UAE | Heritage and Culture
A fitting tribute
One woman's pledge to honour her father has inspired both a charitable organisation and an art exhibition in Dubai.
- By Jyoti Kalsi, Gulf News Report
- Published: 01:10 March 4, 2008
It was a special tribute to a great father and wonderful human being by his family and friends. Dubai resident Anita Singhal's father, L. N. Gupta, was a committed social worker, educationist and supporter of the arts. His family and friends commemorated his birth centenary by organising an exhibition of Indian art at the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre (Ductac) to continue his work in the education of underprivileged children.
“My father was a government official in Hyderabad and was involved in various philanthropic activities in the city. An educationist, sportsman and art lover, he was involved in the establishment of many educational institutions. He also ran a school for economically backward children and helped many young struggling artists," says Anita.
Fond Memories
“Many of the artists he helped in those days have become famous names such as Laxma Goud, T. Vaikuntam and Surya Prakash. They remember him fondly and willingly gave us their artworks for this exhibition. Younger artists from Hyderabad have also heard about him and supported us enthusiastically," she adds.
Like her father, Anita is also an educationist. She specialises in the field of dyslexia and learning difficulties, and is chairperson of the Dubai dyslexia support group. Over the last two decades she has been involved in helping children with learning difficulties and has organised many conferences for teachers and parents.
Charity Work
“After my father passed away in 1975, my family decided to form a trust in his name to continue his philanthropic work. Through the L. N. Gupta Memorial Charitable Trust we have donated money to schools for children with special needs and given awards to musicians, economists, artists and film makers who have excelled in their field and displayed social responsibility," says Anita. “This year we wanted to do something special to commemorate his birth centenary and have pledged to support the education of 100 needy children."
After extensive research, the family has identified an NGO in India called Deepalaya, which has done sterling work in the education of disadvantaged children for over two decades. “Deepalaya focuses on abandoned, vulnerable, deprived or exploited youth and besides educating them it provides them with vocational training and career guidance to become self-reliant. We personally visited several schools run by them and were impressed by the commitment and attitude of the teachers and the enthusiasm and achievements of the students," says Anita.
Funds Needed
Although the family has put together substantial funds, more are required to complete this enormous task.
“We are grateful that well-known artists from Hyderabad have stepped in by donating over 40 artworks for this exhibition. My family worked hard to organise the exhibition and we hope that UAE residents will support us in fulfilling our dream of helping 100 needy children complete their schooling at Deepalaya," she adds.
The exhibition concluded this week. For further information on the charitable trust, contact Anita Singhal on 050 6524325.
What the artists said:
Laxma Goud: “L. N. Gupta saw my work when I had just started on my artistic journey and encouraged me to develop my talent. He also helped to mould my character. I used to be shy and he encouraged me to be more self confident. I was also quite hot tempered and he advised me to calm down and be more respectful to people. This advice has stayed with me and helped me."
Kavita Deuskar: “My father, who was an eminent artist, passed away when I was quite young. L. N. Gupta organised an exhibition of his works to help us tide over the bad times. He was always ready to help anyone in distress."
Surya Prakash: “He was always there to help new artists. He organised many camps and art forums where we could display our work and get recognition."
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