In 2019, a few weeks after the Indian National Congress suffered yet another resounding defeat at the hands of the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP), a small group of Delhi-based journalists, including this writer, had an occasion to interact with Rahul Gandhi in the precincts of the Congress Parliamentary Party office within the Parliament Building. During the brief, impromptu interaction, Rahul Gandhi said that he and the Congress had worked hard and to the best of their abilities but were found wanting in making the big change.
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Oommen Chandy with Rahul Gandhi during Bharat Jodo Yatra
Hearing this, I came up with a totally unsolicited advice. “Bring Oomen Chandy to Delhi on a special organisational post. Give him authority to prod your line of leaders in the organisational structure across the country. He will make your units across the country spring to a new life. He himself will not sleep. And he will not let other leaders in your party sleep too.” Rahul Gandhi, just smiled and moved on. 
Later, I sent word to Chandy through one of his close associates, about my “message” to Rahul Gandhi. The associate reported back saying that Chandy too responded to my suggestion with a smile, but had later added that he wished he could actually live up to my impression about him, if given a chance. Apparently, he used to talk about this “organisational possibility at the Congress centre” from time to time. “In a sense, he had taken up this as a promise to himself”, said the associate of Chandy. But several factors, including Chandy’s ill-health, prevented him fulfilling this promise in the past four years. 
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Oommen Chandy sloganeering
Political observers who have observed the organisational abilities of the former Kerala Chief Minister would agree with my assessment. There was little doubt about his connect with the people. Also that 24×7 activity characterised Oomen Chandy’s political life throughout his nearly six-decade long career. Fellow politicians, political observers and journalists have often been dumb founded by Chandy’s capacity to put in inhumanly long hours of work.
Senior politicians belonging to different parties, including his arch rivals in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have seen how he could be on his feet for almost as long as 10 hours, meeting and interacting with people.
A fellow journalist recounts often an unbelievable official encounter with Chandy. Chandy was Chief Minister at that time and the journalist, an elected leader of a journalists’ union. The latter had an important issue to discuss with the Chief Minister. The union was building an office in one of the Kerala districts and had to get some official clearances. To an official request for an appointment, the Chief Minister’s office replied that the meeting was fixed for 4 a.m. in a train reaching Shoranur Junction then. Looking at the time and place of appointment, the journalist and his colleagues had surmised that the meeting would not happen. The Chief Minister would most probably be asleep at that time, they thought. However, they decided to take a chance and reached the station. The train reached the railway station and the man who opened the train’s door was a fully awake and bright looking Chief Minister himself. The journalists had a fruitful discussion with Chandy in the train. Later, the union’s project came to a smooth completion.
There were several leaders in the Congress as well as many regional parties in northern India such as the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Janata Dal (United) who knew about this passionate working style of Chandy. Old timers in the Uttar Pradesh Congress, such as Ram Kripal Singh and Pramod Tiwari, used to term it “Chandy’s personal value addition to a long-standing Kerala stamp in Congress politics”. They remember how, when Indira Gandhi was leading the party, young leaders from Kerala, such as A.K. Antony, Vayalar Ravi and Oomen Chandy had occupied important positions in the central bodies of the party. They viewed it as a period of creativity in the grand old party.
In the view of these leaders, it was Chandy and K.C. Venugopal, organisational secretrary in the current Congress Working Committee (CWC), who essentially represented this Kerala stamp in national politics in contemporary times. Interestingly, Venugopal considers himself a sort of protege of Chandy. Both Singh and Tiwari had pointed out to The AIDEM that Chandy’s political personality had particularly captured, the attention and imagination of the political class as a whole, particularty Congress functionaries, in different parts of India during the two terms when he was Chief Minister of Kerala. 
<img alt="The_Chief_Minister_of_Kerala_Shri_Oommen_Chandy_meeting_the_Prime_Minister_Dr._Manmohan_Singh_in_New_Delhi_on_March_13_2013-300x181 (1).jpg" src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/The_Chief_Minister_of_Kerala_Shri_Oommen_Chandy_meeting_the_Prime_Minister_Dr_Manmohan_Singh_in_New_Delhi_on_March_13_2013_300x181_1_a6fde85eb5.jpg" />
Oommen Chandy meeting the then Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh in New Delhi
This began right from his first tenure as Chief Minister in 2004. The very fact that he was chosen to replace somebody like Antony after the rout of the Congress in Kerala in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections had evoked interest across the country. This had grown steadily over his first tenure as Chief Minister until 2006. “It rose to greater heights during the, second tenure, which began in 2011,” Singh said.
Chandy’s tireless physical dynamism and energy were often cited as examples of the new-age political quotients of high value. Even politicians like Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, who stands at a considerable distance from the Congress in political and ideological terms have commented on this aspect to me personally.
At the level of larger politics, however, there have been questions on Chandy’s ideological orientation and commitment. I had myself raised a pointed question on this when he was Chief Minister. Chandy had responded by stating that he did not believe in categorisations such as Left, Right or Centre and his basic ideology was welfare of the people and overall development. Many journalists and observers who had heard this interaction immediately categorised it as mindless generalisation by the leader. 
Even in the midst of this criticism, there was also an acceptance that at the policy level, there were many things that Chandy had done as Chief Minister which had the potential to evolve into more ideologically coherent political plan. Indeed, there were many things that militated against any form of ideological orientation. 
There is a general impression that the present-day Kerala, by and large, does not produce the kind of mature politicians that the larger society of the State deserves. This is a view shared even by those academicians and analysts who have showered praise on the Kerala model of development. Clearly, there is a need for greater application, enhanced creativity, and better innovation to make Kerala adapt itself to the new, emerging world.
Perhaps, Oomen Chandy’s passing away would trigger a broader and more involved debate on this issue in the days to come. Even as one mulls on this possibility, there can be little denying that Chandy had a very high application quotient and that he had brought back some attention to the Kerala stamp in Congress politics at the national level.
In such a context, the unkept promise that he made to himself on bringing more vigour into the Congress at the national level would pain a large number of his followers and friends.

