Jan Gan Man stands up for regional scripts

Calligraphy artist Achyut Palav is calling attention to the regional scripts of India through his short film Jan Gan Man, which was released on Wednesday. He is seen in the two-minute movie inscribing the words of the national anthem on a 15-foot-long, 25-foot-wide white cartridge paper with black paint in the Devnagari script. The movie’s launch will be followed by a short discussion with the makers at P.L. Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Academy in Prabhadevi.

Mr. Palav wants the anthem to receive equal importance in other languages and scripts. He feels the initiative will give a regional touch to the anthem, making it more accessible to speakers of other languages. He says, “People can frame it and hang it on their walls. The idea is not just that, it is also about going back to our roots. To not only write, but to admire the curvatures of the letters through the art that is calligraphy. We live in the age of messaging and WhatsApp, and we are detaching ourselves from writing altogether. It is a beautiful process and we must nurture it.”

He said there were manuscripts and other pieces of history that were undocumented. The government could make them accessible by creating a centre or an institution where they can be viewed by the public. In this way, the typography of different scripts would receive much attention, leading to a newfound interest in the languages and scripts.

“While discussing calligraphy, people talk about Japanese and Chinese scripts,” Mr. Palav says, “but we do not give importance to ones that are our own. Our country is a centre of culture, and we have over 16 scripts. We must celebrate them by holding festivals and making museums dedicated to calligraphy.”

For the project, Palav received the support of graphic design students of B.S. Bandekar College of Fine Arts. With their help, the project was completed in just over an hour. Palav has been working as a calligrapher for over 35 years and teaches the art in his calligraphy school in Vashi. He also takes a three-month crash course for a batch of 20 students.

Source: www.thehindu.com