Thursday, January 17, 2008

An Artful Eventful Day

Mornings here in Bangalore have a real beauty to them. The sounds of the neighborhood and city start to creep into your consciousness as you lie in bed. The local dogs barking to defend their territory, the auto rickshaws starting to buzz down the street, it all adds up to a gentle push to awaken and join the fun and adventure that wait for you today.

And what a day it was! First, I need to tell you that I have been successfully crossing "that street" all week in order to take Anna to the school bus. I am not nearly as brave as the locals, but I manage and can even do it in the afternoon with the heavier traffic - the rickshaws, buses, scooters and cars all passing inches away from me. It is quite exciting! ;)

Now, Wednesday was a really special day. I met up with Debbie Ann and Charles (both of whom I met through blogging before I even came to Bangalore!) and had a traditional South Indian breakfast. Masala Dosa and filter coffee- yum! This is quickly becoming one of my favorite meals! Then we dropped Charles at work and headed off to a "road trip" organized by the OWC. When I saw this trip I knew I had to go since one of my personal tasks while I am here in Bangalore is to discover if I still have a passion and interest in art. (I attended- though never graduated from art school when I was younger.) We went to the studio/home of Balan Nambiar. Wow. I am so glad that I went! He is a painter, sculptor, enamel artist, photographer and researcher. He is very influenced by his upbringing in rural Kerala and was a fascinating, interesting, and kind man. I sincerely hope that I might be able to have some future interactions with him. Debbie has written a little write up of our experience there, you can go read it if you would like to know more about him.

Well, after we were done Debbie suggested that we head over to Chitrakala Parishath. It is a local art school and has a museum that exhibits traditional and modern Indian art. They wouldn't let me take my camera inside, but I can tell you that I was very impressed with much that I saw and also enjoyed the student exhibit and the exhibit from Kolkata by the Spectrum Artists' Circle.

Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath


After we were done in the museum we wandered around the campus a bit and saw some fun sites:

A pillar with decoration


A student(?) sculpture


Dog resting outside and open air classroom
And then we saw......

A MONKEY!!!


This one is for you Margit!

8 comments:

Jean said...

Awww...lookit the monkey! Love it! Great pictures, all around. You're so brave to be crossing "that street." I get a little nervous just thinking about you doing it. But good for you.

Margit Sage said...

Yay!!! So cute!! Thanks, Cindy!

Karen L. said...

OOOOH, I liked the student sculpture.

Helen Bratko said...

Fascinating, just fascinating. Thanks for taking me on the journey with you!!

Maya said...

The visit to the art studio sounds amazing! I spent a little time on his site - I like his work.

Greg and Sandra, when they were in Southern India a few years ago (2? 3?), found a village where one could stay and take lessons of all sorts - cooking, art, music, culture. Sandra studied a special kind of painting. They said it was absolutely wonderful and a real highlight of their trip. It was in Aranmula, Kerala. I haven't bothered to find it on a map, but it might be not too far from you...

I would love to come and see art with you. Enjoy! Just think... while the husband works into a routine of work, and the daughter works into a routine of school (and, I suspect, a LOT of homework), YOU can get yourself into a routine of ART & CULTURE! Just don't let on to the husband & daughter! ;-)

Bogie said...

It is really interesting to accompany you on your adventure. This is good stuff, keep it coming!

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing your trips with us! Wonderful pictures too!

Sarah said...

Cindy, you won an award -- check out my blog (Bella Knitting) for details!