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DECEMBER 15, 2013 | WWW.METROINDIA.COM

THEMETROINDIA

Artist
Nook Colours of creativity

Pics: Vinay Madapu

Jayanth Manda is a painter
who believes in the process of
learning, unlearning and
relearning. He talks about his
love for art and Indian culture
in an exclusive interview with
Jaywant Naidu. Jayanth Manda

J
ayanth Manda started his career as a
drawing teacher and later got into tel-
evision production, but he decided to
leave everything to pursue his passion for
art. With many awards to his credit, painter
Jayanth Manda from Hyderabad is a known
name in the industry.
Talking about his journey so far he says,
“It was my drawing teacher in school who
noticed my love for art and started guiding
me. Since I could not get a seat in the Col-
lege of Fine Arts, Hyderabad, I did my de-
gree in arts from Nizam College. I also used
to attend the evening classes at Vivek Vard-
hini. After that, I did a diploma from Sir JJ
School of Art, Mumbai. After coming back,
I could not find enough opportunities and
joined as a drawing teacher in a school at a
salary of Rs 750 per month.”
He later applied for the Lalit Kala
Akademi scholarship and got a chance to
study mural techniques at the Faculty of
Fine Arts, MS University, Baroda, under the
guidance of Professor KG Subramanyan.
After completing the course, he partici-
pated in many art exhibitions and also
started designing sets for theatrical produc-
tion.
Jayanth says, “This opened many doors
for me and I started working as a Scenic De-
signer with Doordarshan Kendra, Hyder-
abad. I was also sent to the Film and Televi-
sion Institute of India (FTII), Pune for
training. Later I was conferred Doctorate in
Television Communication and role of In-
dian Culture by Osmania University. How-
ever, all this while, art remained to be a part
of my life.”
Jayanth has a great interest in music and
learnt to play sitar too. He claims there are
a lot of similarities between instrumental
music and visual art. He tells, “Both create
a unique audio-visual symphony, which
cannot be recreated with the same fre-
quency or zeal. Like instrumental music
creates harmony of sound, a painting cre-
ates visual symphony. It comes through the
medium of colours, forms and designs.”
Jayanth’s style of painting is very appeal-
ing. His love for cultural heritage of India is
very evident in his work. Many of his paint-
ings revolve around social evils and natural
calamities. He also draws inspiration from
painters like Raja Ravi Varma, Gopal
Deuskar and S B Palshikar, whose works
have an aesthetic appeal.
He adds, “There has to be a unity and
wholeness in any human endeavor. Nature
plays a very important part in our lives and
I am inspired by the ever evolving colours
of nature. Every sunrise and sunset has a
different colour and feelings attached to it.
These feelings cannot be explained, but at
the same time they can be expressed on
canvas. An artist always wants to communi-
cate his individuality to the audience, but
one should be able to establish a connection
with them. When it comes to mastering the
various techniques of paintings, I would say,
I have learnt, unlearnt and the journey of
relearning continues,” he concludes.

Adda A home away from home...

Rahul Raje from the Hindi heartland, Madhya Pradesh is in awe of Hyderabad. Though he has
managed to learn only a few lines in Telugu so far, but with so many Hindi speaking people around
he feels at home here.

B
orn and brought up in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, Rahul Raje
is having a great time in Hyderabad. His mother is a Brah-
min from Haryana and his father Harsh Raje is a Tantya
from MP. He shifted to Hyderabad in 2011. He says, “During the
recession period, there were hardly any opportunities available in
the IT sector, especially in Madhya Pradesh. In the year 2010, I got
my first job with an IT company and shifted to Pune. I changed my
job after a year and landed in Hyderabad.”
He further adds, “I really miss the sound of gunshots in Hyder-
abad. It is a very common thing in my hometown where a lot of
people possess guns and use them whenever they feel like. I hardly
Rahul with his mother in Hyderabad
come across any road rage or theft incidents here. There is no
hooliganism in Hyderabad unlike what I have seen in Indore,
Mumbai and Delhi. Hopefully it will continue like this in future as
well. I also appreciate the different variety of food you get in Hy-
derabad. People from different communities conveniently co-
mingle here. No wonder you get to see an interesting mix of
culture and traditions in the city.”
Rahul is very happy that he can speak Hindi here and be under-
stood, unlike in the other South Indian states. He finds the Deccani
dialect a little amusing, but interesting at the same time. Rahul
likes to learn new languages and has managed to learn some
cheesy pick-up lines in Spanish and Telugu.
Does Rahul miss celebrating festivals with his family? He
replies, “Not really. Diwali and Holi are celebrated in a big way in
Hyderabad too. It is a very vibrant city with a long list of festivals.
However, I think Secunderabad kind of wins over Hyderabad in
capturing the festive mood. Higher population from North India
in that area might be the reason. It was a pleasant surprise to see
Ganesh Chaturthi being celebrated here at a grand scale, which
surpasses the splendid celebrations in Mumbai and Pune. Last I
went home on Diwali, not to celebrate the festival, but just to
break my monotonous routine.”
Rahul claims that he tries to get along with the people from all
communities. Though he has a group of close friends from North,
but he likes to live in a much bigger sphere of cultures. A lot of peo-
ple have migrated to Hyderabad from different parts of the coun-
try and Rahul is happy that he gets to hear a lot of Hindi around
him.
Rahul has just one complaint with the people here. He quips,
“People here do not stand up for the right thing, even when they
are suffering. Look at the state of roads and it’s getting worse with
each passing day, but no one is complaining. Our office is in Hitech
City and a large number of people come from Kukatpally every
day. The flyover, which was supposed to ease the traffic situation
in that route, is under construction from last so many years.”
After living in Hyderabad, Rahul has become more open to the
idea of marrying a girl from other community. The only condition
is that she should bring a lot of understanding and mutual respect
to the relationship. Though he claims he is single as of now, but
you never know.
As told to Shyamola Khanna Rahul having fun at the Ramoji Film City