The Urban Society and joy of community work

Pic Credit- Nishant Deshpande

We have been painting with friends, acquaintances,strangers, families, schools and various communities but we had never got a chance to paint in any urban society.

The moment we think about an urban set up, we think about big flats and societies where no one knows who lives in the other flat. No one has any idea about what their neighbors do and What kind of people they are?

We also use to think like that as we never lived in any flat culture.

The painting in a society in Bangalore changed that perception for us and also for the people in that society. 

We have been to Bangalore before but couldn’t paint. This time also we were in Bangalore to have a good time and painting with people was not on the agenda initially but then we were staying with another wonderful family- The Trio of Abeer-Vatsla-Swapnil.

The moment we reached Bangalore, our host Vatsala and Swapnil wanted us to involve and do something in Bangalore and as you know (those who have been following artologue) we get excited with any prospect of painting with people.

Then whatsapp came to the rescue. Our host Vatsala sent some messages to her society whatsapp group and few other groups.

We don’t know what Vatsala wrote in these message, She got a response within an hour and her society wanted us to paint on a saturday.

The ladies of the society

Meanwhile another art school Art-Beat in Bangalore checked our website and invited us to meet and discuss the possibility of working with us.

So it was decided to get the work done on a Saturday morning. The community bought the colors as we were not traveling with colors this time. 

Jey had a small chat with the excited kids of the society and asked about what do they think when they think about community work. 

Someone said Monkey…Someone said Elephant and then a very shy girl said Ants…..and she explained that ants work together and they don’t fight like monkeys. At that point we got the idea for the painting.

Since the space was a play area we decided to paint ants playing different games. 

Meenakshi did the outlines and kids picked up colors and started filling it up even before we can decided which colors to fill in which ant.

Then Jey had to control the little ones by painting their hands and getting hand prints for the background. Once the little ones are engaged the elders came and willingly painted. 

So a former army person, a software engineer, few start up entrepreneurs were painting together on that wall. 

We don’t remember all the names as of now but we vividly remember the lady who is a former army person. She was diligently coloring the ants and she stayed till last doing the most delicate and important work of making the outlines.

At that point our host Swapnil told us about her army background. Another person whom we remember and like to thank from the bottom of our heart is Nishant Deshpande who came and clicked pictures though out. 

All the pictures in this article are by Nishant Deshpande and what an eye he has for the shots.

When we were nearing the end of the work another couple came who were celebrating Eid on the Saturday and they also decided to make a design which filled our heart with joy. On their festive day they decided to get some time for art is heart touching for us. The lady promised to bring some Sewaiyan for us and she did get delicious Sewaiyan before we left Bangalore on Monday.

It was a great Eid gift for us. Back home at our guest’s place, we were about to enter a Eid Feast. The two muslim ladies Who worked at our host’s home brought biryani, pulao, Gulab jamun and Sewaiyan and many other things for us to eat.

Another neighbor of Vatsala came during our lunch and brought Pickles.

Eid couldn’t have been better than this. To top it all in the evening another neighbor of our host invited us to their home to eat fish and some wine. The evening spent with Rahul Jhamb was a delight as we get into talking about books books and books.

The day was well spent. We did some good painting. Got engaged with people and realized a community is made by people. Whether they lived in a flat or a bungalow if they want to engage with others..they can have a lively community.

We will write another blog about our wonderful hosts in Bangalore and the work we did in Art beat but for the moment we are moving ahead to auroville to do our next work.