Oct 16, 2009
Amritapuri Campus
The victory of Rama! When the theme of Chitrarpan-09 was announced, 30 student contestants took paper and pencil and began creating visuals depicting dramatic moments from India’s beloved saga.
Chitrarpan, the contest, was organized on August 11 this year as part of the annual Ramayana Saparya Celebrations at Amritapuri campus and was open to students from all schools and programs at that campus.
“The overall aim of the event was to stimulate awareness of our cultural traditions,” explained Mr. Nagarajan P.M., coordinator of this second annual contest. “The drawing and painting contest was also meant to exhibit the talents of students with drawing skills, since there is no other such forum for them at this time.”
First place winner Arushi P.V., a student of the 7th semester in the Integrated MSc (Maths-Physics) program of the Amrita School of Arts and Sciences, comes from a family that values art. Her father loves to draw, and he has always encouraged her and her younger sister in this art. Her winning watercolor showed Rama crossing the bridge from Lanka with Sita. “I really enjoyed sitting and drawing with other students who also love to draw,” she said.
The Ramayana is a favorite subject of Shruthy Balakrishnan, final-year student of BBM (Bachelors of Arts and Sciences), who tied for second place in the contest.
For her, the perfect image of Rama’s victory was his slaying of Ravana. “Drawing a picture from your imagination is just like writing a story,” Shruthy mused. “Once you start, it flows easily.” Shruthy expressed her appreciation for the organizers of the event who had provided the right environment. “That peaceful atmosphere made it easy to get a picture in mind.”
For Nidheesh S., final semester multi-media student, who tied for second place with Shruthy, the choice of images was obvious — Rama breaking the bow to win Sita. “How could there be a Ramayana without Sita!” he exclaimed. Having won many contests at the plus-2 level, Nidheesh wants to make a career in animation. His favorite medium is the pencil. It was because of Nidheesh that third place winner Rahul M. Nair, also a final semester multi-media student, took part in the contest.
“Nidheesh registered my name without telling me,” Rahul recalled, laughing. “So I only knew about it on the day of the contest.” An experienced artist with a BFA and KGCE, Rahul has also previously won many prizes, including first prize in a state-wide contest. His preferred medium is watercolor, but because of the short notice, his watercolors were back in his hostel room. “Still, I’m really happy I was in the contest.” Rahul also wants to make a career in animation and modeling.
The contest was followed by a one-day exhibition of drawings. Exhibits included not only this year’s entries but also the winning art from the previous year’s contest, as well as other art works of staff members and students.
Visitors to the gallery, including members of administration, expressed admiration and delight at the creativity on display.
“I was impressed with the commitment of the students who came for the contest,” observed Mr. Nagarajan. “The 30 contestants came despite the fact that they had exams to prepare for. Such a contest also helps us identify the talent in our student body for artistic projects that may come up.” Mr. Nagarajan credited the success of the event to his co-coordinators Anoop T.K. from Multimedia and Mr. Sinith M.S. from the ECE Dept., as well as Br. Sivanandan from Mech Engg., the coordinator of the annual Ramayana Saparya Celebrations.
