very soon even before you can say lalit kala academi it may no longer mean ravishankar raval bhavan bastion of visual arts in gujarat word has spread that it will house other academies of state government we are not sure if it will still be known as rrb long ago if jai shanker sundari hall was the centre of performing arts ravishankar raval bhavan at law garden was for visual arts while other academies had offices in gandhinagar technically they were all part of youth services and cultural affairs these academies were headed by minister of culture secretary culture director of ysca and various secretaries who worked with chairpersons and committees comprising prominent citizens the ground floor of rr bhavan is being renovated but is still used to hold exhibitions as it has galleries studios offices an auditorium and guest house there is no cafeteria on the premises so tea is ordered from the kitli downstairs while other facilities like wash rooms and elevators arrived much later more recently lalit kala academi library was transformed into a conference room while libraries from other academies were shifted to the upper floors of rrb to add to the change jai shanker sundari hall has been lying closed for long as they say it is being renovated so artistes have to depend on sponsors or pay large sums to book other auditoriums wonder how they are going to eventually use sundari hall today few people remember kalaguru ravishankar raval as pioneer of visual arts in gujarat efforts to install his bust made by famed sculptor kanti patel have not borne fruit rr raval chaganlal jadav somalal shah and other giants of the art world had fought to get autonomy for lka but their efforts are forgotten as maybe very soon all academies will be housed at rr bhavan under one umbrella we hesitate to compare this happening to bhopals bharat bhavan as we do not know the end result anyway it is a government building and as the late art critic panubhai bhatt once said they can even use it as an hospital