Still, they go on...

Mona

Monday morning. There is a pin-drop silence in the closed room. In the halo of light, Jagdish takes the centrestage; sitting motionless, gaze fixed, in almost bare state. MFA final-year students are painstakingly stroking, trying to bring the man at the centre alive in their drawings. 

Jagdish is one of the few life models at Government College of Art, who have kept students company for years. Just like him, the campus is strewn with Rameshwar’s busts; his moustache coming alive in some, safa in others. Statues in different poses, portraits, sketches are all over; as are those of Kaushalya or Ramrati. These four have some fresh company that they are not totally happy about, but that for later!

Tough job

“It is not an easy job,” shares Rameshwar, who picked it up 16 years ago when he called Chandigarh home, having left his hometown Godhana, near Amethi, UP, in search of work. That students and teachers all greet him and seek his time is all that he enjoys, but exposing almost everything and hours of posing, is sure challenging. He just wishes if only the wages were raised a bit. Having started at Rs 15 per hour, the current scale stands at Rs 35 per hour for draped, Rs 45 for semi-draped and Rs 60 for nudes. 

Now that the fresh life models are joining, there are fewer classes, fewer wages and each rupee counts for Rameshwar, a current inhabitant of Naya Gaon, who works as a ‘mali’ to supplement his income

Posing right

For Ramrati, 61, who wandered in search of work almost a decade back, it was an initial shock when probably the oldest life model on the campus, Kaushalya, shared that one had to pose nude in front of the students, both boys and girls, and, their teacher! She was about to give up but then picked up slightly less ‘earning’ draped sessions. “Some of them paint you really well. My face has blemishes but students do a wonderful job,” says Ramrati who isn’t able to sleep well because of the body pains the days she poses. An ailing husband, a vegetable vendor, in a nearby market, she complains how the newer models are making her live tough.

Mixed group

We meet one turbaned old man, who looks like well in his 60s, advocating a good oil massage to sleep fine post posing for eight hours (with due tea/lunch breaks in between). There is one middle-aged woman who walks with the help of a stick and a few more. Dev Dutt Pathak is the youngest. 

We bump into 19-year-old Dev, who lives in Colony number 4, Industrial Area. “I used to work at a bakery, but I want to have my own small business. Till I figure that out, this pays for the daily expenses,” he shares. While posing is what he likes, the results befuddle him. “Some students actually make an aadi manav out of you, while others render an almost real image.” Well, for sure, all are on to the path of learning!

mona@tribunemail.com

Teacher speak

“Face is the index of human mind,” shares Manmadha Rao, happy teaching at one of the oldest art colleges in the country. “Students have to just not imitate the anatomy, but read the emotion and bring out the essence.” While training to be an artiste from Andhra Pradesh University, he did nudes; here sadly not many are open to it. “Our society is closed and doing nudes a taboo still.” He’s happy with new ‘life’ models for his students, so that they can capture the real essence.

Leaf out of life

It’s rather pleasant to see how the ‘life’ models and their paintings, drawing and sculptures dot this enlivened campus of the Government College of Art. The camaraderie they share with students is hard to miss. With much pride they take one around, showing pieces that students have really done well; some out in open, others in studios or hallways. Sanya Bhutani, fourth-year BFA student, shares how the portraits are almost impossible to master without the help of those like Ramrati.