IIT KGP En Plein Air Diary – Epilogue

Epilogue

27 April, 2018

I saw a dream. And in just over a year’s time it has come to be fulfilled. I thought on this day I’ll be the happiest person on earth. But today I don’t really feel happy or thrilled. On the contrary for some unknown reasons I feel heaviness engulfing in my heart.

Also read the Prologue , Chapter I , Chapter II, Chapter III, Chapter IV,  Chapter V, Chapter VI and Chapter VII of IITKGPEPA Diary!

After the shoot of the film ended on a high, the journey of IITKGPEPA project went on a downward spiral until last month. The first editor of the film spent over six months on the film. Even after all that time he was unable to proceed beyond the first two minutes of the film. I am not sure what the reason was, but to me it looked like he had lost interest. Whatever the reason, he did not make progress and we had to find a new editor. This is how one member of the camera crew, came on board as the new editor. But he too could not make any real progress in the last three months. Now that the academic session is going to end and our director Lokesh is going to leave KGP, it looked game over for IIT KGP en plein air project. But then what seemed like a divine intervention (again), both Lokesh and new editor decided to stay back in KGP after their end semester exams to complete the film. Lokesh messaged me this seemingly fabulous piece of news today. That meant finally the film is going to be completed within the few days. Surely this piece of news should have got me very excited. But it has not. My intuition just does not allow me to be happy. May be it is the exasperating experience of dealing with the editors or maybe it is just premonition. Whatever the case may be, I just do not feel fine.

04 May, 2018

Universe has played a very dirty joke on me. I am completely shattered. How can a hard disk get misplaced? I just do not believe what the editor has told me just now. It is not like a needle has got lost in a haystack. It’s a hard drive which had been lost inside a room of not more than 100 square feet of space. And the nonchalance in the tone of our editor has troubled me even further. He made it seem as if it is just another hard disk which has been misplaced. It was not just a hard disk. It was my dream. It was a big chunk of my heart and soul. And then what about a backup copy? Two hard drives were acquired for this project. The backup copy must be present somewhere. A lost hard disk just cannot be an excuse now. I don’t know what the truth is, but I just cannot believe what I have been told.

A few captures at Harrys' — A few captures at Harrys’

29 May, 2018

It has been a very tough month. I have not been able to focus on anything. Sleep has been hard to come by all these days. Sharing with friends also has not helped.

I completely believed that the film that captured the spirit of IIT Kharagpur was meant to be made. I believed it in so much so that I started imagining coincidences to be signs of destiny. I had created an alternate reality for myself and had got trapped in it. And that’s why it has been so painful. Some of my friends suggest that I should go for it again. But what has passed can’t be recreated. What was captured on camera then just cannot be captured again. It will be different; very different. Even if I gather the courage to do it all over again it will be a different film. It may look similar from outer appearance, but in spirit it will be completely different. It will not be able to fill the void of what has been lost. But anyway right now I do not have the courage or strength to do it all over again. I am afraid the universe will trick me once again.

31 May, 2018

Does it really have to end like this? I have been behaving as if the world has come to an end. Whats wrong with me! Not many people dare to dream and pursue it like what I have done. Yes, it has ended in a way which has been difficult for me to accept and the cynics are probably laughing right now. But that cannot make me weak. Yes I do not have the film to show. But I have something significant to show right now. I have those art works I made. They stand witness to the amazing experience I had. Though they cannot replace the film, they capture the spirit of IIT KGP in a way that nothing else can capture.

My journey did not have the destination I expected. But what matters to me now is that I took the journey. My paintings bear a testimony to this journey. And they will touch people. They will be able to transport people back to KGP. People will experience their journeys at IIT Kharagpur all over again through my work.

Probably this was the destiny universe had in mind for my journey. As of now I’ll take that, till I start dreaming again.

p.s. Luckily I had this part of the film from the initial edits which will continue to remind me of my unfulfilled dream.

IIT KGP En Plein Air Diary – Chapter VII

Sin and Redemption

29 July 2017, Day 6 of the shoot

After the Jnan Ghosh shoot we pushed on to Harrys’ (now called Tikkas’). The footage of earlier shoot at Harry’s had gotten deleted by mistake. Hence we were back today to shoot there again. No one really likes it when such accidents happen. I was also disappointed albeit momentarily. My first painting at Harry’s had not gone off well. It was a little overworked and I was not happy with it at all. It kept troubling me until I heard the news about the footage. After the initial shock I felt a sense of calm putting my troubled mind to rest. A divine intervention had given me a second shot at Harry’s, and a chance of redemption.

