The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
I have been attending the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival since its
inception in 1999. I was then fresh out of college, had time on my hands, and I
loved the opportunity to experience something as different as an Arts Festival
in Mumbai. Over the years, I have seen the festival grow, become more popular,
the addition of a variety of events offering something of interest to people of
all ages. And I have enjoyed attending the festival, year after year..... Discovering
something new each time, and of late, opening up an entire new world of art and
creativity to my son. I still love attending the festival, and look forward to
it each year, but it gives me even more pleasure when my 9 year old son opens
the newspaper and yells out – “Amma, the Kala Ghoda festival has started! When are
you taking me?”
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| A beautiful installation with colourful butterflies |
And thus it was, that we spent the weekend at the KGAF....
Saturday was fun, because the crowds hadn’t set in, and we were able to enjoy
and appreciate the installations in relative peace.
A note about the art installations... we loved them! They seem
to be much better than the ones last year, or maybe it was just that we could
peacefully go through them, without being elbowed and bumped into every other
minute. However, the disadvantage of being so early was that most of the
display information boards weren’t up, and we had to imagine what they stood
for. Of course, we enjoyed that too!
Skulls seemed to be the order of the day – probably quite
natural, considering the state of our country these days.....
And Samhith, for one, loved looking out for them... and here
are some...
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| Can you count the number of skulls in this one??? |
This huge one, at Rampart Row, was his favourite. Why? Because
it spouted smoke!!! Kids were drawn to it, wondering where the smoke came from,
and no one stopped them from approaching it, and tugging on the wires hanging
about, hoping it would make the smoke spew out again!
The Kala Ghoda was nowhere to be seen... its place was taken
by a Kali Bail.. the black bull... (photo courtesy Sudha Ganapathy, since I didn't
get a single decent image)
And there was this horse... or rather, horses... made with
packaging material...
Among the others, the installations of vehicles were
wonderful too....our favourite was the Vespa....
The installations representing auto rickshaws were just as
interesting.
Our heart skips a beat these days as the meter plunks
another unit... the increase in auto fares have affected us badly...
But it has
affected the auto drivers too, who struggle to eke a living, as this
installation shows...
This one, on the other hand, shows the humble auto as a
vehicle of dreams.... after all, this is the city of dreams!
This one cautioned people against talking on the mobile
while driving....
And, finally, among the vehicles, this was certainly the
simplest, but also the best....
And that was just the beginning. There was so much more to
see and enjoy.... to see the rest, come back to the blog tomorrow for some more
pics from Kala Ghoda...
These photos are meant for those of you who don’t live
in Mumbai, and can’t visit the festival. For those of you who do live in
Mumbai, get off from the computer and go, see the sights for yourself.... Here
is a link to the complete event schedule...
I shall be at Kala Ghoda again, tomorrow – Tuesday (5th
Feb) and maybe Saturday (9th Feb) as well, so if you are in the
area, give me a shout, and let’s meet!
Hey Anu,
ReplyDeleteWe too enjoyed the installations very much. But the best was rope walker. He was really amazing and displayed wonderful balancing...
Waiting for the next part...
Sonal
we didnt go for that, Sonal. it was just too crowded.. enjoyed more on saturday when it was empty :D and anyways, we have seen rope walkers before... more peacefully!
DeleteHEyyy nice Anuradha ji. I been to Kala Ghoda fest on its opening day that too lil early when stalls were being installed and crowd was less... it was nice to capture the art without crowd. will upload my pics soon.
ReplyDeletewell liked ur post... keep updating.
Thanks Vijay! I guess we might have been there at the same time! I was there while the stalls were being installed... thats the only way we can avoid the crowds that turn up these days!
DeleteBeautiful works there! Nice.
ReplyDeleteYes, Arun! the art installations are wonderful this year!
DeleteThis was something I had heard of but never been to one before. Thanks for the lovely captures. Art and creativity rocks.Waiting for the next part.
ReplyDeleteNext year, plan a trip to Mumbai around this time!
DeleteAnd I haven't been there even once! Always out of town. :(
ReplyDeleteWe haven't missed it ever since we came to Mumbai. We were there yesterday evening and it was very crowded, as expected. I may come tomorrow; will buzz you.
ReplyDeleteNice shots! :)
Wow! what an event!
ReplyDeleteGreat captures from there.
Saw plenty of shots from other FB friends too.
As usual, your photographs and text are superb. My favourite installations were the butterflies, the bull and the horse. The skulls... not so much :)
ReplyDeleteNice blog really conevred some good installations of the KGAF 2013 Keep it up
ReplyDeleteDo you know who made the Bull installation it looks nice and colourful