It was not a feeling of “homecoming” for Kundan Kumar Mahato as he stepped into the premises of the Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA) of the MS University of Vadodara Friday morning, nearly nine months after he was debarred over “objectionable artworks”. While his classmates greeted him with flowers and hugs, the 23-year-old tried hard to feel the “warmth and connect” with the campus again. As he signed the attendance muster for students of Masters in Visual Arts, he told The Indian Express, “I have not learned as much of visual art as I have learned law and court procedures. My teachers were my immediate guardians but they left me in the cold. I am not sure if we will go back to sharing the same bond of trust and reverence.” On Thursday, the Gujarat High Court quashed the univeristy’s order to debar Mahato, who had bagged a gold medal for his Bachelors’ programme in Visual Arts from Banaras Hindu University in 2021. Justice Bhargav Karia directed the university to restore his status as a student and conduct a proper inquiry into the controversy of May 5, 2022. “I have learned how to fight battles and I have also seen the real city of Vadodara, which was known for its king’s love for art. It saddens me but also makes me glad that I am a stronger person now,” said Mahato. Feeling “ happy and relieved” that the battle seems to be over, he said he cannot forget the isolation “when I needed the guidance of the teachers the most”. “They stopped answering my calls or made excuses to hang up at a time when they should have held my hand. When I visited here once, they prohibited me from even visiting the basement where I used to work.” Mahato, who hails from Muzaffarpur in Bihar, says the “support” from outside MSU held him strong. “I even contemplated suicide. especially when teachers ignored my calls. Despite not being guilty, I apologised. they should have guided me. But I received support from friends and outsiders, some veteran artists and my lawyer Hitesh Gupta. He was my biggest support.”
