who proposed they get married much against the wishes of her parents. Her mother Marie Antoinette hated the idea, as apart from the fact that Victor and Amrita were first cousins, Amrita was much sought after socially and Marie Antoinette thought she could have done better than marry her first cousin who was a young inexperienced doctor with no money.

Victor and Amrita married in July of 1938 and a year later journeyed to India where Amrita wanted to travel and paint. They lived for a while in Shimla with Amrita's parents but things got more and more unpleasant so when Amrita's uncle Sardar Kirpal Singh Majithia invited them to stay on his estate in Saraya in Gorakhpur,Uttar Pradesh, they leapt at the chance to get away. They set up house, though neither was very happy with the prospects in a small village so finally decided to move to Lahore in September 1941.

Shockingly, on December 5th 1941 Amrita passed away after a brief illness. Much has been written and speculated about the circumstances of her tragic death. Her mother held Victor responsible and accused him of murder, sending vicious letters to everyone accusing him of killing her.

WWII had broken out and Victor was declared an enemy subject in the British Raj.  Kirpal Singh knew people in the right places and took guarantee for him, so instead of being sent to one of the camps for foreign nationals Victor found himself back in Saraya only a few months after leaving. He thought he would return to Hungary after the war but that was never to be. It lasted five years and by the time it was over he had built up a good medical practice in Saraya. Hungary turned communist and he never went back to the land of his birth.