The Scales - They are A-changing

It’s been an interesting mélange of sorts this last fortnight or so. After being home-locked, overseeing some renovation of work and with only workers from dawn to dusk and my phone for company, the forces transpired to finally give me some relief. The work was completed, only a month later than scheduled – “tsk, tsk, delay in carpentry, masonry and other domains related to renovation/ construction are only but to be expected”, I’ve been told again and again but we won’t go down that path.

The freedom of being able to leave home as free as a bird happily coincided with events that are balancing the scales of this city. What do I mean? Well, it started with the acclaimed play called The Vagina Monologues that Mahabanoo M Kotwal brought to the city as part of the Times Bangalore festival along with her cast of seasoned actors. It got me thinking and the events that I’d subsequently been to, only served to highlight it.

The scales I’m talking about refers to the spirit of the city changing from a pub city and IT focussed land to one that now celebrates art and culture, theatre and music, dance and sport. I remember folks talking some years ago when I first started working here that from a pensioner’s paradise and relaxed life style, Bangalore was changing into an IT-hub. Even before this, when I was in college, Bangalore was acknowledged as having the maximum engineering colleges. That IT companies would follow and engineers would settle down in Bangalore itself seemed to correlate well.

The focus of the paradigm change in lifestyle was that engineers and IT professionals were bringing a heavy left brain syndrome to the city – hence more hard rock pubs, gaming and snooker parlours, etc while art events were few and far in between. The theory that was being floated was more left brain individuals, so more symptoms of their behaviour like higher recorded levels of aggression [esp on roads]. I should know. Having done a bit of theatre in college and a smaller bit in school, I constantly bemoaned the fact that theatre was dead here in Bangalore, especially since I’d just moved from Bombay where I saw it in all its vibrancy.

The city has certainly changed, moving towards more such events revolving around art and culture. I don’t know about the particular left brain impact of IT professionals and MBA’s on the art scene but many of my friends, including an MBA like myself, have been involved in theatre workshops, dance classes, reading meets, blogging, poetry, environmental causes, trekking and nature trips, etc

And come to think of it, a few days before the play, I managed to catch one of the musical events that the Bangalore School of music has been organizing at their new premises – a much-appreciated singer guitarist Chico Francisco Fonseca of Goa belting out soulful Italian/ Portuguese/ Spanish songs to a packed mini-auditorium. A look at their March-April newsletter showed me that the BSM is doing atleast two musical events, quite enough to satisfy a music lover in a land of hitherto inconsistent and irregular musical events.

In this sense, the scales are balancing and a richer, more meaningful life style, beyond the usual routine and drill, is emerging. And my last fortnight or so is evidence of that. Not that I caught each and every event that was organized in the city. There were simply more than enough events to choose from, a far cry from a few years ago when I persevered to go for every play that was staged in the city.

Coming back to Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, this was a landmark play of international status that was staged in several countries and associated with stars like Jane Fonda and Marisa Tomei. In India too, it had been staged several times in the last couple of years and to packed audiences. In the past, I had tried unsuccessfully to see it both in Bombay and Bangalore. This time too, the mad scramble to get passes was only seen to have been believed. Thanks to media connections in the family and their relentless efforts, we managed four passes and participated in an experience that embodied the spirit of women across the globe. Needless to say, the play was bold, highlighted issues unknown or un-discussed previously, and the acting was superb. Only how Arundhati Nag was seated in a row just ahead of me [which was several rows from stage] and someone like a Rahul Dev go a VIP seat is beyond me. The politics of media, I suppose.

In the fortnight or so that passed, there were atleast 7 plays in Bangalore including “When God said cheers” by Cyrus Dastur, featuring the much-loved Tom Alter- we tried to get passes but no luck. I heard it was superb. I have plenty to say on the Times Bangalore festival as far as organizing goes, especially w.r.t the free passes headline for each event - No passes were available for the public irrespective of how early one got there and media connections seemed the only way to get it. But never mind that!

The other play I managed to catch was a presentation of the latest batch of Misfit - a friend of mine had taken part in the workshop of Ratan Thakore and I went along without a clue on what to expect. It was to be at some obscure school premise that I hadn’t heard of before. What’s more, I dragged two of my friends – both of whom I hadn’t met in a long time, one visiting from Bombay. So, you can imagine the risk if it turned out like those disaster of plays that I had caught last year which incidentally were well advertised and staged at some well known venues. Well, we were delighted to say the least. With minimal sets and facilities for the audience’s comfort, and relying on the actor’s skill and a seamless script, the entire play consisting of 4 mini-parts [as opposed to acts] was engrossing and funny.

Apart from music and theatre, I also went for a fashion show – showcasing collections by Rohit Bal and the King of Mysore independently. Well, as all fashion shows go, it began late and had all ingredients of the weird taste of fashion designers that more often make us cringe. I wonder like countless others, about who wears this stuff. Along with it, came the dash of recognizing models like the new Miss India, Parvati Omnakuttan [my country cousin] and the more famous Carol Gracias. And the cool dude models [don’t know their names!].

The Bangalore wing of Caferati, the international literary group, met up for a reading meet in the city and though I couldn’t make it, I heard it was fun. I’m a regular now at the British library and a few hours at the Bishop Cotton’s library where my Mum teaches also got me my literary fix.

The city is also gearing up to the Bangalore marathon in May, for which the advertizing has just gotten louder. There’ also a famous belly-dancing show that’s organized by my Iranian dance teacher in May. Opus, CKP, RangaShankara, Alliance Francaise and the likes continue to give us now-what-is-a regular offering of music and art shows and dance and theatre.

So all in all, with music, theatre, fashion, books- it’s been an interesting fortnight of sorts for me. From a dry city as far as the Arts go, to one that has a lot to offer, Bangalore is living. Never mind the 11.30 pm deadline in discs and pubs. The scales - they sure are a-changing. As a Bangalorean, I’m loving it. And wish that beyond the Bangalore Habba and the recent Times Bangalore festival and my favourite musical production by Leila Alvares, incidentally all annual events, it got more regular and richer.