The students at the Faculty of Fine Arts of M.S. University in Baroda have ended their protest. Their 65 day stint consisted of sitting continually outside the Exhibition Hall, holding rallies, panel discussions, pieces of theatre and, towards the end, a hunger strike. It ended with the Gujarat State Governer, Nawal Kishore Sharma, appointing a 3-person committee to investigate the initial events at the Faculty of Fine Arts (see Protest at M.S University Faculty of Fine Arts on 18th May).
When the academic term resumed in mid-June the students had shifted their focus. Still concerned with freedom of expression they now primarily targeted Manoj Soni, the Vice-Chancellor of M.S.Univeristy (M.S.U.), calling for his resignation for not providing protection nor support to the Fine Arts students and teachers when the Faculty was intruded.
The situation is still to be resolved but the State Governer’s intervention is a step in the right direction. It is at complete stalemate, neither side (students and artists vs. VHP and MSU authorities) are not even trying to consider the opposition’s point of view. Intervention from a thrid party seems the only hope.
Four friends leave Baroda this week. Like me, they have been completing an internship with a company or organisation here. It is funny when these times come and you realise that this is the last of it, an experience that will never be repeated and can never be recreated. You suddenly remember that this is not reality, at least it is not your reality. My time in India was only temporary but now, after being completely thrown by it, India is making sense (most of the time) and after 6 months, its enveloping, suffocating, inescapable self is my normality.
Next week I will leave Baroda, though it won’t be the end of Adventures in India. I still have podcasts to produce. I am in no rush to complete them before I leave because taking them home unfinished will be the closest I can get to taking a piece of India outside of its borders and home with me.
