The personal life-lessons that Milinda Ma’am taught me, both – in class and through personal interactions are going to stay with me forever.
The timetable for the 2nd day of college read “Visual Aesthetics- Milinda Natu” and that caught my eye immediately. Being a first-year student in a media school, planning on specializing in Audio-Visual communication, this course was one which I knew wouldn’t fail to stimulate my creative and artsy side. The course seemed unique and particularly exciting because it is not something that has been touched upon even slightly in school, and the subject has a more practical approach than what ICSE/ISC students would be used to.
The classes were exciting and packed with information about the works of legendary painters and sculptors like Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, Pieter De Hooch, Da Vinci, Yayoi Kosama, Michelangelo, Degas, Vermeer, and the list goes on and on. An insight into their personal lives along with a background about their styles gave me a new perspective about the wide history of art. Milinda Ma’am would compare their paintings with that of lesser-known or contemporary artists to allow us to study the differences in styles, mood, tone, light and composition, and the different effects that these elements of design brought to paintings. She would also show us creative incorporations of famous paintings into the world of fashion and several other products like Vodka bottles, coffee mugs, or restaurants that revolve around the theme of paintings.
The videos showed to us in class did a lot to expand my understanding of aesthetics. Every week Milinda Ma’am would come to class with a new collection of mind-boggling videos that had a certain kind of aesthetic appeal to them that was way beyond what I had been exposed to before joining SCMC.
Milinda Ma’am’s extensive knowledge about the subject is simply incredible. I’ve never been good at drawing and painting, but the free hand that Ma’am would give us in the assignments allowed me to do what I’m good at, i.e., craft. The amazing activities that she would make us do allowed me to experiment with various materials and decoration ideas. Ma’am’s ability to plainly critic any idea or art work pushed me to work harder, think outside the box and execute my ideas in a better manner than I usually did.
Milinda Ma’am inspired me way beyond the scope of academics. Her love for teaching clearly shows in the way that she conducts her classes. Her discipline, determination and headstrong attitude have inspired me throughout my first semester at SCMC. The personal life-lessons that Milinda Ma’am taught me, both – in class and through personal interactions are going to stay with me forever. For me, the most significant lessons she taught us were that of feminism and independence on others. In fact, the ideas behind some of my assignments in her class were inspired by her admirable qualities. I hope to be taught by her in the future as well.
I feel lucky to be a part of a college that allows us to study such unique subjects even during the early stages of college. My first semester of college has exceeded all my expectations. I eagerly look forward to my remaining semesters at Symbiosis Centre for Media and Communication.
Article by: Sindhuja Desai (Batch 2019)
Photographs by: Sindhuja Desai (Batch 2019)