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In 2019, a few weeks after the Indian National Congress suffered yet another resounding defeat at the hands of the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP), a small group of Delhi-based journalists, including this writer, had an occasion to interact with Rahul Gandhi in the precincts of the Congress Parliamentary Party office within the Parliament Building. During the brief, impromptu interaction, Rahul Gandhi said that he and the Congress had worked hard and to the best of their abilities but were found wanting in making the big change.



Oomen Chandy and an Unkept Promise to Himself

2022 was another year that bore testimony to the fact that when it comes to matters of gender inequality and gender violence in the everyday, Kerala had yet another innings at not daring to dream of change, but of buttressing social inertia with studied reluctance and privileged insolence, in order that nothing would upset its staid and conservative mores or topple the apple carts of its benevolent patriarchy. Of course, feminists or ‘feminichies’, as they are ‘lovingly’ called had another year of vociferous debates, critically and rigorously engaging with many of the events that unfolded in the social milieu, even while issues like the sexual harassment case against Civic Chandran brought to the fore ideological faultlines that divided the camp and created acrimonious and sometimes vitriolic debates. The reluctance to see that feminisms is also about multiplicity, difference, and ‘differance’, that each reaction to an oppression need not run the same course as any other, and the insistence that one’s feminist credo was the one and truly “correct” one led to a fair amount of heartburn and divisiveness that challenged sorely needed feminist solidarities.The human sacrifice of two women, their bodies cut to pieces and buried after gory rituals, which shocked the conscience of Kerala’s public sphere, nevertheless brought to the fore the pernicious conservatism and superstition ridden underbelly that hides in and haunts its literate surface and civil society engagements. Kerala’s endogamous big fat weddings that legitimise dowry, while diligently stabilising caste and class and conservative religious mores belie its much-touted renaissance values. The Supreme Court judgement on women’s entry into Sabarimala and the ensuing menstrual debates and feminist activism that created a huge neo-conservative backlash testify to the half-baked project of Kerala’s modernity and the false bravado of its enlightenment project while busting the myth and mystique around its gender investments. Yet, women are coming out, as never before in Kerala, to question its benevolent patriarchy, to claim spaces in its emergent digital public spheres, muddying male logic and its mansplaining practices with multiple kinds of online and digital women-speak. Young women have begun challenging the overarching burden of carrying mainstream definitions of feminism, bringing their own lived experiences and their individual resistances to chart their journeys of everyday resistance. That said, gender migration from Kerala seems on the rise, many young women and sexual minorities choosing to run away from the unbearable oppression of its mundane conservatism.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/human_sacrifice_9ab5691aeb.jpg" alt="human-sacrifice.jpg">Kerala’s journey on its exemplary trangender policy, along with iconoclastic moves for gender reforms such as transgender reservation, while continuing to be ridden by pitfalls and issues, often revealing the yawning gap between the cup and the lip, nevertheless saw the year offering an ‘Idam’ or space to sexual minorities, making many general hospitals in the state transgender friendly. The novel drive for ‘gender-neutral’ (unisex would have been more appropriate) uniforms in the state, was caught up in the problematics of the nomenclature, with the government backing away hastily after conservative religious outfits expressed their moral outrage at the move. Once again orthodoxy and reactionaryism would triumph over politics and perception, even as forlorn civil society protests would be bulldozed under the sheer mass power of the moral majority vote bank. Kerala’s higher education portals have ambitious syllabi on ‘Gender and Sexuality’ and ‘Queer Studies’, leaving many wondering as to what the sum and substance of student takeaway from these classes in a society would be, where the fact that gender is a spectrum and not a binary seems to have been the least of intellectual or social concerns.Yet, hope bloomed sometimes in mass dream machines. Kerala’s most potent schools of misogyny have been its popular culture industry. After the success of the Great Indian Kitchen which offered a sneak peak into rotting mess of Malayali kitchens, films like Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey, while having many inherent ideological issues at its core, had audiences cheering when the female protagonist, a wife at that, beat the male hero husband to pulp. Long have been the years when Malayalam Cinema had audiences, both men and women, burst into applause as one superstar after another mouthed crassly misogynist dialogues or slapped heroines into coy submission, awakening them to new forms of feminine bliss. That spectatorial pleasures had changed, and the spectacles of colossal male machodom were coming undone at the seams, yielded fresh hopes for the future, both for Malayalam Cinema and the viewing public.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/jaya_jaya_hey_fe06f87da2.jpg" alt="jaya-jaya-hey.jpg"> Movie Poster of Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey2022’s mixed bag of gender equality for women Kerala, its violence and gaps exacerbated by the pandemic, nevertheless holds the promise of a new dawn. A dawn that will hopefully exorcise the new age shadow pandemic induced by the age old and deadly virus of patriarchy, one for which a new generation of ‘she, he and they’ will strive to invent more potent vaccines.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003314653/affective-feminisms-digital-india-meena-pillai?_gl=1*1eax1ey*_ga*MTkxNTgyMjk4OS4xNjY1MjQ1ODM0*_ga_SR2P22QVQQ*MTY3MjIwOTAyOC4xLjEuMTY3MjIwOTg0Ni4wLjAuMA..%20https:%2F%2Fwww.routledge.com%2FAffective-Feminisms-in-Digital-India-Intimate-Rebels%2FPillai%2Fp%2Fbook%2F9781032322834">Link to Prof. Meena T Pillai’s Book</a><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp;<hr><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(39, 39, 39);font-family:Manjari;font-size:18px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:1.7;margin:0px 0px 15px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Subscribe to our channels on <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/c/THEAIDEM">YouTube</a> &amp; <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chat.whatsapp.com/ELqD1D1bImgAP6MrG8jskq">WhatsApp</a>

