Gale Ngakane
16 April 2008
Francistown — An Indian arts teacher in Botswana says there are a lot of similarities between Botswana and Indian cultures.
Gopal Jayaraman, a teacher at Tutume McConnell College since 2004, is exhibiting his artworks at Supa Ngwao Museum in Francistown. The exhibition ends on April 25 when he will be preparing for another display at Thapong in Gaborone on May 9.
Gopal is also exhibiting works from six other Indian artists, namely Dr Sirpi Jayaraman, Venkateswaran, Candappane, Radja, Balasubramanian and Soucoumarane. Incidentally, Dr Jayaraman is the principal of College of Fine Arts in Pondicherry, India, while Balasubramanian is an arts teacher at Naledi Secondary School.
The works are in three categories - drawing, painting and computer graphics. Gopal uses acrylic and pen in his works as do others, but Balasubramanian is into computer graphics.
Gopal says since coming to Botswana, he has realised that there are many similarities in the cultures of the two countries.
"In these works, we want to show that our cultures have a lot of similarities. I have observed that our way of life is similar. Batswana tend to enjoy life very much. They do not want any interruptions in their day-to-day existence.
"That is how it is in India as well," he says. To show how enamoured he has become of his host country, Gopal has a self-portrait that shows him when he first arrived here and the one as he is presently, with hair that has gone bushy.
The latter portrait has a body of a bull cascading downwards lapping up water in a bowl situated where his feet should have been.
"Since I came here in 2004, I have become addicted to Botswana. I am going to go home a happy man. I respect the originality of the people here. There is no jealousy. There is no egoism that is why I respect the country and its people. India is more modernised, but it lacks some of the things I see here," he says.
He is fascinated by traditional dance, which he portrayed in a traditional dancer who, with a contorted torso, let it loose surrounded by green shrubbery.
"My feeling is that traditional music here is so original because it is performed in the most natural way. They do not have to rehearse and they do not use artificial lighting and they do not have to use a stage to get on with it. It is simply breath-taking," he gushes.
Yet in another portrait, a bull is in motion while nearby a couple is dancing arm in arm, their faces glowing with happiness. The background is in blue and red. The blue, says, Gopal indicates happiness that the people of this country have got and the red is the strength of the economy.
"Some people associates red with communism, but to me it is the strength of the economy. Especially the agricultural sector which makes Botswana export beef to the outside world," he says.
In another portrait, "Night-Time", Gopal says he wanted to show how much he loves the night time in its original sense as seen out there in the villages as opposed to evenings in the cities which are spoiled by street lights.
He says: "Nature is one of the most powerful media. Here (in the villages), you can enjoy night time in its proper nature."
The one called "Before Cook" is the most hilarious, showing people sitting behind a bush watching a cow munching leaves from a tree, most probably a Mophane tree. Their thoughts are: to the effect that they too will soon munch the cow on their dinner plates.
Gopal is also exhibiting works from the above mentioned Indian artists, and one of them is of a well-dressed man beating mradangam, a traditional Indian instrument. There is another one of a man, a villager in India also playing a traditional instrument called Thapatai.
"The shapes of instruments (those of Botswana and India) may be different, but the melody is similar," he says. Perhaps a poignant portrait is the one called "Modern Painting" which shows a candle in a shape of a human. The wick of the candle is like an elongated neck of a man.
The message, says Gopal, is that a human being must be like a candle - burning "ourselves while giving light to others at the same time".
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