Kalaghoda workshop 'Eat, Write, love'

“Eat, write, love” conducted by Rushina Ghildiya during Kalaghoda festival was interesting and promising workshop that I wouldn’t want to miss. Having a wedding in the family had kind of tied me up with shopping and visit to tailors, but somehow I excused myself from other important things, (postponing it to some other day) and I managed to attend two-day workshop on food-writing during the morning hours from 11am to 4pm.

And I was glad that I did.

During the two day workshop I learnt about the different literature/cookbooks that are available in the market and how I could make my contribution to new frontiers of food writing.

Food writing is basically an art of writing in such a way that it creates enough desire in the person to go out and taste the food. It could be by reporting, writing memoirs, history or review, but all food articles place importance on preparation, consumption, nutritional values and recipes.

Rushina spoke about her experience as a published food writer, giving us great tips on the type of articles that find their way into print, giving us pointers which could be expressed through food news, travel stories, trends, essays, product review, restaurant review or interviews. She suggested that we maintain a diary of taste which could list the flavor of particular food with defining words that could make our writings interesting.

What was fascinating about this workshop was that we actually got to eat some of the food stuff and the painful part of this workshop was the assignment after tasting the food. After a delicious meal, instead of stirring myself with food writing, I would rather sleep, er...well.... at least for some time... till all the juices have melted completely through my gullet into my tummy. no?

On the day one, she brought food stuff like kafir leaves, Kafier lime, heart of palm and yellow and pink dragon fruits.

I picked up the dark green, round fruit, probably a close cousin to our Indian lime but with rough body and distinct nipple at the stem end. As I dug my nails into the Kafier lime, there was high concentration of aromatic oil, whose fragrance seeped through my nostril reeling me to heady nostalgia about my Bangkok trip where almost all the traditional food have this flavor, in soups, in fish recipes and in red/green curry. Unlike our Indian lime, this kafier lime was dry and had no juice at all, but its rind could be used in most of the recipes.

There was another plate of ‘heart of palm’ an ivory round slab which she had cut into small pieces for us to taste. It was delicate in flavor, had a kind of sweet and nutty taste. The plate was kept close to where I was sitting and I picked up quite a few pieces, savoring it during next one hour of the session.

Dragon fruit which I would never buy from any market since I would never know what I would find inside was a pleasant surprise. It turned out to be a relative of our Kiwi fruit that I have enjoyed so many times, but while Kiwi is sourer, this one was sweeter and tastier. There was pink and yellow dragon fruit but I liked the pink one which was much sweeter than the yellow bland one.

Rushina made a salad from all these three ingredients adding salt, red chilly powder and lime juice. Our assignment was to write a small paragraph on these ingredients.

Some of those present did complete the assignment, writing about the food stuff and whatever it inspired them to write and they read it for every one’s benefit. Great talent there!

At the end of the session we got to try some pastries and macaroon which we had to write again, but like I said earlier, I digest everything……hahaha!

The day two of this workshop was on serious writing. Rushina gave us more information of different cuisine books available online and the kind of style and content on food writing that one could use and how one could benefit from this literature to augment our-day-to-day writing.

The interesting part again.. what else?? ..yeah eating

Godrej Nature Basket, my favorite super store where I normally do my weekly food shopping, has generously shared a variety of chilly (my favorite ingredient that I cannot do without) products from around the world for us to try.

And thus began our tasting session…

Nori Japanese seaweeds coated with chilly flavor were wafer thin dark greenish strips with a fishy smell. It had a crisp texture and a sweet, slightly salty and pungent taste, I have tasted these seaweed strips wounded over Shushi but having them as a snack was good too.

Next was the mayonnaise with Mexican jalapenos ‘La Costena Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce’. This made the beautiful combination with mayonnaise with crunchy smoked, red peppers and the sour taste of vinegar and tomato sauce.

Harissa (Morrocan chili sauce)The sweet chilli paste with aniseeds and ginger tasted like the Indian version of sweet chutney which reminded me of the sauce that mom would make during my growing up years. It had Indian spices and could be enjoyed best with Indian rotis or puri. We could also use it for stir fries for rich flavors. (pssss! on my next visit, I might buy one)

Lemnos Sweet Chili Cream Cheese had a crunchy taste of capsicum and I was mentally making a notes of must-do-shopping-of-this-product-for-quick-food-snack-days

Lindt dark chocolate had a chilly flavor for a change. It has unique and sophisticated taste. At first it was just sweet but the chilly flavor creeps in as soon as the chocolate has melted in your mouth giving it warm and chilled finish to your palette.

