When you design and execute a cultural festival in a neighbourhood, all kinds of people become your friends.
You make these friendships on the streets and lanes, in the temples and shops.
And they remain with you.
As yet another edition of the Sundaram Finance sponsored Mylapore Festival rolls on Thursday next ( Jan.6 to 9), I get to renew my ties with most of these people.
There is one person who will not be found in a familiar place.
Nagarajan used to be our godfather of sort on Pitchu Pillai Street where all our young, creative people set up shop and turn the street into an Art Street.
His quaint tiled Mylapore house was just the façade we needed for this street. Nagarajan lost a legal battle recently and had to vacate this place, so we won't have him there any more. But he has not stopped visiting the street that was his home for decades. And we hope he will give us all the help he has rendered these many years.
Lots of people love a festival.
So when we took a bunch of kids on a PhotoWalk on Christmas day, a family which owns a wonderful old house on the mada veedhis invited us in and let the kids enjoy their rosemilk from the world famous Kalathi shop in the corner.
Our longtime cyclerickshaw friends will also be with us, to take 10 people on a slow ride on the Heritage Tour of the area next Sunday.
Our friends who sell flowers and mangoes want to know when they need to shift their shops a bit to accommodate the chairs in front of the main stage.
There is more to a Fest than mere events and action.
People make it.
1 comment:
So much of love and warmth from local people. Feels nice to read about this people.
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