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2022 was another year that bore testimony to the fact that when it comes to matters of gender inequality and gender violence in the everyday, Kerala had yet another innings at not daring to dream of change, but of buttressing social inertia with studied reluctance and privileged insolence, in order that nothing would upset its staid and conservative mores or topple the apple carts of its benevolent patriarchy. 

Gendering 2022 – Dare to Dream?

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Prof. Meena T. Pillai’s ”Affective Feminisms in Digital India: Intimate Rebels“ is a ground-breaking and thought-provoking exploration of the intersections between technology and feminism within the unique context of Kerala. 

Coming Together in Digital Dissent: The World of Intimate Rebels and their Technological Assemblages

Statement issued by the Chinta Ravindran Foundation endorsed by renowned Malayalam writers, filmmakers, artists and cultural figures against the attack on Salman Rushdie.We, the undersigned, are deeply saddened and shocked by the brutal attempt to assassinate acclaimed writer Salman Rushdie, during a literary event in Chautauqua, western New York. We strongly condemn this heinous act and express our solidarity with the writer.Salman Rushdie has been under the shadow of death threats for decades for what he once wrote. The call to kill him was, by itself, a condemnable move against freedom of expression. The fact that Rushdie was spending many years of his life in hiding, unable to experience even the simple comforts of life, yet was active in writing, reveals his passion for creativity. The present incident was intended to completely silence the writer, and to punish him for what he wrote. This despicable act, we see, as a great crisis faced by creative pursuits in recent times.The attack on Salman Rushdie, who is a man of peace, and dealing only in words, is yet another example of the violent intolerance of dissent that is dangerously gaining momentum. We think, it is the need of the hour for writers, artists, art-lovers and readers to protest against this dastardly act and its dangerous implications.Wishing Salman Rushdie a speedy recovery and a quick return to writing.M.T. Vasudevan Nair, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, T.J.S. George, K. Satchithanandan, Anand, Sashi Kumar, Zacharia, N.S. Madhavan, KGS, M. Mukundan, K.P. Kumaran, T.V. Chandran, M.N. Karasseri, M.A. Baby, Dr. Khadeeja Mumtaz, Balan Nambiar, Sadanand Menon, Sara Joseph, Rafiq Ahmed, C.P. Aboobacker, Shaji N. Karun, Sunil P. Elayidom, Asokan Charuvil, K. P. Mohanan, Anwar Ali, P. T. Kunjumohammed, E.P. Unny, Subhash Chandran, Boney Thomas, Rose Mary, Shahina K. Rafiq, Neelan, Bose Krishnamachari, Riyas Komu, S. Harish, Benyamin, E. Santosh Kumar, Kamal, Joy Mathew, O.K. Johnny, Madhupal, C.S. Chandrika, Unni R., P. F. Mathews, Venkitesh Ramakrishnan, S. Gopalakrishnan, Gracy, K.C. Narayanan, Sunil Ashokapuram, Abdul Kalam Azad, Ambikasuthan Mangad, J. Raghu, O. P. Suresh, Pramod Raman, Paul Kallanode, K.S. Venkatachalam, Chelavoor Venu, Mangad Ratnakaran, N.K. Ravindran, K. Rekha, Jolly Chirayath, Echmukutty, C. S. Venkiteswaran, Adv. A. K. Jayashree, Murali Kannampilly, Murali Nagapuzha, Shylaja Natak, Ashraf Padanna, Dr. I. Rajan, V. K. Joseph, Sister Jesme, Prakash Bare, Koya Mohammed, Chandrika Ravindran, E.M. Radha, Jayan Pakaravur, Tathagathan, C.R. Rajeev, N. Rajan, M. P. Surendran.<div class="mdp-liker-box after-content two-buttons style-border-fill row-right" style="--mdp-liker-bg-color-active:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);--mdp-liker-bg-color-hover:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);--mdp-liker-bg-color:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);--mdp-liker-border:1px;--mdp-liker-radius:50px;--mdp-liker-text-color-active:rgba(255, 255, 255, 1);--mdp-liker-text-color-hover:rgba(255, 255, 255, 1);--mdp-liker-text-color:rgba(255, 33, 40, 1);box-sizing:border-box;font-size:initial;font-weight:initial;margin:0px;padding:0px;" id="mdp-liker-17643" data-memory="on"><div style="align-items:center;box-sizing:border-box;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;margin:0px;padding:0px;"><div class="mdp-liker-description" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:medium;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;max-width:60%;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">&nbsp;</div></div></div> &nbsp;

