When Spanish artist offered Punjab village school a memory present

Ludhiana: When Sushil Kumari, the head teacher at a government primary school in a village in Punjab’s Sangrur, spotted a foreigner taking photos of the dilapidated structure nearly five years ago, she was concerned.

In November of 2018, Jordi Forniés, a Spanish-origin visual artist and music composer who lives in Singapore, had been invited to Gobindgarh Jejian village by his friend Mahinder Gujjar to celebrate Diwali with the school children.

Kumari says, “All the classroom ceilings had caved in, there were no benches, the boundary wall had collapsed and all our 98 students were forced to sit on the floor in the open despite the cold. I was concerned that the angrez (foreigner) would put the photos on social media, so I contacted Gujjar, who told me, ‘Artist banda hai. School da kuch changa hi karuga (He’s an artist. He will do something good for the school)’.”

Despite having no familial links with Punjab, Forniés, 52, has given the students the best gift they could have hoped for — a school with basic amenities like classrooms with roofs, benches, a boundary wall and vibrant walls. A beautifully painted message on one of the walls reads: “Gobindgarh Jejian Primary School… Built with the love of many volunteers and friends… Thank you”.

As per the records available with the head teacher, the school was built in 1970. Kumari says though all major renovations were completed by 2020, the school was shut due to Covid-19. While classes in the revamped school started towards the end of 2021, all renovations finished last year. The school currently has 155 students, she said.