Also read the Prologue , Chapter I , Chapter II, Chapter III, Chapter IV,  Chapter V and Chapter VI of IITKGPEPA Diary!

Before the shoot all of us did the customary breakfast at Harrys’ of Dal Puri, Sabzi, Rasagolla and coffee. I have always enjoyed having breakfast at Harry’s. In fact I don’t know anyone who does not swear by it. A great combination of taste, flavour and texture; the breakfast tasted exactly the same as it used to taste twenty years back. But what makes the breakfast unique is the ambience. I am not sure if one can get to sit under the shade of a banyan tree with huge open spaces all around to have one’s breakfast while listening to the chirping of birds (and occasional droppings) in the company of friends anywhere else other than Harry’s.

Vegies/Eggies is the lifeline of student life after dark. Harrys’ takes up this role during rest of the day. This is the chai adda of KGP. I have always loved this place. But during this visit to KGP this place made me realize how privileged I have been to spend a part of my life here in the lap of nature. While being at KGP we probably take the greenery for granted. But only when we go out of KGP to man-made concrete jungles we realize how fortunate we have been to have lived here. Dotted with old and ancient trees, the mini forests of KGP campus serve as a safe haven for many species of birds and reptiles. But with so much of construction work happening around the campus some of this natural heritage is under threat. And I hope the development work does not bring much damage to the natural ecosystem here.

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Painting in a 'C' curve — Painting in a ‘C’ curve

After a hearty Harrys’ breakfast it was time to get back to the job. And to my pleasant surprise I had the company of one of the better-known artists in the campus to paint with. Gopinath is a final year student and a well known member of the art club at IIT KGP. It was very good to have him painting alongside- painting outdoors in a group always energises me and I was very happy to have Gopinath with me today.

Today was last day of the shoot and I can’t help but wonder how things have panned out in the last eight days. It seemed game over even before the project began. It felt as if the universe did not approve of the scheme. But now it feels like things could not have gone better. Every place I made a painting of was done at the appropriate time and in the right settings and right frame of mind. I could not have got such a romantic wet scene of Nehru Museum had it not been for the rain. It was a difficult choice between my memories and the outer reality, but I am glad I decided to paint the former at Azad Hall. The timing of painting the main building probably brought out the emotionality in the painting. The accidental conversation at Vegies had settled my nerves and I ended up with a painting that surprised even me. The fading light on the first trial shoot at Kali Das’ had made sure I painted the place at a later time when it had a great mood. I could not have gotten better light than what I had today morning at Jnan Ghosh. And finally it was Harrys’ where I redeemed myself because of nothing less than a divine intervention.

The painting came together with the shadow wash at the bottom

A cynic would probably dismiss it as coincidence, but not the romantic in me. During one of the shoots the director of the film had mentioned a quote about making documentaries.

“For fictional films the director is God but for a documentary, God is the director.”

I can’t speak for documentary films in general, but for me IITKGPEPA project has just illustrated this point.

En Plein Air at Harrys' — En Plein Air at Harrys’

Next Up - The Conclusion of IITKGP En Plein Air Project

Updates on IIT KGP En Plein Air Project

On 21st July 2017 when I set out to IIT Kharagpur for En Plein Air project I realized was not travelling alone. I was travelling with the wishes as well as expectations of a large community of IIT-KGPians. There were different facets of KGP life that each of them wanted to see through my paintings. I must admit it did make me little nervous. The other realization was, I was not going there just for IIT-KGP En Plein Air project. There were a few of my contemporaries who wanted to relive their KGP times through me. And I have been unfair to them and have not really kept everyone updated. Finally here is the update about the life in campus, my experiences and of course IIT-KGP En Plein Air project.

The Campus and Academics

First things first. If you have not been to KGP in a while the new look campus would hit you. There are flawless roads with cycle tracks on each side and separate places marked for parking with proper signage everywhere. A lot of new state of the art buildings have come up where classes are held. Technology guest house has been expanded and someone told me it has 3 start rating. Hostels have been extended. There are new buildings and new floors. A few halls now have 4 floors which also including Azad hall. The mess has become bigger. Rotis are now made by a huge roti making machine in the mess. Gymkhana too has a new building. The area behind gymkhana has been developed into a lovely park. There is so much change in the campus in terms of infrastructure, its almost unbelievable. At the same time greenery of the campus is intact and did not look like it has been compromised with.

