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Journalism of Courage
SURAT, Dec 2: The Academic Council of the South Gujarat University has recommended to start a separate faculty for performing arts and fine arts. This again is a good news in an area, which does not boast of adequate infrastructure to generate interest in arts, and rarely showed any inclination to acquire one.
Noted dramatist and humourist Yazdi Karanjia will head a committee that will be formed to chalk out a detailed proposal. Renowned Kuchipudi exponent Geeta Choksi will also be on the committee that will have other artistes from Ahmedabad and Vadodara as well.
The recommendation will have to be ratified by the Syndicate at its next meeting. But not all are sure whether the university is really serious about starting such a faculty, or it is yet another of those proposals that are good on intentions but hollow on implementation.
The fear is not unfounded for a similar committee was set up some years ago. The committee became defunct with the exit of the then vice-chancellor who was all for such a faculty.
Noted painter Vasudev Smart, had recommended such a proposal as far back as in 1954, but the project never came through, stuck as it was in problems related to land, money and teachers. Smart says there have been such moves in the past but none of them ever materialised.
“It’s not easy to start a faculty, but it’s good that the talk is in the air.” Getting students to enrol for such a course will be difficult as the past experience suggests.
Karanjia, though not aware of the academic council proposal, says “I would love to be a part of such a team. Such a faculty will go a long way in generating interest in arts.” He says though he is aware of the difficulties involved in getting such a proposal off the ground, “we will try our level best to see that the project ends up in success”.
Currently, all Surat has is one modern art gallery that has been doing its bit to promote artists, both known and upcoming. Even the gallery had come up after a long time through untiring efforts of some dedicated artistes.
The question now hinges on who will pull the money required to start such a faculty, presuming that the Syndicate will endorse the Academic Council’s proposal. For, the university is struggling to raise money to start many a course given its weak financial position.
If there are no takers from the students’ community for the proposed faculty, it will be stillborn, a fear that is haunting artiste who are hoping for a better bargain for arts.
