Can we mount a Kolam Exhibition on a mada veedhi in Mylapore and make it a huge attraction?
This is an idea that played on our mind when cycles, bikes, cars and tourist buses were allowed to run over 113 kolams on North Mada Street once the kolam competition was over last Sunday evening.
The Mylapore Traffic Police did not hustle us but they were under pressure. Demands from frenzied shoppers and impatient motorists who wondered why a kolam fest was held on a road.
In a jiffy, a number of fantastic designs had been smudged. Only a few remained intact when we walked down the mada veedhi later that night to relook at the displays and let our ideas spin.
And then it struck me – could we mount a Kolam Exhibition here next year and make this space special in the time of margazhi.
Barricade one half of the road, allow people to draw kolams at anytime till as late as 10 p.m., mount special lights to floodlight this space and invite the people of this city to enjoy the spectacle.
After all, the kolams are at the centre of the annual Mylapore Festival which is sponsored by Sundaram Finance and they need to be centre stage as ever.
The event deserves the stage. We get people from Aynavaram and Mogappair, kids from ‘Mangollai’ and men from Mambalam who stretch themselves to showcase their best on this veedhi so it would be but proper to think of ways to turn this into a weekend exhibition without inconveniencing Mylaporeans.
If you too have ideas on this, share it with us – at mylaporefestival@yahoo.com
One positive aspect about this Festival is its ability to get inclusive.
Over the years, we have been able to accommodate the women who set up tiffin stalls, the narikuravas from Thiruvanmiyur who park their carts showcasing chains made of beads and nomadic toy-sellers who now have to peddle plastic goods from another land.
These people also add to the colour of such a Fest.
A decade ago we floated a kolam contest which required the judges to go to the door-step of every house that registered.
Today, that event has a life of its own.
If you missed it, enjoy the pictures and videos at www.mylaporefestival.com
This is an idea that played on our mind when cycles, bikes, cars and tourist buses were allowed to run over 113 kolams on North Mada Street once the kolam competition was over last Sunday evening.
The Mylapore Traffic Police did not hustle us but they were under pressure. Demands from frenzied shoppers and impatient motorists who wondered why a kolam fest was held on a road.
In a jiffy, a number of fantastic designs had been smudged. Only a few remained intact when we walked down the mada veedhi later that night to relook at the displays and let our ideas spin.
And then it struck me – could we mount a Kolam Exhibition here next year and make this space special in the time of margazhi.
Barricade one half of the road, allow people to draw kolams at anytime till as late as 10 p.m., mount special lights to floodlight this space and invite the people of this city to enjoy the spectacle.
After all, the kolams are at the centre of the annual Mylapore Festival which is sponsored by Sundaram Finance and they need to be centre stage as ever.
The event deserves the stage. We get people from Aynavaram and Mogappair, kids from ‘Mangollai’ and men from Mambalam who stretch themselves to showcase their best on this veedhi so it would be but proper to think of ways to turn this into a weekend exhibition without inconveniencing Mylaporeans.
If you too have ideas on this, share it with us – at mylaporefestival@yahoo.com
One positive aspect about this Festival is its ability to get inclusive.
Over the years, we have been able to accommodate the women who set up tiffin stalls, the narikuravas from Thiruvanmiyur who park their carts showcasing chains made of beads and nomadic toy-sellers who now have to peddle plastic goods from another land.
These people also add to the colour of such a Fest.
A decade ago we floated a kolam contest which required the judges to go to the door-step of every house that registered.
Today, that event has a life of its own.
If you missed it, enjoy the pictures and videos at www.mylaporefestival.com
1 comment:
Hi Vincent,
I have always read your articles with interest. Request you write one topic on Journalistic ethics so that young Journalists might imbibe that.
Thanks,
Sriram
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