As part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations, the National Service Scheme (NSS) wing of the Government Degree College for Women at Madanapalle in Annamayya district has come out with an art gallery with rare photographs of freedom fighters and moments of the Independence struggle.
NSS Coordinator and English lecturer Mohana Valli formed a team with students of the English department to collect rare photographs of freedom fighters, including Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Jhansi Lakshmi Bai, Alluri Sitarama Raju and others.
About 50 photographs were collected, including some in the digital format. “Without damaging the publications, we employed the services of a photographer to take a snap of the rare pictures in high resolution. We got them printed, and got some of them laminated and some others framed. In black and white, they replicate the glory of our freedom struggle,” Ms. Mohana Valli said.
An art gallery of these framed photographs has been kept as a temporary gesture in a classroom of the English Department. The NSS wing hopes to find out a cozy corner among the college buildings to set up a permanent corridor for the purpose soon.
“Our students could happily execute the assignment. This kind of encouragement will go a long way in inculcating a sense of patriotism among them, and they can continue to associate with history,” she said.
Meanwhile, the NSS coordinator took pride in arranging the gallery in a place like Madanapalle, where the National Anthem – Jana Gana Mana – was translated into English by Rabindranath Tagore himself as the Morning Song of India in 1919 on the premises of the historic BT College.
“We hope our little gallery would also start attracting the young minds. We want to continue adding the photographs to our gallery from time to time,” she said.
