R.G. Singh - Maverick behind Ramsons Kala Pratishtana

R. Gyaneshwar Singh (b. 24 January 1967) is the second son of Sri D. Ram Singh and Smt. R. Kaladevi; he belongs to the well known family of Ramsons, pioneers in the manufacturing and retailing of handicrafts since last four decades in Mysore.

RG is an alumnus of CFTRI School, Hardwicke High School, Maharaja’s Junior College and Yuvaraja’s College. His leadership qualities came to the fore during his student days. During his college days he was actively involved in the Rotaract movement and held the post of District Rotaract Representative of Rotary International District 3180 for the year 1994-95. He served Rotary movement as a member for six years.

RG is an active philatelist and has a comprehensive collection of stamps on Rotary. He is an avid reader and prefers non-fiction. His favourite authors are Khushwant Singh, S.K. Ramachandra Rao, R.K. Narayan, William Dalrymple, Mark Tully, etc.

His considerate, friendly and easy going attitude has earned him a wide gamut of friends. His work takes him around the country; he interacts with artists, crafts persons and artisans from everywhere. With a keen sense of aesthetics and creativity he has worked with artisans across several craft clusters of the country and has created new products using various handicraft forms and created commercially successful market for them.

Gyani, as he is called by family and friends, is the Secretary of his family trust, Ramsons Kala Pratishtana - an art foundation. His concern for the languishing traditional art form of Mysore translated into a collection of Mysore style paintings which is housed in Pratishtana along with the works of contemporary artists of Karnataka.

He launched the Pratima Gallery in 2004. His passion projects, among several, include reviving the doll tradition of Karnataka and also the traditional board games of India under the aegis of Ramsons Kala Pratishtana. He is the brain behind the trust’s annual exhibitions ‘Bombe Mane’, ‘Kreedaa Kaushalya’ and ‘Deepa Soundarya’.

He, along with me and Dr. C.R. Dileep Kumar, has conducted extensive research in the field of traditional board games of India since the year 2000.

RG is a good orator and administrator with excellent organizational skills. He is a team player and a good leader.