Sai Baba

Country: Spain

Manufactory: Lladro

Date of establishment: 2013

Sculptor: Alfredo Llorens

Size (cm): 26*18

Porcelain Story

I bought this porcelain work on one of my trips to Paris. How it managed to attract my attention then, I definitely can’t even say. Just the look of this simple person, penetrating right into the very soul, so hooked that I decided to bring the figurine to Kyiv and then determine its fate. At home, every time I passed by the work displayed in the bookcase, again and again I seemed to cling to this philosophical look of the hero of the composition, who, judging by his age, had approached that period of life when much that was known earlier was already perceived in a completely different way.

Having taken an interest in the fate of Sai Baba (the person to whom this work is dedicated), I did not even know if I would ever have a motivated reason to present this work to your attention. Because Sai Baba turned out to be such a well-known personality, and for his supporters even legendary and worshiped, that it would be necessary to talk about him for a long time and in detail. And for our compatriots it is not entirely clear. For Sathya Sai Baba, who passed away in 2011, was a famous Indian guru, revered by followers as a living deity, spiritual teacher and miracle worker. And now I would not like to retell stories about the miracles that took place with his participation in distant India.

To me, the image of a person recreated in this porcelain work seemed more suitable for remembering one instructive parable read on the eve of World Fishing Day, which, by the way, was celebrated recently. Here, listen to it.

In a fishing village, a businessman who came on vacation from a large industrial center watched for several days how a fisherman he liked was earning a living. He went out to sea every morning and in just a few hours returned back with a rather modest catch. He immediately gave part of the fish he caught to wholesalers for sale, and used part to cook food for his family. Moreover, he devoted all the rest of his time to enjoying a calm, measured life: raising children, reading books, walking with his wife through the picturesque surroundings ...

- Could you spend more time at work and catch more fish? the businessman asked the fisherman.

“Could, of course,” he replied. - What for?

- What do you mean? - asked the businessman and began to explain in detail his vision of the prospects for the development of the fishing business in a single family. - Here, look. By catching more fish, you can earn more. Earning more, you can buy another boat. Then hire workers. Then you will not give the catch to resellers, but open your own outlets for the sale of fresh fish ...

- And then? asked the fisherman.

- And then you will open an office in a large city, create a powerful enterprise with your own chain of stores. Build a big house for the family in the city...

- And then? - asked the fisherman.

- Well, then, when the business will bring considerable income, you will probably want to sell it profitably.

- And then? the fisherman asked again.

- And then, having sold the business, you can find a beautiful quiet place where you can live with your family, doing what brings you pleasure. Well, for example, to fish, to devote more time to children, to walk more often with his wife in the picturesque surroundings ... And then, seeing the slightly ironic look of the interlocutor, the businessman unexpectedly stopped short and fell silent.

That, in fact, is all I wanted to tell you about. Everyone can certainly draw their own conclusions. After all, no one will determine better than ourselves what goals we are striving for and how we are going to achieve them.