It was a fiery afternoon with so many varieties of chillies from all over the world, most of them I had tried during my travels but had never heard of chilly chocolate…have you?

Sniff! Sniff!

I needed a tissue.

And then it was time to write an assignment…tough part but some of the writers in the group surprised us with their most descriptive memoirs that they were inspired to write after eating so many chillies.

Me, I collected lots of ideas by just listening to their ranting…thinking of becoming a food writer…maybe I should try……some day.

Day out at 'Kala Ghoda Festival'

After lunch, my friends and I headed towards south Mumbai to experience ‘Kala Ghoda Festival’. Being last day of the 10-day-Festival, it was too crowded and we kept getting lost into the crowd. It was like every thirty minutes we would call on our mobile to find each other. We all had different interests and while I spend most of my time shooting the pictures, my friends were more interested in shopping knick knacks or eating. Somewhat, not only do the art in any form attracts me but even the artist at work. This man worked skillfully on sculpture of a man, I moved closer to see this artist shape a strip of plywood There were also some children learning Warli painting for Rs100, they had made cute greeting cards. There was a big crowd near the stage where there were different performers at different times, there was music playing all the time and everyone could be seen shaking their heads and tapping their feet. We stopped there to have a cup of coffee. And there was bigger crowd at food stalls, Imagine a Pani Puri for Rs35. I get better Pani Puri in my lane for just Rs12! How they loot public at the fairs! There were kiosks where they abused political trouble makers And others that abused their own government for bad sanitation in the country Children enjoyed the story telling session at BHNS auditorium And towards the evening, I enjoyed the performance poetry at Sassoon Library, which was the nodal point for literature and poetry. It was a very tiring day though fun, fun, fun!

RIP

The memory of Kalagoda fiesta lingers The show comes to an end. The Panel discussion and Coffee meetings With workshops at different stands I loved the gallery and pavement shows Concerts, film, theatre, and performing dance The lively festival with heritage walks. Oh! There were too many events, And so little, limited time It was all over in a passing glance But Me I want to sit on a Black Horse To gallop with a silence band…….. Puff! Puff! Puff! Me Quite tired! All good things, like always Have come to an end…

The last day of the KGAF

was the day, when there were too many interesting events happening everywhere, and if I had some magic powers, I would have loved to attend them all. But unfortunately, I had to tick off many events to be able to attend a few of them. I attended only those which I could fit into my limited capacity of endurance. Sigh! There were many films showing at different venues. I was most interested in watching the film that was specially made for KGAF by celebrities like Anu Tandon, Brinda Miller, Soni Razdan, Sangita Jindal, Bandana Tiwari, Ayaz menon and Tony Singh. These were the set of short film with a common theme of the state of affairs in India after sixty years. It was amusing to watch the ‘Never Ending Story’ where people continued to watch the serial “Saas Bhi Kabbi Bahu Thi” even after sixty years. Also, I liked the one in which the world is ruled by Bollywood. There will be Hollywood stars dancing and acting in Indian film and all the Hollywood film plagiarize Bollywood stories. Later I headed towards David Sassoon Library Garden to spend the rest of the evening watching some interesting events that included discussion on ‘Graphic Story Telling’ and ‘Poetry Slam’. The theme at ‘Poetry Slam’ was ‘Name, Place, Animal, Thing’ All the participants were very talented and it must have been very difficult for the judges to score them. Towards the end of the show, I got my (own) two-minutes-fame, when I got to read my children’s story about cloud and wind called ‘Badli and Windy’. I had created this story during work-shop on ‘Writing for Children’ and it had some how reached the finals.

Workshop at Muse Boutique....

