13th and 14th February 2017
CHRIST (Deemed to be University)
-Shreyasee Deb, 2HEP

The richness of a community is showcased in the quality of Art and Literature. ‘Kayal: The heART Club’ is an inceptive by the students of Department of International Studies and History, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) to encourage the growing artists or art activists of CHRIST (Deemed to be University), especially from the Deanery of Humanities and Social Sciences. Students are encouraged to volunteer and sign up as a member of the club and participate in activities, events, exhibition and workshop to showcase their creativity and talent. The heART Club undertook its second exhibition on 13th and 14th February 2017 as an initiative by the members to donate money for the child sponsorship program organized by the Centre for Social Action (CSA) at CHRIST (Deemed to be University).

The inauguration of the exhibition was blessed by the presence of Rev. Fr. Joseph C C, Director of Student Affairs. Among the other notable luminaries, Dr. John Joseph Kennedy and Dr. Mallika Krishnaswamy, Deans of Humanities and Social Sciences, expressed their pride and congratulated the members for their determination and the hard work towards kicking the club up a notch. It was also attended by Mr. Jino Joy, International Programme Coordinator and Project Officer and Mr. Vinay K.C, Assistant Project Officer-Volunteer Program & Professor, Service Learning, Centre for Social Action, CHRIST (Deemed to be University).

The exhibition started at 9.00 AM on 13th February 2017 with the cutting of the ribbon by Dr. John Joseph Kennedy and Dr. Mallika Krishnaswamy. It was followed by a welcome speech by Ms. Harsimran Singh Sondhi along with Ms. Praba Shamili Jeeva, undergraduate (BA) students of CHRIST (Deemed to be University). The latter is the organizer and the leader of The heART Club who guided the entire exhibition with immense patience and determination.

The club, having started with 20 members grew within month since its inauguration during the first exhibition on 27th January 2017 to having 40 members. The Heads of the Department of International Studies and History, Dr. Venugopal Menon, and Dr. Vagishwari SP recognized the core members with badges of Kayal. This was a much awaited and proud moment for all the artists which included Praba, Sanjana, Anusha, Sowndarya, Shreyasee, Biswarupa, Reeti, Nivedita, Harsimran, Harshita, Himani, Muskan, Udbhav, Anand, Priyanka, Megha, Sona, Prateeti and Karthi, all of who are undergraduate students from CHRIST (Deemed to be University). The hard work that the members had put into the decoration of the stalls was much appreciated by one and all. The paintings were complimented upon as well as critiqued and the viewers voted on the artwork they liked the most. There were dream-catchers of varying sizes, bookmarks, notepads and a variety of other things to buy.

The two-day event turned out to be a great success, taking into consideration the fund that could be raised through the sale of the works. The approximate value of fund raised was INR 13,500 which will be donated to CSA for sponsoring a child from Janakiram Layout, Bengaluru. It was a matter of pride for every artist who contributed in the little way they could that they would be a part of shaping the future of a child in need. After all, art is one of the ways of expressions to light up a face