Jeevan Shetty: An Accomplished Banker, Cartoonist, Caricature Artist, Multiskilled Tutor, and a Terrific Organiser!

Bengaluru: Jeevan Shetty, renowned cartoonist, started the 'Gere Bare' organisation in 2004 in a small way within the mud walls of a government school with just two students to kick-start. To mark the launch of the organisation, pamphlets were inserted in the newspapers. It wasn't encouraging in the beginning. However, as days passed, students, enthusiastic kids started coming gradually, and most of them were too young. 

From cartoon learning to drawing: Although Jeevan Shetty started the organisation with the intention of imparting knowledge on cartooning, it didn't materialise as the students were all kids. So, this way, the cartoon learning school got converted into a drawing school. But, as children of all age groups started coming, it was a bit different from the regular school classes. 

Rangoli, thread drawing...At the same time, Jeevan Shety felt that mere drawing classes alone may not be of much help to the students. So, he arranged for a five-day special camp in the first year and much before the annual summer camp, wherein an old woman and an expert in drawing Rangoli gave a demonstration. Another person who had mastered drawing with the help of threads was also roped in as a resource person. Even a parent took a craft class, and another person dealt with clay craft. This was only the beginning, and later on and the subsequent years, the activities of the organisation grew in leaps and bounds, imparting knowledge on drawing and cartooning to hundreds and thousands of people. Looking back, Jeevan Shetty gave a glimpse of the growth of the organisation and the activities so far.

Ganesh drawing contest: A Ganesh picture drawing contest is held every year in Udupi during August/September. To contest in this competition, Jeevan Shetty, on behalf of his 'Gere Bare' organisation, used to train around 10-15 kids to draw the pictures of Ganesh. He used to take them around the city to showcase the varieties of Ganesh idols and decorations. Many children participated, and some even won prizes. More than anything else, the exercise gave the students a wonderful experience. This happened to be an annual feature for several years, and the practice also got transformed into holding a separate exhibition of Ganesh drawings, later. Every year, a camp is also held wherein pupils of different ages take part. At the end of the camp, a program is being held inviting the parents, while the participants share their experiences with the audience.

'Varna Sparsha' workshop: Jeevan Shetty also organises 'Varna Sparsha' workshops. Varna Sparsha meant skin painting for the boys, and Mehendi painting for girls. Children enjoyed the skin or the tiger face painting. Likewise, the activity of preparing 'Goodu Deepa' or hanging baskets using paper used to be undertaken during the Deepavali festival. He used to bring coloured papers, staplers and whatever materials required and initially demonstrate the making of the 'Goodu Deepa'.

Dance school students: It so happened that while he was holding the 'Gere Bare' workshops, another dance workshop was going on simultaneously at the same venue, and only a curtain bifurcated both of them. Manasi Sridhar, of the Kanthara movie fame, was teaching dance. Over a period of time, it so happened that the dance students started coming to the drawing classes, while the drawing kids started going to the dance classes. In a way, both art forms benefited, and the word spread in the local circles, thus enhancing the number of students in both classes.

Talented students taught me! Jeevan Shetty, apart from being a versatile drawing artist, cartoonist, caricature artist and a tutor of multiple skill-sets, is a humble gentleman to the core. He recalls, "Many of my students cherished talent in them much before they joined the classes. If some of them learnt by joining classes, many of them taught me due to their hidden talents...

...Kids bring back bouquets: Adarsh, a seventh-grade boy, won laurels in the 'Anche Kuncha' contest. Another boy, Vaibhav, bagged the first prize in the state-level contest organised by the MESCOM. In fact, he came with flying colours in all the competitions he took part in. Dikshit was another talented kid who is now doing his Engineering studies in Mangaluru. The parents of Aditi and Ananya keep calling me to thank me for teaching drawing, as both of them have been excelling not only in drawing but whatever activities they have been undertaking. Both of them are studying Engineering in Mangaluru. It's usually the parents who keep calling me to express their gratitude for benefiting their children...

...Deaf and Dumb teaches drawing: Usually, kids studying in the 10th standard and PUC come to the drawing classes. Deepika, who couldn't study further, has been assisting me in conducting the classes. Likewise, Ashok Shet, a deaf and dumb person who has excellent communication skills with the children, is also assisting me in taking the classes. Perhaps I haven't seen such an extraordinary teacher engaging the pupils merely with hand signs! Both these teachers have helped in meeting the expenditure of the hall and things like that."

An amazing anniversary celebration: The first anniversary celebration of 'Gere Bare' was worth recalling as an event. Jeevan Shetty went out of his way to make it a memorable milestone. He brought in Harini, another renowned cartoonist and his brother to draw the caricatures of the dignitaries present at the function, on the spot.

