After working at Delhi Metro stations, IIT graduates are painting the city of happiness
When you see artifacts adorning new metro stations in Kolkata, you are unlikely to link them to engineering, least of all chemical engineering, but there is a link. Two men in their mid-20s – Ritesh Verma and Prateek Sachan – who graduated in chemical engineering from IIT-Delhi in 2017, are these days upping the ambiance of the recently built metro stations in the city of Anand with mural art. busy lifting. Similar projects in 24 stations of Delhi.
“There is no doubt that our batchmates are earning much more than us, but we are proud that we are creating value for our artists and designers, and for the many artists with whom we collaborate. Furthermore, we have never Don’t think we could have picked up anything else because we see great opportunities ahead of us,” said Mr. Verma, who started ‘The New Art’ with Mr. Sachan in 2018 after he refused to sit for campus placements. Had it.
He has already brought to life the walls of six metro stations in the city – Phoolbagan, Bengal Chemicals, Salt Lake Stadium, Sector 5, City Center and Karunamoyee and is currently working at Sealdah Metro Station. Once Sealdah is done, they will move to the metro stations of Esplanade, Mahakaran, Howrah and Howrah Maidan.
“Each station has a different theme, which reflects the local flavours. The theme of Sealdah is ‘Art Forms of Bengal’, while the theme at Howrah Maidan station will be ‘Sports Culture of Bengal’, focusing on rural, indigenous sports of Bengal,” Mr. Sachan said.
Asked what he found to be the difference in the response to art between Delhi and Kolkata, Mr. Verma said: “Delhi has so many wonderful artists, and a large number of people appreciate art there. So we worked on back-to-back projects there. But there is something else about Kolkata – the whole city is immersed in art. It is a very colorful city, with lots of paintings, sculptures all around, and very talented artists. Most of the people of Kolkata have a deep understanding of art.
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The journey in the arts for the two began almost immediately after graduating from IIT, when they happened to beautify the dismal walls of a hostel in Satna (Madhya Pradesh), when they embarked on a project to modernize the hostel. He believed that mural art could do wonders, thus he founded ‘The New Art’. Even though he has worked extensively in Delhi and is currently engaged in new metro stations in Kolkata, his toughest project so far, remains Rajdhani station in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. “It was a huge wall that we had to paint, and the deadline was last March. We had about eight artists working at 100 feet for about three weeks. Our fingers were crossed, but we worked patiently and delivered the artwork on time. The station was later inaugurated by the Prime Minister,” said Mr. Sachan.
Both collaborate with independent artists, mostly local talent, for large-scale or multiple projects. “Our projects provide them with short-term jobs, and that gives us a lot of inspiration. We are confident that when we grow up, we will be able to positively impact their lives by collaborating with many artists, and that inspires us a lot,” said Mr. Verma.
According to the two batchmates-business partners, the pandemic interrupted their work for a while, but the lockdown gave them time to reflect on their work. “It was an opportunity for us to up-skill ourselves and become better at what we do. We have also come to believe that the pandemic has inspired people to accept the arts better, and that in the long run There will be more appreciation for the arts and the arts sector will flourish,” said Mr. Verma.
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