Devanshi Joshi. Vadodara/DNA
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
It may be the Internet age, but some officials at Vadodaras MS University are blissfully unaware that the varsitys website is outdated and ill-maintained. The sorry state of the site makes it difficult to even get basic updates about the universitys functioning. According to the homepage, nearly 35,000 students are enrolled at the university, which is one of the best known in Gujarat. Most of these students, especially the large base of foreign ones, prefer to gain access to academic and extracurricular information via the internet. However, a number of hyperlinks lead to dead or inaccessible pages, and of the ones that do open, many have incomplete information. Foreign student advisor at MSU, Sharad Bansal accedes that, “If the website is not functioning properly, it would be difficult for students to access information.” However, he is quick to shrug off the blame. “The technical department is responsible for the website. I am not aware about its working,” he says. MSUs website, www.msubaroda.ac.in, had been re-launched last year, with new features, but is not being updated regularly. The site still shows results of the last academic year and exam dates have not been updated, either. This is despite internal exams currently being conducted in a number of departments, with others scheduled to hold their exams in the coming months.In addition, the site does not offer any academic information, and only minimal details regarding the courses offered.Ramesh Goyal, at the start of his term as university vice chancellor, had assured the proper functioning of the website. But the situation remains largely unchanged in the roughly eight months since then. When asked about it, he said, “I admit the website is functioning at a less than optimal level. I have talked to the universitys technical department, who are working on the universitys website. We plan to re-launch it soon, with the latest updates.”To make matters worse, the contacts page of the site also has very limited information. Neither does it mention whom to contact in case of complaints or queries.
ekwad talked to children about different forms of paintings and designing. It was an overwhelming experience for the children to listen to Gaekwad of Vadodara's royal family and to participate in art activities with him. It was very rare instance when Gaekwad interacted with children and shared words with them.He advised children to remain focussed and use imagination to make their piece of art distinct and creative. “Children are best learners. They are so innocent and receptive that anything can be taught to them easily. Though art demands creativity, with correct direction one can cultivate it. Today, when I am working with children in this workshop, I can sense the talent and learning instinct in this future generation. They are very talented but efforts and initiatives should be taken by someone to nurture their talents.”Gaekwad also shared the art of using traditional tools in drawings and paintings with children. He showed a 500-year-old painting drawn with brick and charcoal. “Art has no boundary. When colours were not there, artists used charcoal and brick to make drawings and paintings. But now with the invention of modern technology, art has got a modernised touch. Use of modern techniques in traditional art can reform the artistic value of the art piece.”It was a great experience for the children in Vadodara who participated in the art workshop. Children followed their imagination and also the directions by Gaekwad and made different drawings.
At first glance, it is unclear whether the image at Vadodaras Kirti Mandir is a picture or a rangoli. No wonder then that about 50,000 people throng the annual exhibition. This year, the exhibition will feature internationally renowned artists of Swastik Rangoli Kalakar group and will run from October 25 to October 31.While the rangolis are usually as varied as portraits, still life, land- and seascapes and wildlife, this year the groups 15 rangolis celebrate children as part of the Bal nirogi varsha. The rangolis, which are roughly 6ft x 4ft are made on hardwood boards and are the results of as many as 80 hours of labour. To aid better viewing, the organisers are setting up a continuous platform about 5ft high, in addition to ensuring proper lighting for all the pictures. Most artists here have been involved with rangolis for a number of years, but have had no formal training in the art. “Rangoli takes practice and passion,” says Abhay Gadkari, who has been practicing the art for 35 years. He has also been invited twice - in 2002 and 2003 - to participate in the Diwali Festival of Lights organized by Asia New Zealand Foundation, run by the government of New Zealand. “Our group was established in 1985, when the traditional art form was on the verge of being forgotten in the concrete jungles. There were no signs that the younger generation wanted to keep the art alive, so six artists decided to work collectively and launched the Swastik Rangoli Kalakar Group, Baroda,” adds.The art demands practice, says Rajendra Dindorkar, secretary of the group. “I like to innovate in rangoli forms. This year, I have made a hanging rangoli using an acrylic sheet. The rangoli is a mirror image, and the actual image is visible in the sheet above it,” he says.“Tremendous concentration is required to make a rangoli picture. There is no scope for correction, because once the colour is filled in, there is no way of removing it. We take care not to whistle while we work!” said, Raju Chauhan, whose rangoli depicts a girl child welcoming Diwali.“The most unfortunate aspect of this art is that it is so temporary. There is no way to preserve it. Once the rangoli exhibition is over, the hard boards are removed and all the rangoli powder falls to floor in a multicoloured mound. A picture that takes hours to create is lost in seconds,” the artist said.
risen to Rs440 a kg from Rs180 a kg. Similarly, aluminium has shot up to Rs225 a kg from Rs140 a kg last year. Naim Kapadwala, a fireworks manufacturer, told DNA: “The fireworks market across India has hit a rough patch due to the recession. Prices of raw materials imported from China and other parts of country have seen a tremendous rise. In addition, increased transportation and labour charges, and the burden of tax have also had an effect on the market. Prices of some crackers, like the roll, have doubled. All we can do is hope for good sales. Jayesh Shah, a crackers dealer, said: “The price rise has made the market very dull and dry this year. Customers are keeping themselves away from heavy purchases of crackers. Diwali is just a few days away and we have not seen as much sales as is usual.” Even customers who come to buy firecrackers are turned off by the high prices. Piyush Patel, who enjoys lighting fireworks, said, “Though my budget was around Rs1,000-Rs1,500 for crackers, I ended up spending Rs2,500 since I couldnt get even 50% of what I wanted on my budget. I bore this extra expenditure for the sake of my kids, but this has disturbed my Diwali budget, and I will need to cut on some other expenses.” Anuja Shah, a customer said, “Prices of fireworks increase each year but, this time, it is too high and has made a big hole in our pockets. It has become difficult to put aside hundreds of rupees for crackers, since all prices go beyond the thousands. Prices of commodities and other things are already disturbing our Diwali budget, and now the added prices of crackers have made Diwali a costly affair.”
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