A jokes-sharing contest: Also, a jokes-telling contest was held. Interestingly, a seven-year-old child repeatedly came on stage to reveal the best jokes. He was coming to the cartoon classes, maybe he was briefed at home by his parents on the subjects for cartoons.

Fancy dress competition: A fancy dress competition was also held to commemorate the milestone. Even this program was a roaring success. Many children took an active part in the same. One boy donned the role of Mirabai.

Baraha Nooru Taraha: Jeevan Shetty also did another program with the theme 'Baraha Nooru Taraha', in between the regular drawing classes. It dealt with writing the alphabet in a variety of ways for making greeting cards and things like that. Even a greeting card-making workshop was also held, followed by a collage-making workshop. For paucity of time, the collage-making workshop had to be extended to three days.

Fine Arts on Eggs and Umbrellas! Jeevan Shetty is an amazingly genius personality. It may look strange for you to imagine, but it is no exaggeration that he also made an effort to have fine arts on eggs and umbrellas. The children were told one week in advance to bring two egg shells, emptying the contents at home, and an attempt was made to paint them with the help of sketch pens. A Krishna series was attempted on the umbrellas during Krishna Janmashtami.

Tendul-Cartoons! Jeevan Shetty is also a terrific organiser for having done another unforgettable event, 'Tendul-Cartoons' on the eve of the ace batsman Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar turning 50. To make the event worth remembering, he roped in 40 cartoonists from the state and South India to draw cartoons and caricatures of the legendary cricketer. Most of them returned with their works, and a big program was organised to celebrate the same. A sports personality and a commentator graced the same. Some children also enacted a skit holding the bats. Satish Acharya, an acclaimed cartoonist who seldom attends public functions, however, at the behest of Jeevan Shetty, made his presence felt by interacting with fellow cartoonists, among others. No doubt, it continues to be a memorable event in the history of state cartooning.

A cartoon exhibition on environmental awareness: Jeevan Shetty has also organised a cartoon exhibition titled 'Ee Bhoomi Nammadu' with the theme of creating awareness on the protection of the environment, among students. There were many big and interesting exhibits, which became so popular that the exhibition was also held in the NIT College of Surathkal and many other places. It was also held at the Prasad Art Gallery for one week. Cartoonists of the state took part in this exhibition. Unfortunately, the exhibits are not available now.

Decennial celebrations: Jeevan Shetty says, "I had a dream to celebrate the decennial celebrations of our organisation in a very big way in 2014. Ramesh, the renowned artist, was felicitated during this decennial celebration function. We had made a peculiar big stage in the form of a brush, while Sreenath came and did sand art before the huge stage. He demonstrated to the children about the sand art while the proceedings were on. Chitra Mitra, the Mumbai-based painter and performer known for his unique art style, which includes creating art through a technique called glitter painting, enthralled the audience with his mesmerising talent. Prakash Shetty, a cartoonist by profession and younger brother of Jeevan Shetty, gave a demonstration on spot caricaturing...

...Ramayana in six minutes: I also had a fond dream of depicting the Ramayana in six minutes, and even that dream was also accomplished! The children's troupe did a wonderful job by portraying all the prominent characters on stage, and that too within six minutes. A large gathering was witness to the evening event, and was graced by the leader, Pramod Madhwaraj."

Around 400 children in a summer camp: Apart from the regular 'Gere Bare' classes, workshops and summer camps, Jeevan Shetty was also invited to hold similar activities elsewhere. The authorities of the Government High School, Volakadu, would regularly invite him to conduct summer camps, which would attract around 400 children of all ages. It used to be challenging for Jeevan Shetty to address the learning requirements of different age groups, and that too simultaneously. He didn't feel satisfied with just teaching them, but gave them an occasion at the end of the camp to complete a half-drawn cartoon! He was invited to several places, including Thekatte, Karkala, Kasargod, BVT Manipal, and Samskrut Bharati. According to him, the experience with the Samskrut Bharati was delightful. Even at Sunada, it was a wonderful experience, though the number of students was less, they had made elaborate arrangements like air conditioned facility with projectors and things like that.

A family of cartoonists: Another interesting characteristic about Jeevan Shetty's family is that three of the four siblings are well-known cartoonists. Harini and Prakash Shetty are the other two renowned cartoonists. When asked as to why the remaining one didn't opt for it, Jeevan Shetty replied that he had left his hometown to pursue a career in banking, much before the other brothers got into cartooning. Now, the only dream that remains to be fulfilled for Jeevan Shetty is to bring out a book on the collections of his cartoons. Perhaps that shouldn't be a problem at all!