An exhibition of 100 pictures painted by students highlights social evils like rape and female foeticide. Shrabasti Mallik reports
It was a riot of colours at the Art life Gallery. Excited children ran in their rainbow coloured dresses making it difficult for their teachers to keep them together for their performance. For these kids belonging to different schools promoted and run by the Al-Noor Charitable Trust, headed by Salma Ansari, it was no less than a day away from their text books and a fun trip to the Capital. More than the performance, they were excited to show their gratitude and love towards Ansari, whom they called “second mother.” Through their skits, plays and dance, they highlighted some relevant social issues.
These performances were part of the inaugural celebration of a week-long exhibition of paintings by these students, titled Bring on the Sunshine and solely sponsored by the gallery. One would expect children to paint rainbows, butterflies and sceneries but the 100 exhibits on display present a very mature picture. One will come across a woman draped in the National flag with the words, ‘Stop Rape’ on the side and also a picture which forbids society against female foeticide. “It touches me so much to see these kids mature in front of my eyes. It seems just like yesterday that I was sitting in their one room home and trying to convince their parents to send them to school. They are much more aware about social evils than us because they see it in their villages and it stays with them and comes out in their creative activities. The paintings and the performances were all conceived by them. We had more than 1,800 entries for the exhibition but we could only select 100 amongst them,” said Ansari.
One of the plays depicted the importance of education for the girl child. The actors were fourth and sixth standard students from Madarsa-e-Alnoor School, Aligarh. So good they were at the act that it felt like watching a bunch of professional actors do their jobs. “When I want to grow up, I want to become an actor,” said Ruksaar, a fourth standard student, who played the role of a stereotype village woman, against the education of the girl child.
Mohammed Danish, a seventh standard student of Madarsa-e-Alnoor School, is taller than all his classmates. “He is specially-abled boy who had difficulty speaking. We enrolled him into the school and it took him just two years to talk and make friends and look at where he has reached now,” said a proud Ansari. Danish sounded confident when he shared, “I want to become an officer in a University.”
While many other students wanted to become a dancer, doctor or a teacher, we came across Afsha Anwar who wanted to become a pilot. “The place where I come from, people do not have high hopes from a girl. My grandmother wants me to become a pilot and I want to become a dancer, so I will become both,” said the fifth standard girl from Chacha Nehru Public School. Mohammad Nazim, fourth standard student of Madarsa-e-Alnoor School, on the other hand, is sure to land in Bollywood when he grows up. He shared, “I love to study and now that Salma maa has given me a chance, I want to study as much as I can. Then I will become an actor.” When asked who is his favourite actor, he said, “I have no favourite actors. I am my favourite.”
Mohammed Muzamil’s father is a qawwal, so this 10-year-old boy also wants to become a singer when he grows up. “I want to become like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. My father teaches me different ways to improve on my singing and I love it. I also want to have a body like Tiger Shroff,” he said.
Speaking about the years Ansari spent to give these kids proper education, Ansari said, “It is overwhelming when these kids share their dream and aspirations. And when they perform, I feel like all my hard work has paid off. The world should know how much talent we have in the remote pockets of the country. These kids are the future and Art life Gallery is the first-of-its-kind to give us such a platform.”