Muse Boutique was the venue for the workshop on ‘Getting Published’. Tucked away in the narrow by-lane behind Rhythm House, I reached there after inquiring about its location from several paanwallahs. In the interior, surrounded by books, artifacts and a pleasant ambience, I learnt the secrets of ‘The Ten Commandments of Publishing World, the role of a literary agents and the fine prints of a book contract’. While Anita Roy spoke about publishing in a real world, we had Vikram Chauhan enlightening us on publishing a book in a virtual world. Vikram Chauhan hosts a site called ‘If I Were A Book.com’ where everybody has the right to express themselves by publishing their book. Currently, book publishing is a long and difficult process. So 'If I Were A Book.com' has made book publishing instant, easy and free! It is a site where you can post content of your blog which you feel is book worthy or your manuscript on 'If I Were A Book.com' and watch it instantly take the shape of a book! It is a good medium to get noticed by different publishers and knock off those long walks to different publishers for release of your work. This is the place where the only thing that matters is that you can express yourself by publishing your own book! Late evening at David Sassoon Garden, surrounded by cool breeze of winter winds, I enjoyed an evening of multi-lingual poetry about Mumbai, that were recited by some well-known and published poets.

Richie Rich, Poorly Poor!

On a more serious note, while the kids at KGAF are having a wonderful time, painting, drawing and attending all the workshops on Clay modeling, Calligraphy and other art activities, there are other kids that I see in a local train, on my way towards the venue, which are not so fortunate. I see this child, barely seven year old, making a living out of selling the crumbled roses to the passengers in the train. I ask him, ‘Don’t you want to study? Do you wish to go to school?’ and he growls at me as though I am speaking some gibberish words. At another station, I see this 10 year old, who has been brutally abused (there are deep knife-cuts on his face and neck and his one finger is missing), I see him crying with pain as he walk slowly down the aisle, begging for alms. Are they aware that they, too, could enjoy those activities and that, those art and craft activities are free for all, rich and poor. On the streets of Kala Ghoda, I see group of kids performing those street shows of walking on a tight rope accompanied by the group of musician kids, and yet another pair of street kids, who ask for water from a street-side-stall but they are being chased away. ‘Surf Excel’ sponsors of the children's activities, promise to remove the stain off the clothes, but the children with real stain of poverty and dirty clothes are not inside the ring.

Recitals at NGMA are superb!

Today, 7th February, my friend tells me not to come to KGAF because there is a taxi strike and the fear of riots haunts me once more. The taxis are protesting against the damage that was done to their taxis during the riots and they are demanding a police protection. However, it ended quickly, and I decide to meet my friends at NGMA Auditorium for 5pm performance. We reach there at 5pm, only to be told that the show has been cancelled. But fortunately, there is a next show, ‘Alyque Padamsee, Gary Richardson and The Mad Horses’, to begin at 6pm and we decide to attend that one. This is the best show that I have ever watched in years! It is a bouquet of five recitals, and five different Shakespearean plays performed by talented stage artists like Alyque Padamsee, Shazehn Padamsee, Gaurav Chopra, Aparna Tilak, Madhuri Bathia, Cyndy Khozol and Gary Richardson. The show starts with a ‘Tantric’ music, and we, in the audience, are asked to close our eyes and experience the rhythm of the 'Shloks recitals' at the beat of tabla and sitar. This is followed by interactive play, whereby the audience has to decide the ending of a play. The one and half hours tick by quickly, as we are engrossed in their powerful expressions, from one recital to another, and we are immersed into their make-believe world, smiling with them, and mouthing their lines. Later in the evening, after a brief stop at the Sassoon Library Garden, (my favorite venue to chill out), we head toward Khyber, a cozy restaurant across the street. Over the spoonful of meals, my writer-friends and I, exchange notes on theatre, drama and speech for the younger kids.

Photography workshop was good.......

After being assured that it was safe to go to South Mumbai, I went to KGAF at 4pm, just in time to attend the second session of photography workshop by David D’Souza at BNHS. I had not attended the first session, because it was clashing with my other workshop. But on a recap, I was able to catch up with what I had missed. It was quite an interesting workshop with David’s animated postures that kept us in splits. He spoke about the creativity that was important in the photography and our lack of it, was mainly due to our fear. A creative person reflects the environment. We don’t ‘take’ photographs, we ‘make’ them and we can develop the spontaneity by training our eye-muscle to coordinate with our finger and instinct and produce a good photograph. Initially, during the first session, he had given the assignment to the participants, of going around the city and taking some shots. At this second session, we saw the pictures that some of them had clicked and we discussed the flaws and plus points of each photograph. All the pictures were discussed in great details and it was quite informative. I edited this picture that I had clicked the previous day. and Later, during the evening, I headed towards the David Sassoon Library Garden, where the discussion on ‘Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender writing in India’ was in its last segment. I missed this discussion, but I was able to attend the next two sessions, ‘The War of the Words: Science Fiction and Fantasy’ which was moderated by Devanshu Datta and ‘Getting Published: All sides of the Story’ which the moderated by Sriram, who was sitting for Urvashi. Urvasi Butalia, who was to moderate this discussion, was not able to reach Mumbai because of bad weather, but she took part in this discussion on a phone call (that’s the technology for us) We had Kavita Banot, a literary agent, discussing about her role in the writer’s world and how it will help writers in the publishing world, but Urvasi, in her phone conversation said, that she did not like to deal with literary agents because of their pushy nature. There were more discussions on payments, pricing of the book and the rights of the author. Since the literary program was running late, the last two programs ‘Open Mike’ and ‘Open Screen’ had to be chopped off. Unfortunately! Sigh!