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Statement issued by the Chinta Ravindran Foundation endorsed by renowned Malayalam writers, filmmakers, artists and cultural figures against the attack on Salman Rushdie.

Kerala’s Cultural World Protests the Heinous Attack on Salman Rushdie

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Prasanth Vijay’s movie Daayam (“Inheritance”), being screened at the ongoing 23rd International Film Festival of Kerala, is about a teenaged girl learning to cope with the loss of her mother.

Daayam’s Mirror to the Gender Paradox in Kerala

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The COP 28 summit ended in Dubai last month with much hype and moderate results while what the world needed was more of an emergency-response to combat climate change.

Kerala’s Farming, Climate, and Climate Change in 2023

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Kerala’s Farming, Climate and Climate Change in 2023

<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">In this episode of “People and Places with Bala”, visionary entrepreneur and former Chairman of Federal Bank, Balagopal Chandrashekar reminisces about his association with Dr. MS Valiathan, the iconic cardiologist and one of the pioneers of health technology innovations in India. Bala also highlights the social, political and entrepreneurial milieu of the 1970s and the 1980s and points out how the context contributed immensely to India’s overall growth.

MS Valiathan: A Visionary Whose Contributions are Waiting for Better Follow-up

<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;display:inline !important;float:none;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">Receiving the Justice VR Krishna Iyer Award for protection of democratic rights, Social Activist and Writer Teesta Setalvad stated that the blatant rigging of the Chandigarh Mayor poll points towards the devious election plans of the BJP at a larger level too. She also remembered how Justice VR Krishna Iyer had highlighted and forewarned about the growing draconian tilt in the BJP under the leadership of Narendra Modi. Listen to the full speech here.

