Art for the soul

art 1

Wishing  all of you a  very happy and happening 2015. And heartfelt thanks for being regular followers of my blog and giving valuable feedback. It has been a very productive blogging year for me and something which gives me immense pleasure, so thanks again for making it happen.

Any form of art has always fascinated me. To do something which affects another other person’s life positively is exhilarating. I mean, we as doctors, try to do it on a regular basis. An illness has a well defined symptomatology, a specific set of diagnostic procedures and finally a text book prescribed treatment. We do tweak the treatment a little based on the individual patient, but we rarely do anything out of the box. But yet, when the patient goes home fine, we feel a sense of pleasure that makes us go on for hours without getting tired. Therefore, I always was fascinated by artists, who can create the same magic, or weave dreams and cause the same effect on a large mass of people with something innovative, new and never thought of before concept. It may be a good book, a new movie, some music or a painting. The way of thinking is so unique that the simplest of the things can transform into something magical.

It is said that great art forms happen when the artist works for himself and not for the masses. When his art is pure, passionate and honest. When it is an expression of what the artist is feeling and what he wants to say to the world. By which, it makes art the only thing where something done for purely selfish purposes gives someone else great amount of solace and pleasure! Strange, isnt it?

This year, one of my new year resolutions was to pursue and attend events which have always been on my wish list but always procrastinated! There are a lot of these, owing to work, kids and a million other things.

And the first in the to do list was to attend Chitra Santhe in Bangalore.

For the uninitiated, Chitra santhe is a programme put up by the famous Chitra Kala Parishat in Bangalore.Chitra kala parishat(CKP) is   is an art institution and cultural organisation located in the city ofBangalore, in the state of Karnataka.Its main aim is the promotion of art and culture and it is well known for the various art exhibitions that it conducts both at the state and the National levels. It has very many museums and has the distinction of having paintings of Himalayas by the famous Nicholas Roerich on permanent display(these were donated by the artists son). The institution also has an academic structure where various subjects like visual arts, direction etc are taught.

The best part about it is the ambiance. Even though it is located right in the center of Bangalore, once you enter the campus, the noise of the traffic fades away. There is a large banyan tree encompassing a huge part of the campus below which you invariably see someone or the other engrossed in painting or sketching.

Once a year, CKP hosts a fest where in artists from all over India can come and display their art around the campus and along a one kilometer stretch on the road. This year, we reached the campus quite early to avoid the crowds and found that there were many more who had probably had the same idea! The place was teeming with people and artists. All things art were on display. It was a visual feast.

A few glimpses of chitra santhe:

cloth paintings on display


i liked these best. marker on acrylic by an artist called sunil from bangalore
the center piece
kids coloring away for a competition in the midst of the santhe
kids coloring away for a competition in the midst of the santhe
the banyan tree
the banyan tree
the young art enthusiast
the young art enthusiast