Art for heart’s sake: Deepavali with Raja Ravi Varma
The Hindu
From oleographs to coasters, an ongoing exhibition allows you to take a bit of the legendary artist home
With Deepavali around the corner, it is time to bring the gods home. What better way to celebrate than investing in a Raja Ravi Varma masterpiece. More than a century after his demise, his works continue to attract aesthetes and devotees alike.
Inspired by her mother Rupika Chawla, noted art conservator and author of the acclaimed book, Raja Ravi Varma: Painter of Colonial India, Delhi-based creative designer Mrinalini Chawla is holding an exhibition showcasing a collection of original Raja Ravi Varma oleographs. The oleographs depict themes like goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswati, Mohini and Lord Krishna, which are available in a wide range of sizes and prices.
The exhibition has collectibles like 19th century European enamel, Burmese lacquer bowls, and Tanjore paintings from 1950s. Also available are limited-edition home products that Mrinalini designs and hand decorates, such as trays, stoles, wrapping paper, coasters and even an adult-child interactive colouring book inspired by Ravi Varma’s works.
Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.