Students paint Ram and Sita on college walls

The students of JJ School of Applied Arts have intelligently weaved the story of Ramayana with college life and painted it on the walls of their college. The paintings are actually part of the 75th year anniversary of JJ School of Applied Arts which falls on February 19, 2010.

The entire concept has been created by Rahul Gaikwad and Yadnyee Gaikwad, alumni of the college. Explaining the concept Rahul says, “For the anniversary of the college we needed a common platform with which everyone in the college could relate to. So rather than going for any international influence, we found the Ramayana apt in representing the four years of college life.”

The paintings have eight to 10 main stories. The first part of the story is titled Dukhi Dashrath and it shows unhappy parents because it’s so difficult for them to get their children admitted to a good college. In the second part Ram is born and it depicts a student’s first day in college. Ram grows up as the year passes and he finds Sita (a girl he likes) and they fall in love. The examination period of the third and fourth year is representational of the 14 year exile that Ram serves.

Describing some of the people who take shape of the characters in Ramayana, Rahul says, “When you reach the third or the fourth year of your college, the junior students of your college really start admiring your works. Some of them become the chelas. They are like Hanuman who serve you no matter what. The pending college assignments are symbolic of Ravana’s heavyweight cousin Kumbhakarna who slept for more than six months.”

“Ravana is this monster who has 10 heads exemplifying 10 problems such as cash flow, printer and cartridge problems, expensive cameras, running time, anxiety of getting a good job and so on. Ravana’s other cousin, Vibhishana, helped Ram. He is personified as our college professor. He is the one who guides us to bringing down the monster of Ravana,” says Rahul with a smirk.