Arts College turns 75

 

The University College of Arts and Social Sciences, known as the Arts College, will be celebrating its platinum jubilee, but it is sad that nobody from the ruling TRS, not even education minister, G. Jagdish Reddy, has been invited for the occasion as the college administration fears a backlash from the students who are disgruntled with the TRS government.

 

The celebration will be a low key event in a small hall with a few former Vice-Chancellors. The Arts College was the epicentre of not just the Telangana movement, but numerous other protests. OU and the TRS have shared a tumultuous relationship over the years but their bond was kept alive by a shared dream formation of Telangana State.

 

While TS is now a reality, the rift widened after Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced the regularisation of contract employees, which angered the students. Additionally, the Telangana State Public Service Commission has not been formed yet, and many students, who fought for the state may become ineligible due to their age. 

 

When asked if he had invited Mr Reddy, Arts College principal, Dr T. Krishna Rao replied in the negative. “This is not the end of celebrations. Platinum jubilee celebrations will go on for the entire year,” he said.

 

Even among the university staff and faculty, there is deep resentment that there are hardly any celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of the college. “One problem is that there is no regular Vice-Chancellor. The in-charge VC didn’t even come for the flag hoisting ceremony. But considering the events of the last few months, they are not ready to come, and even if they come, students will not let them enter,” a senior faculty member said. 

 

Manavath Roy, state president of the Telangana Unemployed Youth JAC and a PhD student at OU, said, “The CM, ministers and legislators are scared to come here. Mr Rao has cheated the student community by whose strength TS was achieved. We didn’t ask for party tickets, we asked for jobs.” Mr Rao had promised in the Assembly that the age limit would be relaxed for those who participated in the movement.

 

 

 

The public works department, back in 1939, had gifted a golden lock and key for the opening ceremony of the Arts College building and prominent personalities like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Fatima Jinnah had signed in the register of the Arts College along with luminaries like Dr C.V. Raman, C.P. Ramaswamy Aiyar, C. Rajagopalachari and S.V. Ramamurthy.

 

Many interesting facts about the college have been compiled by two PhD scholars, M. Radhakrishna Sarma and S. Dhareshwari, in the book, Osmania Arts College, A Study in Educational Architecture.

 

The Osmania University building, in the 1930s, represented a harmonious blend of different historical periods and was constructed with an aim to reflect the noble ideals of Indian education. The architecture attempted to blend Buddhist, Islamic and even Brahminical traditions with a stress on spirituality. 

 

 

 

“When you enter the building, there is this awe-inspiring feeling and it takes you back to the time of the Nizams in all its grandeur,” said Safiullah, founder of the Deccan Heritage Trust. 

 

Overlooking the landscaped gardens, the pink granite building combines the architectural characteristics of a Hindu temple with the Saracenic styles with motifs of medieval Moslem, Arabic, Moorish and even Gothic schools of architecture.

 

Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam, had bestowed the responsibility on architect Jasper, a Belgian national, who had prepared a detailed plan of all the university buildings. It was executed Nawab Zain Yar Jung. 

 

“Before the university buildings were built, a team of experts, with Syed Ali Raza and Nawab Zain Yar Jung, were sent abroad to study and come back and build the best. They went to Europe, America, Japan, Egypt and Turkey,” said Dr T. Krishna Rao, principal, Osmania University Arts College. The college was inaugurated by a huge royal gathering on December 4, 1939. 

 

“The building is made of pinkish granite stone that represents the pillars and lintel style of Ajanta and Ellora. The arches are of Indo-Saracenic tradition. Octagonal pillars, similar to the columnar architecture found in Ellora and Ajanta caves, support the entire construction of the first floor.

 

The flooring of the first and second floors has been done with Shahabad stones; atop the hallway’s centre you’ll find a dome with a huge chandeliers set,” said Mr Rao. The exterior is divided into a centerpiece consisting of a grand arch with a huge doorway inspired from the Persian Pishtaq or mosque.