Pavan Sunder

Dear Lakshmi Mam,

A friend of mine once said that if one needed to know how much the other person knows about a given subject, just ask about their teacher. That should summarise how my journey with Art and Lakshmi Mam’s Art classes have been. I am Pavan Sundar, currently studying in Grade 12, and I have been into Art Classes since the middle of my fifth grade for a total of seven years as of now.

As a person, I am not the most fantastic with art, and would much rather prefer sitting down and discussing how the world geopolitical scene works. Making such a person fit in an environment filled with art was certainly a challenge, but rest assured, over these years, a lot has changed for me. Multiple instances have made me stay this long, and here I am narrating that story.

Art has inculcated new skills into me. I vividly remember my early childhood when I was a mildly headstrong person, with a strong temper, and an irresistible desire to correct the other person. Art has given me the patience to deal with problems with a much cooler mind. This reminds me of the one time when I had to redraw a picture of mine, five to six times. While the incident initially frustrated my wits, it gave me new energy, and a skill, one to be patient enough and handle the challenges thrown at us. It also pushed me to the edge of no return, and gave me the opportunity to explore how getting back on our two feet sounds like. The art classes conducted by Mam has always fostered an environment of discussion, cooperation and community. I would not deny the impact that it has had in shedding me of any issues I had with myself. As a victim of bullying and body shaming, of multiple counts, throughout middle school, it was these two hours, every week, that gave me solace, acknowledged my existence, and made my voice one worth rallying unto. Yes, I still wasn’t good with the brushes, but certainly I had made some deep strokes in the art of speaking with confidence and not fretting about what the society ends up feeling on you.

Another key facet is that it has nurtured into each one of us, the habit of managing our time, and most importantly, respecting the other person’s time. This is repeatedly emphasised when Lakshmi Mam keeps highlighting about the importance of informing her if you don’t intend on attending a class, and how it would help another student in gaining a little more. This is the place where I learnt sharing in the truest senses. It is common knowledge that we are all taught in our childhood, that sharing is caring. We have all had way too many of those moral science lessons, where we’re taught of this, but never experienced it. Art has enabled me to experience newfound joy with sharing, and exchanging ideas with one another. As a Model UN Delegate and Debater, I have always believed that it is always crucial to ensure that we consistently research and present our cases. For me, the first place to present cases has been Art classes. From speaking our mind over the discussions on the pictures of others, to learning new theoretical concepts, these discussions have improved my communication and research skills. It has also enabled me to improve my listening skills and acceptability to criticism.

As humans, we have always been taught to defend ourselves, moreso for me as a debater, thus making it naturally more difficult to face criticism, but art classes have made me more capable to face feedback on my picture and implement them. Another key gaining point is appreciation. Though there is scientific evidence today to indicate the effectiveness of clapping, and the use of positive words, we still see a massive segment of the society inclined towards utilising words that have negative connotations, when we can substitute them with positive ones. I have learnt, from first hand experience through Mam, on the impact of using a good tone and words to get people to achieve a particular objective. It could be as simple as asking a child to attend classes more frequently, or as complex as trying to get someone like me to work, but whenever she speaks, she always chooses the best words, which make the needed impact, but it does not hurt the sentiments of the child in itself. This has always brought in the best from every student, who has always worked hard, to excel and bring upon newer challenges en route to themselves. This also highlights another key feature of how Art Classes help in facing challenges. The word “challenge” has always been indoctrinated with alternate meanings, of somehow instigating a face off with one another, but the truth behind real challenges, and facing them was taught to me by mam. Everytime she would give someone a newer yet tougher picture, she made it sound fun, and interesting, dragging the whole class into the discussion. She has the skill to make everyone heard, and make everyone sound important, which I believe has contributed to each and every one of our lives. While the way we express it may be different, and I am certain, that more people than I would have probably elucidated it better, the essence still stays.

On a more personal level, for me, the USP of the Art Classes has been the teacher herself. From playing her part in ensuring that I could be motivated and get my shot of energy for the week, to actually predicting the college courses I would want to pursue long before I knew what happened in those hallowed halls, Lakshmi Mam has always been a delight, and while this was meant to be a holistic and wholesome feedback, I guess I have nothing but positives to utter, and fearing that I may end up being repetitive, I conclude, with one of my favourite quotes on teaching, from Henry Adams, "A teacher affects eternity: he can never tell where his influence stops."