Chandigarh Mayor Poll Highlights BJP’s Devious Election Plans: Teesta Setalvad

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_92_300x185_72ee48e4d1.jpeg" alt="images-92-300x185.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_92_300x185_72ee48e4d1.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_92_300x185_72ee48e4d1.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">On April 8, 2024 the Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA) announced the 64th National Exhibition of Art scheduling it for the months of July – August 2024. The announcement contained the invitation for artists too, which stipulated that the minimum age for participation is 25 years. It also stated that the entry forms for submitting applications can be obtained from Lalit Kala Akademi Headquarters at New Delhi or from the Regional Centres.<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/2_05d5a5988b.jpg" alt="2.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_2_05d5a5988b.jpg 245w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">A number of senior artists based in the national capital of Delhi told The AIDEM that the announcement immediately brought back memories of the ill fated 63rd National Exhibition held last year. This exhibition, which had opened on 28th August 2023, was aborted midway in a clear display of authoritarianism that has become the hallmark of almost all ministries of the union government in the second innings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The prestigious national exhibition was aborted to display 2500 specially chosen photographs related to the Prime Minister’s birthday at the LKA Galleries.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:300px;" id="attachment_27720" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27720"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_91_300x169_616862276d.jpeg" alt="images-91-300x169.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_91_300x169_616862276d.jpeg 245w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-27720">Arjun Meghwal, Minister of Culture</figcaption></figure>It was a clear snub to the institution of the LKA, which was founded in 1954 and has a rich history of promoting art and artists of diverse cultural origins and inclinations. The snub was indeed conspicuous as the officials of the Ministry of Culture (MoC) refused to come to the opening of the 63rd National Exhibition but instead went for the Prime Minister’s birthday exhibition. Leading the celebrators at the Prime Minister’s birthday exhibition was the Minister of Culture, Arjun Meghwal.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:225px;" id="attachment_27712" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27712"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240419_WA_0000_225x300_86bc3dba0b.jpg" alt="IMG-20240419-WA0000-225x300.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240419_WA_0000_225x300_86bc3dba0b.jpg 117w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-27712">Dismissal order of professionals appointed by LKA Chairman</figcaption></figure>A large majority of the artists community in Delhi are looking at this year’s national exhibition with a sense of foreboding. It is not just the experience of last year that has triggered this. There are several other factors too. One of the most prominent factors that has added to this apprehension is the absolutely tyrannical manner in which the artists, including the LKA Chairperson Professor V Nagdas, has been treated by the union government, especially the MoC. In fact, very many of these artists told The AIDEM that the way Professor Nagdas was treated goes against the very culture and traditions of the LKA.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:300px;" id="attachment_27716" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27716"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_86_300x225_3b2387329b.jpeg" alt="images-86-300x225.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_86_300x225_3b2387329b.jpeg 208w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-27716">Professor V Nagdas</figcaption></figure>The apex cultural body was established in 1954, with a constitution that assured it full autonomy. But, under the Modi regime, the artists point out, the LKA seems to have become a subordinate establishment of the MoC. The MoC has already officially divested the Chairman of almost all his authorities including in financial decisions, appointments and corrective measures in relation to staff members.Professor V Nagdas, a veteran printmaker and pedagogue with a proven record as an efficient organiser of international camps was appointed as the Chairman of LKA and he took charge on 13 March 2023. Within eleven months the MoC decided to take away his powers through an order issued on 08 January 2024. Signed by Suman Bara, Under Secretary, Government of India, this order says, ‘You are hereby directed not to take any administrative actions including appointment, recruitment, transfer, disciplinary actions and financial decisions without the concurrence of the Ministry of Culture.The appointment of Professor Nagdas as the Chairman of LKA had initially come as a surprise to the art community for it was believed that the Sanskar Bharti, the cultural wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), plays a pivotal role in appointments to cultural institutions such as the LKA. It was well known that only those who had Sangh Parivar affiliations were considered for such important posts. At the time of the appointment, the general belief in the artists community was that Professor Nagdas was politically noncommittal. However, later it was revealed that he has been a member of Sanskar Bharti for many years, right from his days at the Indira Sangeet Viswavidyalaya located at Khairagarh in Chhattisgarh. (The institution is also known as ISVK and Khairagarh University). He had initiated the Graphic Arts Department in the university and was its head for many years.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:300px;" id="attachment_27715" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27715"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_85_300x168_91cfd40498.jpeg" alt="images-85-300x168.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_85_300x168_91cfd40498.jpeg 245w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-27715">Professor V Nagdas</figcaption></figure>Sources close to the officials at the Akademi told The AIDEM that despite this background Professor Nagdas was targeted by the MoC because of the non-partisan manner in which he tried to conduct the affairs of the LKA. These sources added that he had got wholehearted support from the artist-community from day one because of this attitude. But, for this very reason, some people in the MoC and Sanskar Bharti were not happy with him.Moreover, he had allegedly not taken proactive clearance and blessings from the Sanskar Bharti for the appointment of a few professionals. Apart from that he had also made the declaration of a grand Ayodhya Project, which sought to present the theme of Ram the Man and the Idea. The plan was to have a grand art camp at Ayodhya in the run up to the inauguration of the Ram Temple on 22 January 2024. The details of this proposed exhibition was published in the Indian Express in August 2023.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:300px;" id="attachment_27709" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27709"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240419_WA_0003_300x293_69ee82e74a.jpg" alt="IMG-20240419-WA0003-300x293.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240419_WA_0003_300x293_69ee82e74a.jpg 160w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-27709">Indian Express story on Ram Project of Professor Nagdas</figcaption></figure>Dr. Chandrprakash Dwivedi had agreed to play the role of a mentor to the 75 artists who were to work on the inclusive theme of Ram, the Man and the Idea. Sources say that the MoC, which was directly involved in the affairs of cultural organisations including the Akademi, was not happy with this project. This reservation resulted in warning signals to LKA. Later, a press conference was called to announce that the Ram Project had been called off.The direct confrontation between the MoC and the Chairman seemed to have happened when Professor Nagdas issued a memo to Rajeev Kumar, an IRS officer who was deputed as the Secretary in Charge for some time at the Akademi. Professor Nagdas had also apparently found out certain financial malpractices in the Akademi and had transferred an official from the Garhi Regional Centre to the Headquarters. The MoC retaliated to this by redesignating the transferred official as the in-charge of a scrap material art project in Banaras for the Ministry of Railways. This was a clear instance of bypassing the Chairman’s order and the authority of his office.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:225px;" id="attachment_27710" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27710"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240419_WA_0002_225x300_d10cffdeca.jpg" alt="IMG-20240419-WA0002-225x300.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240419_WA_0002_225x300_d10cffdeca.jpg 117w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-27710">Order curtailing the powers of the Chairman, LKA</figcaption></figure>Meanwhile, some of the members of the General Council and Executive Council turned hostile. They had this grievance that due to the pandemic they had not got enough time to execute their duties and hence wanted their term extended. The MoC quickly obliged and extended their term by three months. Using it as an opportunity, the Finance Committee, composed of the same members, immediately asked for the sacking of twenty-nine contract staff appointed by Professor Nagdas.On 12 February 2024, the sacking order came from the MoC. Suman Singh, Assistant Editor (Hindi), Jayaprakash, in charge of Administration and PS to the Chairman, Johny ML, Assistant Editor (English) were also in the list. When contacted by The AIDEM, Johny ML, a well-known art historian, curator and writer said that the sacking did not surprise him at all. “This threat was always there. Professor Nagdas knew me for a long time and had complete faith in my professional credentials. When he became the chairman, he called me and asked whether I could join the Akademi to look after the editorial section. My appointment was based on merit and I thought it was a consultant’s job. Soon, a rumour started spreading that the Chairman was filling the Akademi with Communists and Maoists. In fact, as the Chairman is a resident of Chattisgarh, the reference to Maoism came very easily,” Johny ML told The AIDEM.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:188px;" id="attachment_27711" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27711"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/IMG_20240419_WA_0001_188x300_9c72aca907.jpg" alt="IMG-20240419-WA0001-188x300.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_IMG_20240419_WA_0001_188x300_9c72aca907.jpg 98w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-27711">Dismissal Order (Detailed list)</figcaption></figure>Beyond this rumour mongering, Akademi insiders revealed to The AIDEM that certain investigations initiated by Professor Nagdas into certain dubious appointments initiated by the MoC could also be a factor for the hasty action against him. The insiders point out that a team of officials at the Akademi had been authorised by the Chairman to thoroughly investigate certain appointments, including to positions such as <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gvFQzxh9hUY_XOl4cGkdeEjj_CRyvZAm/view?usp=drivesdk">Production Officer</a> and a <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:all 0.4s ease 0s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gyLi4NyHefmGQk92BmNQDfN8hqP2LjJk/view?usp=drivesdk">Photo Officer</a>, and find out whether these were done properly following all rules, regulations and qualification parameters. Apparently, some of the appointees were worried that they had been posted without due process and that the Chairman might take action against them.&nbsp;Besides, there has been a standing demand for a full-time Secretary to the Akademi. During the tenure of the previous Chairman, Late Uttam Pacharne, the formalities for appointing a new Secretary was completed and the file was sent to the MoC. No action was taken then. The same process was again completed under Professor Nagdas and the MoC once again sat on the files. Many artists contacted by The AIDEM did not want to come out in the open, but a majority of them said privately that the MoC wants to do away with the autonomy of the Akademi. Evidently, all the signals from the MoC point in this direction.</div></div>

