Teaching out of the box

Teaching is in their blood. The passion for imparting knowledge had prompted these two professors attached to Maharani’s Science College here to take the less-trodden path and give some extra lessons to students. Apart from teaching their respective subjects, assistant professor in statistics T K Venugopal and associate professor in Sanskrit Sheela Kumari are in the forefront organizing free practical demonstration and training programmes on painting, dance, music, literature, drama, photography and acting.
They have organized more than 70 free programmes on their college premises since 2002. Not just school and college students, even senior citizens show enthusiasm to attend such classes. Every programme will be conducted from morning to evening and for all the participants, they provide free food and material like paint, brushes, books and other necessary material.
Around 150 persons participate in every programme. The Laliltha Kala Sanga formed 10 years ago by the duo is part of their attempt to spread awareness on these varied aspects among the student community. As part of the Sanga’s 10th anniversary, they have organized Kalara Sagrahana, a free art programme for students at Maharani’s Science College on March 25.
According to Venugopal, such training sessions are aimed at creating awareness on the need to conserve and promote art among people, especially youth. Students from rural areas also take part in programmes. “We convince the faculties of rural colleges to provide the students with free transport facility to take part in the art programmes,” he said.
A resident of the city, he lives with wife Shylaja, an English lecturer in Nanjangud Government College and daughter S V Sahana, a faculty in University of Mysore College of Fine Arts. “Prominent personalities from the fields of dance, painting, acting and music give training to the participants in our programmes. Some artistes teach for free,” Sheela Kumari said. Kumari’s husband A B Nanjappa is a doctor and her sons A N Ananda Vardhana and A N Bheemesh are software engineers. They have been helping poor students by giving them free books and paying their examination fees for the past two decades.