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| ARTS TRIBUNE | Friday, April 19, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
Rajasthani miniatures and animation Expressing herself through colours
Post-mortem on Gujarat |
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Purity of folk tradition
is her aim
But she is different from most professional women singers. She belongs to the Surinder Kaur school of music and has maintained the dignity of the profession by remaining confined to singing of quality folk songs. She has kept at bay cheap popular music. She did her MA in English (Literature) from Punjabi University and then topped in MA (Folk Arts and Culture of India), besides doing B.Ed and a Diploma in Public Relations. She taught English at N.G. College, Qadian, for four years before taking to folk singing as a profession. She joined the North Zone Culture Centre as Programme Officer after 1987. She shot into fame with her solo song Mere Punjab di miti, isnu maili na karna, eh gori-chitti eh... She has won the hearts of the people of the state for her stylish presentation of "Mirza". "Jugni", "Jindua" and "Mahia" are the most popular varieties of Punjabi folk and difficult to perform. Sukhi Brar is now on a different mission. She has decided to start a Punjabi folk academy named as Virasat Kala Kender in Phase VII, SAS Nagar. Asked about the objective of such a venture, she says there is a need to maintain the purity of Punjabi folk tradition. "In the recent past, those interested in making a fast buck, have polluted the Punjabi folk tradition, causing immense damage to it", she opines. The first job of the kender will be to impart theoretical and practical training on Punjab’s folk tradition to budding Punjabi artistes and others interested in it. They will be introduced to Punjabi folk instruments, dances, singing, literature and tradition. "Lot of folk literature in the form of epics, ‘kissas’ and ‘chithas’ is available with various sources. Such material can be procured from sources for serving the cause of Punjabi culture", she explains. She plans to take the help of eminent
folk singers such as Gurdas Mann, Hans Raj Hans, Mohammad Sadique and
Sardul Sikander to run the kender. "I have been to Canada,
America, Italy, Germany and Switzerland as a folk singer and gidaa
dancer. It was a great experience that will help me to train the
artistes concerned", she says. |
Rajasthani miniatures and animation
As Indian animation films try to ape the Western cartoon formats and turn box-office duds, an award-winning venture by a young artiste goes back into the marvellous miniature paintings of Rajasthan for inspiration. "Bhor", or The Dawn, by up-and-coming animation artiste Gunjan Sharma, which won the second award for the Best Animation Film at this year’s Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for Documentary, Short and Animation Films, was inspired by the exquisite and painfully delivered miniatures that once adorned the palaces and havelis in the desert state. After the end of "Raj", the miniature artists lost their patrons and their works were confined to interiors of some hotels or odd private collections. Gunjan’s attempt has served the twin purposes of popularising the art form in a modern medium brought in from the West, as also carving a niche in animation through an Indian look to animation originating here. "Bhor" is made using the style and form of traditional Rajasthani Miniatures. The story, based on the "Sringar ras" (love), is an effort to bring to life the romance and beauty of ancient India," she says. She considers it a simple endeavour to give greater exposure to Indian arts and heritage and bring it to the people in a simple, lucid and easily identifiable form, something the numerous clinical and scholarly analyses may not do. The effort involved was huge, with Gunjan researching the paintings and learning the art herself in Jaipur from its remaining practitioners, before actually putting drawings on paper. "It took two years and some Rs 30 lakh to produce the movie that lasts just 20 minutes, each second taking 25 frames on an average." The film, on the life and romance of a princess, starts with a group of flamingoes flying down to a river, and two deer frolicking in the forest. Twelve full-time artists and other hired hands had worked tirelessly in making true this endeavour. "Often, difficulties rose as my artists from hinterland Rajasthan were not familiar with animation, although they could churn out drawings at a quick pace." "The film is dedicated to one of the master craftsmen of traditional court painters, the late Bannuji Ved Pal Sharma who has been my inspiration and guide," says Gunjan. It is part of her conviction that
Indian animators should go for films that look Indian, and a deep
concern for the miniature artists in Rajasthan who "spend their
entire lives unknown in some odd dingy studios" that led her to
choose the subject as also the innovative format. PTI |
Expressing herself through colours
Expressing oneself through the language of colours is not everybody’s cup of tea. However, this quality with which very few people are blessed is amply visible in Mala Chawla, whose artistic flair envelops not only painting but other areas like gardening, home decoration, cooking, etc. Despite her outward demeanour expressing her sensitivity towards the world around her, she has chosen to remain single to focus on her passion for art. This postgraduate in fine arts has won a "highly commented certificate" in 1985 which was the first inspiration for this painter. Attributing her success to her elder sister, she says without her sister’s help she would not have achieved her goal of becoming a "master in the world of colours". For her it was an entirely new field as her parents do not belong to this profession and nor was she committed to this great art from the very first day. It was inspiration from her teacher, Dr Baldev Gambhir, Head of the Fine Arts Department, DAV College, which motivated her to express herself and showcase her capability through this art. A charming personality, she believes in self-dependence and manual labour. Interestingly, she started her career as a receptionist at a