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Murder(s) at and of Lalit Kala Akademi

Malayalam (ml)

Tamil (ta)

English (en)

Hindi (hi)

Telugu (te)

Kannada (kn)

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Dancing To Her Tune

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An Unwritten National Autobiography

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/images_1_6258d15665.jpeg" alt="images-1.jpeg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_images_1_6258d15665.jpeg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_images_1_6258d15665.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">People who read literature in India knew him, MT Vasudevan Nair. Language was no hurdle for his works to reach out beyond the state borders of Kerala. While Malayali diaspora took a handful of nostalgia along to the places they went, a little bit of MT was also in that.Today, the big business of literature finds translators to translate anything that moves. All tetrapods of literature are given awards that stink of corporate imperialistic nexus. But MT belonged to a different era when blood recognised blood, genius recognised genius. He got translated not once but several times.Basheer, Takazhi and MT were the triumvirate that could transcend the borders and stand tall among the Indian modernist literature. Yes, MT’s literature also had a fair amount of auto-fiction but he hoodwinked it with the magic of text. He was a persuasive minimalist both in writing and in person.An unsmiling MT could generate generations of readers who could smile through tears. MT wrote about a collapsing social structure that divested the old feudal class with their ill-gotten properties. But their social capital remained intact and could exert a lot of influence among the readers by becoming the surrogate emotional ethos of a transition time of Kerala’s socio-political history.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:1196px;" id="attachment_31084" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31084"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg" alt="mt-1024x575.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg 750w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_mt_1024x575_251dd09907.jpg 1000w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-31084">MT during his Interview with Sabha TV (Watch <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NttnjeaVqn0">Here</a>)</figcaption></figure>When society evolved into a different being altogether, MT turned to the treasure trove of myths and itihasas to eke out allegories that explained the pain of loss, of class, roots and love. His literature spat on the face of bigotry, whether it was religious or familial. He was so stoically poised in his literature that none could have challenged him and expelled him from the world of literature.MT’s literature spoke of love and separation as vehemently as he wrote about the changing social complexions. But he was not sentimental. There was something in his writing that touched some chord in every reader. Before initiating themselves into Ambedkarite politics, the Dalit ideologues also, in their torturous nights of youth, pined for MT’s characters.Those who call the modernists, Dad Vibes, have really lost the sight of the forest while focusing on shrubs and thicket. MT was a forest that moved, as in the great tragedies. He remained a serious writer while the post modernists fell in the trap of publishers and wrote lightning stories and became laughing stokes.MT remains, so is the MT critique. That’s the beauty of a great writer’s life and of course, death.</div></div>

