Hangouts
“Hey, y’all, Come down to chaathans !” hollers Sanil K.T., a fourth-year student, up to a few of his classmates and juniors in the Applied Arts building on campus. ‘Chaathans,’ we learn, is their nickname (“strictly unofficial”), for a newly constructed open-air classroom, with granite-covered benches, under the trees. It’s behind the Applied Arts building, which itself is in a corner of the quiet campus that’s bang on the main thoroughfare at Palayam.
“Until a year ago, this was largely wasteland. Nowadays, when the weather permits, we often have classes here on aesthetics or art history, for example. Being in the open makes it an interactive, tactile environment for such discussions. Most often, though, this is where many of us studying Applied Arts hang out or simply sit and ruminate,” adds Binoy Krishna, also a fourth year student, who along with a few others have joined Sanil.
That’s not all. The verdant campus is dotted with stone benches, low walls and parapets, steps, sheds, classrooms and corners, surrounded by years of art work done by students past and present, all of which are hangout places.
A few BFA students of Painting, for instance, say their hangout hotspot is ‘pattinimukku’ on the way to the college’s men’s hostel.
“It’s called so in reference to how we all are usually stone broke after having spent all our money to buy art supplies!” says Sivankutty Sasi, a soft-spoken third year student.
“Most of the time we spend on the campus itself. It’s a campus and a degree course that gives one the freedom to hang out or not hang out, depending on what you do with your free time,” adds Sabarinath T.V., a third year student of Applied Art.
What’s trending
“Art!” pat comes the reply from just about every student. “We live and breathe art here and it’s what gives us a high every time, so that’s what’s always trending on campus,” explains Ananthu Mohan, a fourth year student. Workshops and study camps also get the thumbs up from the students. “We had a nature study camp, recently, which was a lot of fun. Another, was a photography workshop,” says Midhun M., a third year student. Sanil explains that often it’s well-known artists who come as guest lecturers to take workshops.
In conversations
Again, art is the main topic of discussion, say the students. “Art is a largely a solitary occupation. Since most of us would be occupied with our own work, there will not be much in way of discussion going on, to be honest. That’s part of the reason why it’s so quiet here on campus,” explains Sabarinath and a few of his friends. If and when discussions do happen, the youngsters say that talk about the headlines. “Sometimes, those discussions lead to inspirations for our art works,” says Vaishakh Kolaprath, a fourth-year student.
The majority of the students (well, in the Applied Arts course, it seems) hail from Northern parts of Kerala and live in the college hostel or other hostels nearby. “Our discussions often thus veer towards longing for our homes, the people, the culture...Thiruvananthapuram is a nice place, with a lot of avenues and opportunities for aesthetic growth, but it’s quite different from life in the north of Kerala, where people are quite laid-back. We miss the sense of community that’s part and parcel of life there,” says Ananthu, Sanil and Co.
Also, each week the students across streams are given a subject and they have to come up with art works on the same.
“So there are always some discussions or other happing on the said subject/concept,” says Aghinu K., a third year student.
Results for fine arts entrance exams were published this week, so the students say they are looking forward to welcoming the first years later this month.
Now, that’s entertainment
Remya Wilfred, who is studying painting, says: “This is the wrong place to talk about fashion. There’s nothing fashionable here other than our art!” Cultural activities, so a part of campus life in the state, is also completely missing from the campus. “Some of us take part in University Youth fetes but that’s about it,” says Aghinu.
What they do have is unplugged music sessions, underneath one of the many trees on the campus or inside classrooms. “We have several musicians on campus. For example, Arun Babu, who plays for band Eettillam. They put up impromptu concerts of guitar, tabla and the like, which we all enjoy,” says Milan V., her classmate. The annual show put up by the students (the classrooms of the college become art galleries), usually around December, and the degree show put up by the final year students, towards the end of the academic year, are much awaited events.
Pet peeves
The list is long. “We are supposed to be learning something cutting edge but our syllabus is outdated,” lament the students. “We are all talented students but we have no modern software or systems to work with. Many students end up in the advertising field and to get ourselves job-ready, we end up going for private classes to enhance our skills,” they add. Many students also rue the “step-motherly treatment” meted out to fine arts. “Right now, fine arts ranks pretty low in importance in the education system in Kerala. For the University of Kerala, it’s almost an afterthought; we experience it every day, be it syllabus, qualified software teachers, delay in publishing results…,” says Sabarinath, Midhun, Vaisakh and Ananthu. “When will the authorities wake up and realise that art matters?” they add.
(A monthly column on views from campus)
