‘Denovo’: Slated this Diwali!

Honorable Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met a delegation of JJ School of Art in New Delhi on Thursday. It comprised of film actor Manoj Joshi – an alumnus of JJ, Dr Santosh Kshirsagar, In-charge Dean of JJ Institute of Applied Art, Prof Douglas John – senior faculty member of JJ School of Art, Prof Zaheer Mirza – Adjunct Professor of Applied Art and Prof Rajeev Mishra – Principal of JJ College of Architecture. The hard work of these individuals has led to the realization of Denovo. The biggest announcement regarding Denovo will happen in a grand event in the premises of JJ School of Art in October-November.

The first photograph given herewith is of the tweet by Hon. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday 24^th August. It is in connection with his meeting at New Delhi with the delegation from JJ School of Art. This visit which was initiated by film actor Manoj Joshi (who is an alumnus of JJ) consisted of the faculty members of the three institutions in JJ School of Art, who worked tirelessly for the last four to five years for Denovo status of JJ. The delegation consisted of Dr Santosh Kshirsagar – In-charge Dean of JJ Institute of Applied Art, Prof Douglas John – Senior Faculty member of JJ School of Art, Zaheer Mirza, Adjunct Professor of Applied Art and Prof Rajeev Mishra, Principal of JJ College of Architecture. All of them have put in great effort to make Denovo a reality. They were supported by Professors Shubhanand Jog and Mustansir Dalvi of College of Applied Art and School of Architecture respectively; however, neither could participate in this delegation.

I mentioned this because even though it is only the hard work by these individuals around the clock that made Denovo a reality, till now all these names and their work had remained unknown. All those associated with this movement had unanimously taken a decision not to write or say anything about what all efforts went into getting JJ Denovo status and that decision was followed scrupulously. Therefore, the contributions of these individuals remained unknown to the public. Maintaining secrecy was the only major motive behind this. Because many naysayers in the JJ campus and in the art world were keen to oppose Denovo. They didn’t want Denovo to realize. Because all of them would be unable to participate in it due to deficiencies in their educational qualifications, and moreover their earning sources which were running smoothly till now would be closed and so also their illegal businesses would be shut down.

They had left no stone unturned to prevent Denovo. They even went to the Ministers (by matter of chance one of them got convinced by them. He even went against Denovo. Suddenly the government changed, and Maharashtra lost an Art University. Those who could not even run the sole Art Directorate in India properly, in fact those who literally destroyed the art education system of Maharashtra, were going to establish an Art University, it seems. But the first thing that Chandrakant Dada did as soon as he was sworn in as the education minister was to dismiss the Art University Study Committee. Of course, by then the process of Denovo had gone to an advanced stage so that nobody could possibly stop it. Yet, many troublemakers in JJ and the art education field continued to meddle with the matter. That’s why all of us associated with this movement have been vigilant to ensure that no names come out as far as possible so that there is no disruption in this work which is likely to be the biggest development in the future of JJ.

But now, since the Union Education Minister himself has announced everything by tweeting, we will gradually broadcast all the information in this regard through ‘Chinha’. In fact, this meeting was scheduled to be for literally ten minutes. But it lasted for forty-five minutes. The greatness of JJ is not so apparent to us while being here in Maharashtra, but in Delhi, all doors open swiftly, just by mentioning JJ. This, of course, is the merit of JJ’s campus and of Jamshedji Bhai. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was quite aware of JJ’s reputation. Mantosh Lal, an alumnus of JJ who rocked JJ in the eighties, is one in the close friend circle of Dharmendra Pradhan. Mr. Pradhan’s letterheads and visiting cards were designed by Mantosh Lal. So, he knew JJ glory completely.

Moreover, film actor Manoj Joshi turned out to be his friend. And a JJ alumnus too. He persistently kept JJ’s case live with him. Often, they had quick meetings in Delhi or at the airport itself. In every such meeting, he (Manoj Joshi) brought up the subject of JJ. Later, Joshi did not have to bring up the subject. So much so that the subject got firmly rooted in the memory of Mr. Pradhan. And when Chandrakant Dada became the education minister, whenever Dada and Pradhan met, Pradhan raised the issue of JJ and asked about its status. Needless to say that Denovo process gained momentum due to this. What we are seeing now is the achievement of all these people.

In fact, there is a lot to write about it. And I’m going to write it too. A lot happened in this meeting too. Mr. Pradhan suggested many new things. Not only that, but he also telephoned the concerned individuals and organizations. The most important issue was that of funding. The fifty-fifty five crores amount sanctioned by Maharashtra government is not enough. We need to raise more money. He also made numerous suggestions to the delegation as to how the money should be raised and how it should be done. Much more happened in this meeting. But I will write about that sometime later.

As of now, let’s just say that the biggest announcement regarding Denovo will certainly happen in the month of October-November at a grand event in JJ School of Art itself. That’s all for now.

Satish Naik

Editor ‘Chinha Art News’