Surya Prakash was a man of impeccable character

I knew Surya Prakash for over 30 years. He was associated very closely with me and my institute.

You can see aspects of Surya Prakash in all my LVPEI facilities. I visited the CCMB Gallery after returning from the US, and I was struck by the beauty of his art.

The founder-director of the CCMB, Dr Pushpa M Bhargava, had truly recognised Surya Prakash’s artistic talent and engaged him to decorate the walls of CCMB.

I checked with Prof. Bhargava to find if I could engage Surya to decorate my upcoming facility at the Banjara Hills, and he helped me get in touch with him.

I invited Surya Prakash to instal an art studio in the building, to which he agreed and we witnessed the birth of a grand artistic alliance. The walls of the institute now display beautiful paintings in all the LVPEI campuses.

Surya Prakash was also an artist-in-residence at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB).

Surya had his studio at the eye institute, from where he produced world-class paintings. He was involved in organising art-related activities for the institute, not only in Hyderabad but also Vijayawada, Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam.

He visited me just on Tuesday to take my permission to go ahead with my new project, and I obviously said yes. I guess that was his final goodbye.

It’s hard to believe that he’s no more with us. Surya was a simple man, had no secrets, and his integrity was remarkable. He was a person of impeccable character. We shall pray for him. May his soul rest in peace.