National 9 (Spotlight Weekly)

Show Of Creation

Historian Dr. Rajesh Gautam catches the spirit of sky through his brush

By A CORRESPONDENT

Every individual has his own style of expressing the events that occur in front of him. Tired of writing and compiling historical events, historian and intellectual Dr. Rajesh Gautam finally finds time to devote to the cause of painting.

Although it is his first solo art exhibition, Dr. Gautam’s 41 paintings explain the various modes of sky and has been appreciated by many art lovers. Exhibited at the Srijana Contemporary Art Gallery, Dr. Gautam captures the color and mood variations of sky.

To paint his inner feelings, Dr. Gautam uses watercolor but the combination of different color has brought the manifold feelings of his mind to the fore. “Although I have just entered into the contemporary art, I will prove my quality dedicating time in this area,” said Dr. Gautam. “This is just a beginning. I will continue to paint on various themes.”

Gautam's show : Lucid expression

In his 41 paintings, Dr. Gautam catches the glimpses of sky since each of his sky has different moods and reflections. From clouded dark sky to the clear blue sky, Dr. Gautam successfully paints them all.

Sky also reflects the inner feelings of human beings as it speaks about the darker shade of human experiences as well as anxiety and happier moods. Dr. Gautam uses the blue color to depict crystal clear faces of sky and black colors to show the sky with black cloud ready to burst.

Since this is his first exhibition, Dr. Gautam finds too many spaces in the open sky to express his inner feelings of joy and frustration. He carefully reads the faces of sky and its colors. The sky with hill and the sky with sun set and sunrise are some of the interesting paintings Dr. Gautam depicts in his solo exhibition.

“Dr.Gautam depicted many kinds of paintings explaining the mood of sky. Although most of his paintings are based on sky, he also captures the landscape,” said Batsa Gopal Vaidya, a senior artist. “I see there is a talents within Dr. Gautam.”

Sky is one of the important components of nature and it can explain the various phases of nature. One of the important aspects of the sky is that it changes from morning to evening and night to day.

While sky gives a lot of room, painting on vague themes like sky is a difficult task. One has to be careful in grasping the changing colors of sky.

“I enjoy observing the sky and its different modes as it changes from time to time and season to season,” said Dr.Gautam.

In a good stroke and style, Dr. Gautam paints small irritants and events occurring in the sky. “I have carefully chosen the theme ‘Me and My Sky’ since all my paintings are related to sky and its surroundings,” said artist Gautam.

UNICEF Stresses on Girl Education

The extraordinarily high numbers of children out of school in South Asia, and the disproportionate number of girls, is causing immense damage to the region’s development, UNICEF’s Regional Director, Dr Sadig Rasheed, has told a consultation on education in New Delhi organized by the Baha’I community on December 17.

According to the press release from the UNICEF, Dr Rasheed wondered why the region allows such a disability to continue.

“There are something like 43 million children out of school in South Asia, of which an estimated 26 million are girls,’ he told delegates. ‘Educating a girl has a multiplier effect which means that the benefits of better health, the chance of better paid employment and even empowerment against exploitation are handed on to their future families. There is no investment that pays better dividends in terms of rapid human development and economic growth.”

He appealed for support from government, business, community leaders and sporting organizations to work together to ensure a region where there was ‘Fair Play for Girls’.

Dr Rasheed was speaking at the South Asian Regional Consultation – Education: The Right of Every Girl and Boy organized by the Baha’I International Community in New Delhi. UNICEF is working to accelerate girl’s education in 25 countries worldwide by 2005. Six of those countries are in South Asia and include India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.