Journalism of Courage
From inflation to child labour,the students of Rashtriya Kala Academy adopt different subjects for their rangoli designs every year. And once the themes are decided,they bedeck the different city chowks with their creativity during the Ganesh festival. On visarjan day,we decorate 10 chowks starting from Tilak Road to Alka chowk,with rangolis based on various themes. We also make rangolis for Seva Mitra Mandal at Shukrawar Peth and Dagduseth Halwai Ganpati Temple, says Yogesh Golande,head of design at Rashtriya Kala Academy. We do not make rangolis for other mandals as they get very crowded and there is no space for a grand rangoli nowadays, he adds.
The academy is a charitable institute which invites students to come and learn the art of this age-old tradition at a nominal annual fee of Rs 200. For the last 14 years,Rashtriya Kala Academy has been adding colour with morals to the festivity. Five-year-old children to adults above 40 years of age come to the academy to learn this. Anyone can learn to make rangoli in six months. Our classes are held on Sundays. We first teach our students basic logos and signs like dots,lines,circles and so on,and then guide them through the basics of designing and planning, describes Golande.
All the team members who volunteer are instructed to follow a dress code which is usually white salwar kameez with red dupatta for women and white kurta-pyjamas for men. The academys rangolis decorate Jilbya Ganpati,Guruji Talim Ganpati,Kasba Peth Ganpati,Tambadi Jogeshwari Ganpati and Tulsibaug Ganpati. Co-ordinating the team while making rangolis of 30-40 ft diameters is not a tough job for Sunil Sontakke,teacher at Rashtriya Kala Academy,who is a security personnel at Sahyadri Hospital. Art comes naturally to me. I make rangolis with ease and passion, says Santakke. I learnt making rangoli by myself when I was nine years old. My mother had been very sick and was put on bed rest. So she asked me to carry on the tradition of making rangoli at our doorstep, he adds.
When he enrolled in a rangoli class,he was the only boy. But now,so many men enroll for the classes on Sundays. This year we have decided on the theme of female infanticide. Our rangolis will be based on the theme of respect and importance of women in society. Only at Tilak chowk,we will go ahead with the theme of national unity and communal harmony, Sontakke says.
