festivals

I am often asked why I go to watch children's theatre shows. People usually associate children's theatre, or puppet theatre, with a "fit only for children" narrative, too simple to hold an adult's attention. But plays, or to be accurate, performances, like "Woogie Boogie", by Brush Theatre of South Korea, staged on 18th July 2019 at Ranga Shankara as part of the "AHA!" children's international puppet theatre festival, show how any adult can be as entranced as a child. On the child's level, the clowning and the brisk narrative are very entertaining; but on an adult level, one can see…

Do adults go to watch children's plays? Or to be more precise, do adults go to watch children's puppet theatre...without children accompanying them? The answer, for me, was a resounding yes. I had been hoping to take my grandchildren to at least some of the puppet theatre festival be at Ranga Shankara, under the AHA! banner. The "Same-Same" theme of the festival. Pic: Deepa Mohan Language and music classes in the evenings prevented my grandchildren from coming along with me, but when a friend, Harini Srinivasa Rao, told me that she could not utilize her three tickets, I jumped at…

Instead of the stock Ganesha Puja photo, I thought I'd click some of the beautiful rangolis that I saw on my morning walk. So much art on our roads and footpaths, I felt like documenting and preserving these transient works.

They wait, in their toxic colours in swathed in plastic, these un-green Ganeshas...a miniscule mimority tries to make green idols, much older people remember a time when a little pinch of mud or turmeric was enough to represent the elephant-faced god. I wonder how many of them remain, mercifully, unsold, and are recycled the next year.

It seems to be men who transport these colourful bangles all over the cities and villages...rainbow fragility on women's wrists that are given in fours at religious festivals,and adorn, in dozens, a pregnant woman's arms. Women pride themselves on wrists that can acommodate smaller bangles, while the bangles are often used as a major insult in our men-are-dominant culture. Made of plastic, metal, and sometimes the finest glass..these circlets are an integral part of our culture and heritage. Valley School, 05 Sept 2015.

Most Hindus celebrate the birth of the dark baby God, Krishna, by installing an image of the god and worshipping it in the traditional manner, with flowers,fruit, and other offerings. However, Priya Mukund, of J P Nagar 3rd Phase, celebrates the festival a little differently.  She has, over the years, made a large collection of figurines of Krishna: as a baby, holding ball of butter; sleeping in a cradle.holding a flute while he herds the cattle; in unison with Radha; or in the form of preceptor, revealing the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. The figurines start from very old pieces in…