Mughal court historian Abul Fazl described painting as a magical art and the painter having a majestic talent of bringing life into inanimate objects.
Students from classes 10 and 11 ( Humanities) on 26 April, 2013 interacted with Mr. Ravi Batra, author of "The Splendor of Lodi Road- My brush with heritage". The history and majesty of monuments along the route from the Safdarjung Tomb to Humayuns Tomb adorn the pages of his book.
Mr. Batra is an extraordinary combination of a technologist at Burmah Shell, a cartoonist (the Illustrated Weekly of India, The Statesmen and The Times Of India) and of late, a painter!
Mr. Batra through his audio-visual presentation introduced the students to rare indelible imprints. For example, the 6 pointed stars on the western gate of Humayuns Tomb. The hexagonal space within the star is occupied by a lotus flower, both a Hindu and Buddhist ornamentation. This particular juxtaposition of 2 oppositely placed equilateral triangles is common to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This motif can be taken to symbolise a harmony of opposites.
[gallery columns="2"]Students were amused to hear the tale of the Nai-Ka-Gumbad. The sketch of the Gumbad was impressive. It is said that the tomb was built for Akbars personal barber who was trusted implicitly; after all he was the only one who could hold a razor to the emperors throat day after day!
The session familiarised the students with delicate nuances from Delhi's chequered history; threatened to be fast forgotton in an urban mesh. The speaker also took the opportunity of explaining how and why water colour, holds it's own as it were, as a medium of art.
Filed by Ms. Charu Bhatnagar.
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