The occasion was the `Art for Kargil' preview that was held in Pune recently.

Hussain, dressed in black, inaugurated the preview by paint the blank canvas in 15 minutes. The bidding, that began from Rs 2 lakh, made rapid strides with Khalid Ansari, chairman of Mid-Day group of publications taking the figure up to Rs 4 lakh in a matter of minutes. The final bid, however, came from Sunil Chawla, an NRI, who quoted the final amount and bagged the Kargil-inspired canvas.

Forty works donated by the city artists like Murli Lahoti, Vallery Puri, Shobha Patki, Milind Phadke, Mukund Kelkar, Ranjana Joshi and others lined the walls of the gallery. Floral bouquets by the local Mehak Foundation was also for sale.

The proceeds from the sales of all these canvases will be donated to the Army Central Welfare Fund. LtGeneral M R Sharma, Chief of Staff, Southern Command also spoke on the occasion.

Seema Malhotra of Weikfields conducted the spirited auction where Sunil Chawla had the last word. "My mother-in-law used to have a Hussain that I really coveted and would often ask her to gift it to me as dowry. But she refused flatly. Since then I always wanted to own one myself and this seemed the ideal way to do it," stated the NRI businessman who is in Pune for an exhibition of his ready-made garments.

Hussain himself, seemed well satisfied with the price obtained for the painting. "It's all for a good cause," he explained, adding that this was just a smaller version of a painting he has already done in Mumbai which will be up for auction there next month.

The canvas created depicted a battle scene with the Indian tricolour forming the backdrop to the canvas along with the symbol of peace. "The work stands for the need to end the conflict and to strive toward a peaceful solution instead," stated the artist inconclusion.