The Idea-smithy

One of my most memorable experiences of this year was The Kala Ghoda Art Festival was held in February. These posts were written for the blog covering the festival. Here they are again, as a reminder of sparks of beauty in this otherwise dirty city.

So much of the colour at Kala Ghoda comes from not just the artists but the visitors as well. That little street is awash with colour. Art students display their fledgling works. Aspiring writers congregate with journalists. Photographers stroll around, cameras casually hung around their necks. Families wander around wonder and curiosity writ large on [...]

The art district of Mumbai is hosting a festival. Movies are being screened, workshops conducted, books discussed, plays (and other acts) staged. There is also a mela happening!
Don’t believe me?
Here is a potter. He beckons…come closer. A grinning imp, paint streaked across his face settles down to touch the clay.

The PenTathalon sounded like fun. And unnerving given its ‘Five Exercises for Fiction Writers’ description. What does a fiction writer look like, one wondered. I found out on the morning of Saturday, 3rd February.

Kavita Bhanot, the workshop leader, turned out to be a charming, soft-spoken young lady with a clipped British accent and an eye [...]

I’ve spent the entire weekend at Kala Ghoda!! I’ve been a regular visitor to the festival these years and thus far my KGAF experience has been limited to perusing the sidewalk outside Jehangir Art Gallery and ooh-ing and aah-ing about the artwork. This year I’m super-excited this time round because of my increased participation. Like [...]

A lot of people come to the Kala Ghoda Art Festival in the evening. A lot of people don’t know what they are missing. And it might be a good idea to not be one of that lot of people!

I was lucky. Having signed up for a morning workshop, I ended up in town bright [...]

Did you ever think of performing poetry? Or SMS as an art form? Did you ever think that Bollywood was Mumbai’s only claim to culture? It’s time for you to meet the black horse then.
Welcome to the Kala Ghoda Art Festival – an eclectic extravaganza of art, music, poetry, theatre, film and writing expression. The [...]