A Mega Idea For Nano Art

If good things really do come in small packages, nano art is the best example to elucidate that fact. Nano Art – an exhibition of paintings organized by Daira Center for Arts and Culture in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad showcases art pieces that are one foot long and wide.

As the name suggests, this concept was inspired by the visionary Ratan Tata’s idea of the Nano car. It came from the thought that art should me made a necessary luxury for average Indians, just like the car. Ms. Atika Amjad, the owner of Daira and the one who conceptualized this exhibition says, “There is a rising class of urban Indians with disposable incomes. They want to spend money on art mainly to do up their homes. Then why not give them original art and guard them from the cheap thrash of framed printed paintings?” Nano art is an answer to this question priced at just Rs. 1000 per piece.

Another laudable aspect of this exhibition is that all the 23 featured artists are students, and it proves to be an ideal platform for them. The only demand was that the paintings should be of the specific dimensions. The theme of paintings was open to the artist’s choice paving way to let them express their creativity the way they wanted to. Some of the artists are Dhruv Sonar, Gangadhar M, Uday Shankar and Ritu Bhattacharya. Most of them are university trained; however, the variety showcased has to be seen to be believed. While some artists have used a riot colours, some have resorted to indian ink in creating their black and white imageries.

There are abstract paintings for people who love interpreting art and there are on-the face pictures that tell you exactly what the artist wanted to say. The retro art showcased by Balagopal and Dashavatar by Phani are different strokes altogether.

The exhibition was thrown open to public on July 4^th and will go on for a month. However, Ms. Atika emphasized that this would be an ongoing effort, and more artists would be added in the future.

The effort taken to make art accessible and affordable to common man is indeed commendable, and that is what makes this exhibition different. How many times have you window-shopped for beautiful art pieces? This time around, just pick up one.

A Story Of Star Tantrums

It was front page news on the Times of India that Shah Rukh Khan, the superstar of Hindi film industry, was frisked and detained at an American air port en route to Chicago.

It is ironic that he has been shooting in USA for a few months now for the movie called My Name Is Khan which says the story of an autistic man suspected to be a terrorist because of his Khan surname.

While I am totally against America's anti-Muslim attitude and the blind assumption that all Muslims are potential terrorists, I also hold the opinion that it is nobody's else's business to control how a country goes about ensuring its security. USA is known for its obsession with security measures post the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It would be naive on anybody's part, let alone Muslims, to think that getting into that country is going to be easy. The country has a history of torturing its own Muslim citizens for being suspects; then how significant are the citizens of other countries?

Another point is that Shah Rukh Khan is as important as any other Indian citizen only. If hundreds of other Indian Muslims are facing the same security scrutiny, then what is the big deal with him? He may be a star in India; so what? Ensuring justice should be a just practice in itself - hence equal for all citizens including Shah Rukh Khan. This is something that the Indian Embassy in USA and our media should understand.

If you personally have a problem with a country and its dealings, the best thing to do is taking a personal call on it. Stop travelling to that country. If you do want to go there and enjoy being there, abide by their rules and regulations without complaining. It is as simple as that!