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MT: A Forest that Moved

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An ‘Overture’ Stringing The Pope, Yesudas and the ‘Songster Chaplain’

<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/1_cc9df0fe47.png" alt="വലതുപക്ഷവുമായുള്ള-സംവാദത്തിൻ്റെ-വ്യർത്ഥത-1.png" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_1_cc9df0fe47.png 245w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_1_cc9df0fe47.png 500w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><div class="post-body clearfix single-blog-header single-blog-inner blog-single-block blog-details-content" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(85, 85, 85);font-family:Manjari;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><div class="entry-content clearfix" style="box-sizing:border-box;counter-reset:footnotes 0;margin:0px;padding:0px;">When old age shall this generation waste,Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woeThan ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st,“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is allYe know on earth, and all ye need to know.” (John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn)<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/6_904b2e9f2a.jpg" alt="6.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_6_904b2e9f2a.jpg 147w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_6_904b2e9f2a.jpg 470w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">Siddharth Tagore, Founder Director of Delhi’s <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.facebook.com/artkonsultindia/photos">Art Konsult</a> Gallery is no more. He cannot be contained in such a cold statement, so matter of fact like death itself. Besides the gallery, he founded magazines such as Art and Deal, Travel and Deal and many other publications. Even when he knew that he wouldn’t make any profit out of the publications, he invested money in them because he knew art wouldn’t survive without the literature surrounding it.&nbsp;Yet another venture of Tagore’s was an auction house, namely Art Bull. The name was perfect for a bullish art market of the 2000s. But the glitch was this: Siddharth Tagore was not bullish. Nor was he bearish. He was cherubic, complete with a benign smile on his face and a burning cigarette between his fingers. Whenever I came out after having a meeting with him, I would ask myself, was he cut for this business?&nbsp;Tagore could have been a poet and dreamer like his internationally renowned namesake of yesteryears.. After the pandemic period I met Tagore after a gap of four years at the Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre where Art Konsult had organized a group exhibition. After the inaugural function, I shook hands with him and I realized that his hands had lost the firm grip though the warmth remained. “I have not been keeping well,” he told me.&nbsp;<div class="gallery galleryid-31051 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-full" style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:30px -8.96875px 0px;padding:0px;" id="gallery-1"><figure class="gallery-item" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;height:auto;margin:0px 0px 1rem;max-width:33.33%;padding:0px 8.96875px 17.9531px;text-align:center;vertical-align:top;width:262.609px;"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/c_768x993_a7cec9742c.jpg" alt="c-768x993.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_c_768x993_a7cec9742c.jpg 121w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_c_768x993_a7cec9742c.jpg 387w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_c_768x993_a7cec9742c.jpg 580w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure><figure class="gallery-item" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;height:auto;margin:0px 0px 1rem;max-width:33.33%;padding:0px 8.96875px 17.9531px;text-align:center;vertical-align:top;width:262.609px;"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/b_768x985_3f8fb449e6.jpg" alt="b-768x985.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_b_768x985_3f8fb449e6.jpg 122w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_b_768x985_3f8fb449e6.jpg 390w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_b_768x985_3f8fb449e6.jpg 585w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure><figure class="gallery-item" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;height:auto;margin:0px 0px 1rem;max-width:33.33%;padding:0px 8.96875px 17.9531px;text-align:center;vertical-align:top;width:262.609px;"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/a_7888f94e4b.jpg" alt="a.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_a_7888f94e4b.jpg 121w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_a_7888f94e4b.jpg 385w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_a_7888f94e4b.jpg 577w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"></figure></div>Then on another occasion, at the same gallery, I met him again, this time without the crowd. He preferred to wear a pair of fading blue jeans and white shirt, a reminder of those romantic 1970s when every youth in West Bengal dreamt of poetry, love and revolution. Jeans and Shirt were the uniform of love and revolution. I think, when Tagore came to Delhi as a young man, he carried those qualities along, plus his sense of dressing. Lovers in those days smoked rather constantly and drank Old Monk Rum.&nbsp;On that day when I met him, Tagore told me that he had quit smoking, which was news to me. I couldn’t have imagined the man without a cigarette between his fingers or at least a packet of cigarettes to fuss with. I understood the gravity of the situation.&nbsp;Then again, we met when Praveen Upadhyay of the Progressive Gallery at Laddo Sarai organized a talk session with art professionals that included Tagore, Prayag Shukla, Vinod Bharadwaj and myself. Tagore was supposed to talk about the art market. When the mike was handed over to him, he fussed with it for a while and said that he always wanted to make it big by promoting young artists, but somehow, he never made huge business.<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:689px;" id="attachment_31054" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31054"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/7_768x511_149563fe01.jpg" alt="7-768x511.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_7_768x511_149563fe01.jpg 235w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_7_768x511_149563fe01.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_7_768x511_149563fe01.