Kala Ghoda Arts Festival – II

Turns out my second trip to the Festival was much shorter than the first 😦 The one-hour drive from school turned into a 2-hr exercise in patience and restraint, as three humungous weddings in the vicinity led to a massive traffic jam!! How I hate these huge, ostentatious weddings which are all about appearance and not at all about the sanctity of marriage…uuuuugggghhhh 😦

Had time to browse a few shops that I had identified the first time – one being a stall by KEC Games – that deals with traditional games from all over the world done in wood! A great idea and wonderfully executed too! The games are beautifully packaged and contain instructions on handmade paper inside to help with play! They are very reasonably priced for the quality delivered 🙂 It took all my will power to restrict myself from buying everything on display 😛 I settled for some gorgeous Gond Art Puzzles (Gond are a tribe in India known for their intricate paintings), a set of spinning tops, and a cute as a button set of Tic Tac Toe 🙂 Thankfully they are online! Their products will make wonderful gifts for most children I know 🙂 

Another nifty little stall, 61c KIDS, had fabulous stationery and you know how I adore stationery (well, if you didn’t you do now)!! They had packs of Color Me In greeting cards, where kids can color in a printed drawing to give their friends and family! They had wonderful animal-themed magnetic bookmarks, innovative notepads and lots of other stuff that I have to check out online! You should too! I have included the links to both these websites so you can check them out from this page right here.

There were a lot of jewellery shops as well – each teeming with starry-eyed women of all ages 😉 Bags, clothes, linen, pottery, photography – you name it and there it was! There was a potter displaying his skill on the wheel and inviting us spectators to try our hand at it!

And I got to see some more installations…one called ‘Corruptus’ – that featured a horde of immaculately dressed white terracotta figures of politicians saluting a Flag that was a 100-rupee note! We were laughing out loud, it was so on the spot 😛

The Corruptus Republic!

Then there was an ancient Ambassador car (remember those?), glittering all over with 1-rupee coins.

A turtle representative of defense strategy for humans…it’s body made of white marble slabs and each turtle limb replaced by organs representing one of the 5 human senses – an eye, an ear, a mouth, a nose, a hand and a foot! Rather a cool concept I thought 🙂

Another interesting installation was a coffin and cell phone combo that highlighted the obvious dangers of talking and driving at the same time!

And at the entrance, a large 3-D Display titled ‘Dhanda’ (Hindi slang for ‘Business’, although used mostly for notorious & seedy businesses associated with the underworld, prostitution, gambling etc.), a word that stands for the seamier side of this city of Dreams.

After a quick, delicious lunch of pasta and mushroom-stuffed brioches, I had to leave. I love the ‘feel’ and ‘energy’ of such an event, which gives us inhabitants a chance to amble along without fear of being run over while soaking ourselves in Art and its interpretation by fellow Mumbaiites! An interesting, enjoyable experience that I highly recommend to one and all and that I will look forward to next year 🙂

Related articles

• Kala Ghoda Arts Festival – I (crazygoangirl.wordpress.com)
• Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2012 (zainabattari14.wordpress.com)
• Audience sway to tunes of musicians at Mumbai art festival (indiavision.com)
• Kala Ghoda Arts Festival Crowdsources For ‘Capturing Change’ (lighthouseinsights.in)
• 3rd Kala Ghoda Wine Festival 2013 (gigglewater411.com)
• Kala Ghoda Kids Lit Fest (prathambooks.org)