What a day this has been! I guess I haven't had so much fun in a looong looong time. I've been waiting for this day for the last three years but covid took away the joy this second Sunday of January usually brings. This is the day when our city has a street art festival. This is locally called Chitra sande (Art Market) and artisans from all across the country gather here for such a day as this. Most of the art displayed here represents the culture and the traditions of our country.
The hubs and I draw great inspiration from this market. The paintings, craft sculpture etc which are stacked on the roadside kindles our imagination and remains our muse all through the year. We missed this festival last year as I was still recovery from my surgery and I had been warned to avoid crowds at all cost.
The warning had been sounded this year as well but I decided that I will not live in fear. I equipped myself with a good mask and a bottle of sanitizer and off we went. I guess this is something I really don't want to miss for anything in the world. However, getting here early through the infamous Bangalore traffic is next to impossible.
The art market is organized by the state art school. It is meant to be a motivation for students and upcoming artist to display their paintings and other artworks on the streets surrounding the art school. If you get here early you get to see the best of the artwork before they are grabbed by big business houses, hotels and the who's who in the country. I guess we did miss out on the best painting as we reached only around 9.30 a.m.
It is a four to five kilometer stretch and no vehicles are allowed. We need to walk the entire stretch since the art, crafts and painting are displayed on the road, I mean it. I make sure that I get to this place early each time I go there to avoid the milling crowds. Actually truth be told there is no way you can avoid the crowds but you can manage to walk and see the displays in peace at least in the early hours of the day before the entire city gets here.
The roads are lined by trees and this place is close to the golf course, so it is a very pretty place to take a walk on anytime of the year. You never feel the heat of the sun. Since it is still early January the weather here is very pleasant during the day. It however took us about 7 hours to cover the distance. Each painting is worth a second look and it does take us this kind of time.
We met some women from a state called Rajasthan who were trying to sell me some hair bands LOL. We had some fun and I took pictures of them promising them that I would post them on the internet. These lovely women were so thrilled with the very prospect that people from all over the world would see them. Their cheerful countenance and amusing conversation was enough to make my day.
There was this pretty girl selling baskets who kind of charmed people with the way she spoke and carried herself although the rates she quoted were just over the roof. Although I wanted to buy a couple of baskets I didn't think it was within my budget to do so. Although my son had asked me to send him the bill for any paintings I bought, the hubs went ahead and footed the bill. I didn't want to take advantage of my son's generous offer so I decided to buy a painting instead of a basket although a painting costed me eight times more.
The hubs and I had carried some refreshments for our little art picnic. So we had some juice and some cookies to keep us going through the seven hours we were on our feet. It was really sad that we couldn't buy all the paintings we liked, I had just one in mind. The expectant look on the artists face and the disappointment when we moved away was so evident and it made us terribly sad.
We could have bought a couple of smaller paintings, but we have some of our own and there would be no space at home for all these as well. Ice-cream and sugar cane juice which I haven't tasted these in the last three years made me so happy. The little joys of life that have been rudely taken away from me seemed to be all served together in one platter today. The hubs indulged me in all these small things that I enjoy and I guess I made huge memories today.
We had so much fun, light banter, laughter and inspiration all packed into a matter of seven hours. I feel so light headed and fancy free now as I write this post so late into the night. Honestly it feels like a slice of my youth was given back to me today! Was it a sublime Sunday? It was sublime, beautiful, amazing, and exhilarating Sunday. I hope and pray for such exciting days in the future.
The painting I finally bought. A perfect fit for my room.
If you got here thank you for your time and your support. I hope you enjoyed this beautiful Sunday like I did. Do you like the painting I bought? Tell me in the comment section.