And to top it all there is a law school and people are studying stuff like economics. In humanities there are credit subjects like visual communication and in the law school there are courses like international environment laws which anyone can take up as an elective. Now I really loved this development. IIT KGP is now more like an university where individuals are given enough opportunities to realize their true and full potential. The way things are developing we may soon see a school of fine arts and a school of performing arts soon in the campus.

The Student Life

Student life is probably as hectic as it was 15 years earlier if not more. One good thing is classes start at 8:00 AM as opposed to 7:30 AM. But still there is a mad rush to get to classes on time. Life still revolves around projects, credits, profs, classes, labs, presentations, apping, mugga, exams, CAT mock tests. But what is heartening to see is the kids are doing much more than all this. There is an art club called SPECTRA and students do some really amazing works of art. They learn from each other, from external faculty, internal faculty and they even put up an art exhibition every year. There is a film making club called TFPS and they come up with short films every now and then. My interaction was mostly with TFPS as they were involved in IIT-KGP En Plein Air project. And I was amazed by the talent each of them had and how they are channelizing it into creative domains.

I was even lucky to meet few individuals in final year who have done their internship in media houses as they want to pursue their field of interest. One of them was already doing some work for a digital media company designing posters for them. These I believe are great signs of the times we live in.

Vegies/Eggies and Harrys (Now called Tikkas) continue to be the lifeline of students. Harrys breakfast consisting of dal puris, sabzi, coffee and rasagola though has become expensive (Now it comes at approx Rs 40/-), still feels like one of the best breakfast that one could ever have sitting under a banyan tree in the company of friends and birds. Little sisters restaurant is now a favorite Friday night hangout place for students and business for LS is booming on weekends.

Unfortunately I did not get a chance to go to chhedis and hence no updates from there. A new canteen has come up in Neheru museum (Kali Da). Situated on the first floor of museum it is lined with arches overlooking the pristine surroundings dotted with very old banyan trees. There is a certain old world charm about this place and its a place for the romantics for sure. One could write poetry just sitting here. And hence I had to paint this place and I am glad I could paint here.

The Film

I reached KGP on 21st July (Friday). The plan was to shoot as much as possible on the weekend (Saturday and Sunday). The first place that we had planned our shoot was in Jnan Ghosh stadium on Saturday early morning. With butterflies in my stomach I hardly got any sleep on Friday night and could not wait to paint in the morning. But as luck would have it, there was a heavy downpour on Saturday morning. And the weather forecast said it was going to be raining continuously for the next 5-6 days. Talking of good starts, this situation really did not qualify to be one. But we did shoot that day albeit in a different location. Chemical department cycle stand overlooks Neheru Museum. And since it had protection overhead our first shoot happened there. Hijli detention camp was the first thing I painted and the rain just added so much character to the scene. It was as if nature created the scene especially for me to paint. Starting shoot at the old building was symbolic in a way because this is where IIT Kharagpur was started.

The next day we shot at Azad hall where the ex hall president Sashwat arranged a big umbrella for me so that I could paint under it in the rain. And thus the ball kept rolling. I was in a hurry to cover all places. But universe had other plans. It was creating the right ambiance for me to paint at different location. But I had to be patient. The footage of one of the places we shot at got deleted by accident. But it was a blessing in disguise because I really did not like what I had painted there in the first place. So we shot again and this time the painting was perfect. The director of the film Lokesh had mentioned one day that in a film director is the God. But in a documentary God is the director. And the whole experience of painting and shooting at IIT KGP turned out to be such that I had to agree with him.

I returned back from KGP on 31st July. The film now is in editors hands. Additional footage is also being captured in parallel. Background score for the film also is yet to be sorted out. At this point everyone wants to know when the film will be completed. Honestly I also cant tell. But I guess it will take at least another 30-50 odd days for sure.

Not everyone gets an opportunity to go back to IIT KGP campus to experience KGP life again. But I did and through me hopefully many of you would get a slice of the cake. I relived some old memories and created new memories. And all that probably has seeped into my works that I created there. Hopefully they will touch a chord somewhere.

And lastly I would like to thank TFPS guys and everyone who made my experience at IIT KGP such a memorable one and also those who have supported the IIT KGP En Plein Air project. Thank you for this amazing gift.