Another Unworthy Appointment?

In the seventies, well known Marathi journalist Govindrao Talwalkar wrote a strong editorial in ‘Maharashtra Times’ titled ‘Art Director or Ghashiram?’ It became very famous then. Now after almost five decades, a lot of water has flowed from under the bridge. Had Govindrao been alive today, he would have definitely written editorial titled ‘Art Director or Peon?’ So much that the concerned have deteriorated the Art Directorate. Read how, in another special article.

While scrolling through WhatsApp yesterday morning, I saw a message from a student of JJ School of Art. Wondering why did this student sent me a message, I opened it eagerly. There was a link to ‘Max Maharashtra’ in it. I got shivers as opened it. The video was filled with loud music and extreme mispronunciations.

Lately I have lost the habit of listening to loud music being played behind the news as I have stopped watching the news on TV channels. So first of all I reduced the volume of that video. Our college is 166 years old. I have spent six or seven years of my youth there. Having had developed unique relationship with every tree and every stone in the building, my anger was beyond control, when the young narrator in the video kept referring to JJ School of Art as ‘JJ Art of School Art’ in a shabby manner.

You are making a story on such an old college, it is clearly visible on the screen. Even the name boards of the college are clearly visible to us viewers from such a distance and seeing that the young man who calls himself a journalist is constantly referring to JJ in the wrong way, it once again made us realize that journalism has reached a rock bottom.

Actually Rajeev Mishra is the Principal of JJ College of Architecture. In fact, his post in-charge post. Seeing the so called ‘bullish graph’ / ‘soaring graph’ of his achievements, the Higher and Technical Education Department of the Government of Maharashtra awarded him with another in-charge post. That is the post of Art Director of Maharashtra. Actually, he has no connection with painting, neither has he been educated in JJ. He is a student of Diploma in Architecture from Rachana Sansad at Prabhadevi. He was selected as a teacher in JJ College of Architecture by chance.

And then he was conferred the post of In-charge Art Director. One after another human gems were selected as in-charge Art Director earlier and he is one more in the same series. All are almost equivalent. So much is the similarity in their art related knowledge. Why were they selected? Who selected them? How? No information is available on this. It is said that such questions are not even to be asked in the BJP rule. Who knows what’s true and what’s false?

From his last name ‘Mishra’, it is not difficult to imagine how he would have captured the Directorate of Art and the Mantralaya by his sweet talk. He can move around anywhere from Secretary – Deputy Secretary to Ministers of any department in the Mantralaya. Architecture college students say that how many lectures he has taken as a professor in the last seven to eight years is actually a topic of research. Even though Mishra Saheb has not completed his PhD, when an officer like the Secretary usually refers to him as “Doctor”, we have no other option but to blame our fate.

Sometime in the afternoon, he used to go to the Mantralaya and roam around from one cabin to another, with files. It is being known from the assertions made in the JJ campus that his daily routine is to visit the ministers’ office or bungalow and return to the Art Directorate only in the evening. So how much time does he devote to giving lectures in the classroom or in the principal’s office for college work? No one is to ask such a question. Because every day he is supposed have been called by some higher up in the Mantralaya. These could be Deputy Secretary, Secretary or even the Minister. He has inculcated ‘service orientation’ so much in himself that he does not refuse any work. Take the example of last Diwali. A huge pile of boxes of sweets came to the Deputy Secretary. Now the Deputy Secretary was riddled with the problem of how to take this pile to his home at Navi Mumbai. As soon as Mishra Saheb came to know about this problem, he took the Govt car that he got as the Art Director, dropped the sweets along with the Deputy Secretary straight to his home in Navi Mumbai. Dy Secretary Saheb liked this drop service of Mishra Saheb so much that later he started taking the car to Art Directorate in Navi Mumbai every day after office. Sometimes when Mishra Saheb was busy with any Minister’s work, he could not go to drop Dy Secretary Saheb to home. At such times Mishra Saheb used to send Dy Sectretary Saheb in the car along with the driver, is what is known from people related to JJ campus.

In the meantime, during Minister Samant Saheb’s tenure, Mishra Saheb lost his in charge post for six to seven months. But the Deputy Secretary was so much used to using the Art Directorate’s car that he then took Sable Saheb, who replaced Mishra Saheb, and then Sable also started dropping the Deputy Secretary in the Art Director’s car in Navi Mumbai. But as Sable demonstrated some extraordinary achievements there, after a few months, Mishra Saheb again became the in-charge Art Director. But by that time the Dy Secretary had arranged for a car for himself. So now Mishra didn’t have to drop Dy Secretary to Navi Mumbai. But the Dy Secretary liked the Art Directorate’s car so much that whenever he wants to go anywhere outstation, he takes it as if that is his right.

On the same day that Sable went and Mishra came back, the car of the Art Directorate was sent to Dhule to bring the Dy Secretary. This news was also published by ‘Chinha’. But nothing happened because ‘Everyone is naked in the hamam!’ Now you may say what is the proof for this? This is evidenced by all the CCTVs from Mantralaya to Navi Mumbai and at toll booths on the way. It is customary to preserve CCTV footage. Also the vehicle register book or diary can be a good proof. But who should bell the cat? All concerned are involved. Who should take action on whom? In this connection, I can’t resist telling one more terrible story. An Art Director who was instrumental in degradation of the Art Directorate had gone to the Mantralaya a few years ago for some government work. Who knows why, but the then Minister of Higher and Technical Education used to get upset whenever he saw this Art Director. It was probably the day before Dussehra and there was a lot of hubbub in the Higher and Technical Education ministry for the preparations of Pooja. A peon had brought a much long floral string for decorations. But he could not install properly. The way he was installing it was looking shabby. The minister did not like it. Finally, he got fed up and said to his secretary ‘There’s that Art Director sitting outside, call him and tell him to put it on.’ Should I tell you what happened next? anyway here I digressed a bit.

So, ‘Max Maharashtra’ has created a video on our own talented Mishra Saheb and created a sensation in the premises of the Art Directorate and the Mantralaya. Now it is difficult to say what is true and what is false. Till now the work of ‘Chinha’ was limited to painting and art education. So it is a fact that we have not paid attention to the ‘great contributions’ achievements of people like Mishra. And in the last 25 or 30 years as some terrible appointments were made by the Departments of Higher and Technical Education as Art Director of those who had nothing to do with painting and who came on temporary appointments, that we had decided that we would not go anywhere near to those human gems. But now it is certain that the ‘Chinha’ will not ignore this. In fact, those in the know must have noticed that Art Director Rajeev Mishra was in focus in the articles published in Chinha Art News during the past few days.

Mishra Saheb, who never studied in JJ, took diploma from Rachana Sansad, not only occupied the post of in-charge Principal of JJ Architecture but was selected as the in-charge Art Director of Maharashtra, now dreams of becoming the Vice Chancellor of JJ Denovo University. Kudos to the Higher and Technical Education Department of Maharashtra and the Secretary and Deputy Secretary who run it.

Satish Naik

Editor, Chinha Art News