diagnostic centre immediately after completing her graduation. As a student she focused on being an earning hand while completing her education. Her urge for knowledge led her to complete her Master’s in history as a private student and also B.Ed to teach art to students. Working as an art teacher since the past many years, she has developed a personal attachment to it and has started promoting budding artists. She has been taking training classes even during holidays. A gold medallist at the Hyderabad exhibition, she has also been presented with around a dozen awards by artist bodies in Punjab. She has held five exhibitions, three of them in Amritsar and two in Kapurthala. Her work pertaining to landscapes and modern arts proves her love for nature. She has around 200 paintings to her credit. Complaining of high tuition fees, taken for membership by the Indian Institute of Fine Arts, she alleges that painters having less financial sources cannot afford its membership. This is the worst thing they are doing as art promoters, she adds. Having an infinite faith in God, she
is fond of home decoration, social service, travelling and gardening. |
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Post-mortem on Gujarat Enough has been said and written about the dreadful role of the ruling politicians in the horror of Gujarat, but not really enough about the sorry malfunctioning and worse of the IAS and IPS, barring some very honourable exceptions. Which is why one is very glad that this specific aspect was discussed in depth and with no holds barred in last weekend’s edition of The Big Fight, pursued with relentless determination by Rajdeep Sardesai. It was a representative panel, with police legend Julius Rebeiro, Harsh Mander, the IAS officer who had resigned in protest, and Minister of State for Home I.D. Swami who even spoke of his own earlier days as a civil servant and who remains one of the few representatives of his party and government who speaks in a civilised manner on TV without raising his voice or interrupting when pinned down. Of the three, the most effective was Rebeiro, because he had himself dealt with the last big communal violence in Gujarat in the ‘80s and then in Mumbai. He made it clear that no police officer had to wait for a mandate from the Chief Minister or anybody else to carry out his constitutional duties on the spot, which were very clear. That he had the right to refuse to carry out wrong orders from politicians and that too many officers are scared about being transferred from prize posts. He said it was the leadership in the police which often failed and not junior staff who are disciplined and carry out orders without questioning. Mr Mander, who has written a courageous and revealing article about what happened to the civil services in Gujarat and resigned in protest to form an action group for improving things was, unfortunately, not as articulate on television, but even so, made very useful points about those who stood up among his colleagues and were given punishment transfers, his horror at what was virtually genocide of the most brutal kind and asked what comfort could he give as he held a six-year-old victim in his arms who had seen his family killed and his concern about what form of revenge he might plan as he grew up. Mr Swami was consistently grilled, especially as he mentioned the police code of the 19th century which was still in operation, as to what his government was doing about implementing the valuable recommendations of commissions which had been set up to review and update the status, role and working conditions of the police. Clearly the ball is now in his court as also the urgent need for spine, unity and joint action on the part of both the IAS and the IPS all over India to assert their service rights and their independence of action in crisis situations. The need for archive records of personalities and institutions is one of the most neglected aspects of the functioning of Doordarshan, which pioneered TV in India and lost golden opportunities to record the greats of India with systematic planning and then lost or erased valuable recordings of great leaders, artists, film people, musicians, scientists, the lot. That archive recordings can be done, even briefly, was proved by the profile of Adi Godrej and his business house which was in the series BBC Profiles last week. Largely concentrating on Mr Godrej himself, who was refreshingly analytical and articulate in whatever he said, it was fascinating to hear through him, how dedication, discipline, integrity in business, family unity, solid training, treating rivals with respect and learning through mistakes, helped build up the house of Godrej into what it is today. There were charming insights into how his daughters looked on him as their boss and how his wife Parameshwar ("The only Punjabi in the family") made him appreciate the more relaxing side of life. A good human document. Tail-piece:
The outrage felt by decent people all over the world, not least of all
in European countries and the USA itself where widespread demonstrations
have been held, over Israeli PM Sharon’s wanton attacks on civilians
in Palestinian territory, which he has occupied with brute force, then
shutting out the media, the Red Cross and food and medical supplies has
not been adequately reflected by CNN and the BBC. Then they have
systematically underplayed the Israeli attacks on the Church of the
Nativity by the Israeli army, where Christ was born, presumably to hide
the truth from Christians all over the world, including Americans. The
outrage felt by some viewers in India was illustrated by two shattering
phone calls I received and they were from Hindus, "We had sympathy
about the Holocaust, but if there were many Jews like Sharon in Germany,
perhaps Hitler had a point." And a little more mildly: "Why
doesn’t Modi go to Israel to get a crash course on genocide from
Sharon?" |
Purity of folk tradition
is her aim
Sukhi Brar is a woman
of steely resolve and undiminishing courage. Undeterred by social
barriers created by a feudal set-up, she has pursued her first love
— music — although she belongs to the Malwa belt where the entry
of women into professional folk singing is a taboo.