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-31054">Siddharth speaking to the media at Art Konsult</figcaption></figure>Then I remembered Tagore telling the same during the market boom years that lasted in India for around ten years starting from 2005 to 2015. In 2008, the world market had collapsed, but the Indian art market using its cunning and reserve withstood the pressures and dragged the impending failure for a few more years only to revive itself by the beginning of the third decade of the new millennium.&nbsp;Had Tagore acquired a penchant for failure despite his resilience in running a gallery, publications and an auction house for over three and a half decades ? Did he enjoy calling himself a failure in the art market? Was he romantically involved with the idea of failure even when he kept others who were with him in the business, floating? I don’t know for sure. But Tagore remained grounded and rooted; he tried his best to keep himself away from the nefarious market practices.&nbsp;There were a few people who stood with Tagore in his highs and lows (lows that lasted for not some months but for years together), never deserting him, following his orders. Prashant Seal and Rajula Bisht are two people I remember. These two people have been so close to his heart and even after his twin daughters joining him in the business, both Seal and Bisht never lost their position as the confidantes of Tagore. He loved them like family.&nbsp;I met Siddharth Tagore in 1995. He had started Art Konsult in Hauz Khas Village. Meena Tagore (now Meena Varma) was with him then. Late Vijayan Kannanpally was the editor of Art and Deal. With the growth of art scene, Tagore’s gallery also grew in stature. Art Konsult was one of the few A listed galleries in the city. Tagore took it to South Delhi’s art district, Laddo Sarai during the boom years and later relocated it to Hauz Khas again.&nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:562px;" id="attachment_31055" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31055"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/0_768x512_88eabd3bbc.jpg" alt="0-768x512.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_0_768x512_88eabd3bbc.jpg 234w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_0_768x512_88eabd3bbc.jpg 500w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_0_768x512_88eabd3bbc.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-31055">Siddharth Tagore with art critic and curator Jyoti A Kathpalia at the Art Konsult, New Delhi</figcaption></figure>It was in his Laddo Sarai phase that I joined him as the Editor of Art and Deal. It was the same when he decided to start Art Bull and Travel and Deal. I brought out around ten issues of Art and Deal between 2010 and 2013, with a gap in 2012 when I joined the United Art Logistics to establish the United Art Fair. Tagore literally lent me to the other organization with a promise that I could walk into the editor’s office at any time that I wanted. And I did go back.&nbsp;As a part of Tagore’s team, he gave me full freedom to edit the magazine and curate exhibitions. I curated a few shows and introduced a few new artists of which some are very reckonable names in today’s art scene. The exhibition ‘Merging/Submerging’ was a showcasing of contemporary photography art and ‘R.A.P.E’ (Rare Acts of Political Engagement), an all-woman show responding to the brutal murder of Nirbhaya in Delhi. This exhibition was a super hit and was discussed in all the print and television media. Art Bull did do a couple of exhibitions and auctions. I did not take much interest in it though Tagore hoped that his auction house could change the scenario and also break certain monopolies. Tagore also initiated an Art History Lecture series which I conducted on his behalf.&nbsp;Siddharth Tagore remained true to his calling. With a kind of detachment, he sponsored exhibitions that he knew well, would not bring any business. He was an avid collector of folk and tribal art and together with Meena Varma, he initiated an organization called ‘Art of the Earth’ for promoting the folk and tribal art of India, much before the ‘folkploitation’ of today’s art market became rampant. Tagore helped whoever came to him with a request for an exhibition or an immediate financial relief. &nbsp;<figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="border-width:0px;box-sizing:border-box;clear:both;display:block;height:auto;margin:15px auto;max-width:100%;padding:0px;vertical-align:middle;width:640px;" id="attachment_31053" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31053"><img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg" alt="3-e1734762508660-669x1024.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg 102w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg 327w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg 490w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_3_e1734762508660_669x1024_7c977a7959.jpg 653w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing:border-box;display:block;font-size:15px;line-height:20px;margin:0px;padding:12px 0px 0px;text-align:center;" id="caption-attachment-31053">Siddharth Tagore signing the <a style="background-color:transparent;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(255, 53, 36);display:inline-block;margin:0px;padding:0px;transition:0.4s;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://amzn.in/d/4TijcgO">book</a> “Ganika- In the visual culture of the 19th-20th Century India” at the Art Konsult</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<img src="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg" alt="4-560x1024.jpg" srcset="https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/thumbnail_4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg 85w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/small_4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg 273w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/medium_4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg 410w,https://strapi.bangalore2.com/uploads/large_4_560x1024_090314e000.jpg 547w," sizes="100vw" width="undefined" height="undefined">When artists in Calcutta packed their wares and set out for Delhi, they knew Siddharth Tagore was there if nothing else worked (perhaps he was their primary destination), along with cigarettes and Old Monk Rum. He never discouraged the people who came to him with a clear intention to exploit. He was not cautious about relationships that brought him a fair amount of heartburn. As I said elsewhere, Tagore was a poet in his heart, with a heart ready to bleed for love and art.</div></div>

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