During my first two days of KGAF,

I attended two workshops, Kavita Roa"s "An Introduction to Freelance Journalism" and "Once Upon a Time - Writing for Children", by Jane Bhandari and Marilyn Noronha and both were very informative and useful to me. But, there was a gap of two hours between the two workshop, and there was enough time to have lunch and move around, exploring the other events that were taking place around different avenues. Although I am clumsy at making new friends, I was able to link up with few friends who were willing to walk with me at my slow pace. We had lunch at famous ‘Samovar’ and then decided to explore. The walk between the two venues of my workshop, at K.Dubash Marg, (Rampart row) was converted into a street bazaar with stalls of handicraft and food, lining down the two sides of this street. There were NGO stalls vending various articles like handicraft, antiques, paintings and different accessories. In the middle of this street was an amphitheatre, which had some interesting shows, throughout the day. There were different programs organized at this theatre that included shows such as folk dance of Tibet, Miracle dance contest, Capoeria, Samvrate-Manipuri Dance Ballet, Nitryamandal Dance Ensemble and Chana chai Nukkad Natak. ‘Muse fashion show’, was the only program that I was able to squeeze in between my two workshops. But yes. I did watch the street show that was being performed by one family that included mom, dad and lots of children. One group of children played dholak and other musical instruments, while one child walked on a tight rope, and the girl lifted heavy brick that was hung from her plait. (So much for the child labor! UGH!) I couldn’t bear to watch this show and seeing the child abused. There were more events in the evening at David Sasson Library Garden, but I didn’t want to push myself too hard, so while my friends went off to enjoy the rest of the evening, I retreated back to my comfy cocoon.

I am fascinated by Pavement Art Gallery

Visual art is one of the high point of KGAF. On the pavement just outside the Jahangir Art Gallery is the Pavement Gallery where there is display of different kinds of art that includes paintings, graffiti, and wearable art by various artists. There are paintings and posters displayed all along the path on the payments outside the Gallery. I can see different artists sitting there, doodling, caricaturing or live-painting the picture of the passing pedestrian. One particular art that draws my attention is ‘De-Addiction’ that is installed by ‘Art Quest’. In this exhibition there are live-size models of paper Mache that exhibit different form of addiction such as drinking, smoking, drugs and gambling. The couch potatoes and shopper’s delight is also quite interesting with their bright colors and their social message of addiction and bad vices, which are very boldly displayed, and draws in a huge crowd of art lovers.

Looking for a 'Black Horse' at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival

Okay! I am all set to attend ‘Kala Ghoda Arts Festival’ which is starting tomorrow, 2nd February 2008. There are 12 workshops clustered around two weekends in such a way that it is possible to attend only four. I had applied for four workshops. I have got confirmation for three workshops so far, and am still awaiting the fourth one. The workshops that I have been confirmed and attending are ‘An Introduction to Freelance writing’ which will be conducted by ‘Kavita Roa from 1030 hrs to 1230 hrs at Elphinston College seminar room on 2nd and 3rd Feb ‘Once Upon a Time - Writing for Children’ by Jane Bhandari and Marilyn Noronha from 1430 hrs to 1630 hrs at Bombay Auditorium History Society Auditorium on 2nd and 3rd Feb ‘What Every Writer should know about Publishing’ by Anita Roy from 1330 hrs to 1630 hrs at Bombay Auditorium History Society Auditorium on 9th and 10th Feb There are five writing contest also, of which I have just attempted one contest only. Then I plan to attend some open events and poetry slams too. My attendance to this festival will depend on my endurance and moods. The whole list of event are posted HERE