A ho-hum Habba

A ho-hum Habba

Are we too caught up in our daily rat race to pay attention to the much-touted Bangalore Habba?
The Hindu

SPORTY Children are largely absent from the bash thanks to looming exams

Whatever be the noble intentions of the organisers of the Bangalore Habba, it doesn't have the same cohesive spirit of last year. The events seem scattered, though the idea may be to have them localised in residential areas. While the music and dance events have been received well, newer elements haven't found many takers. While the fact that a large number of artistes from the city have been incorporated into the festival has placated any possible protests, many are ignoring them for the same reason — that they are "anyway from here only".

It's in a random "passer-by" sense that people are approaching the Habba, not with that vigorous possessiveness one associates with a city's own cultural festival. It's something that you go to after work, that you want to "check out" on weekends. Not with that curiosity for the new and the different. Maybe it's just the minuscule attention span and a general apathy that pervades today's urbanite. Moreover it is exam time for most kids in the city, keeping the younger generation that needs to be soaking in all this, away from the Habba.

A section of participating artistes is troubled by a lack of coordination amongst those involved with the various events.

Deepak S., theatre person who works with VOICES, a non-governmental organisation, and who organises workshops for children from poor socio-economic backgrounds, had some trouble convincing the manager of a coffee chain that his wards too were part of the Habba performers. When he and his troupe of children (aged around 10 years) went to perform in front of the coffee outlet in Indiranagar on the first day, the manager asked them to go away saying they were causing "public nuisance". He finally let them perform in front of the outlet after he came to know that the troupe had a letter from the Habba authorities. The same troupe then went to perform in front of another branch of the café on 12th Main. "I decided to seek the manager's permission before asking the children to begin their performance," said Deepak.

However, the manager asked the troupe to perform on the other side of the street, where there were no streetlights. "We began our performance at around 7.30 p.m. The children had to scream on top of their voices as the manager refused to turn down the music that was playing in the outlet," he said. "The worst part was that both the managers did not know the coffee chain was sponsoring the Bangalore Habba." The coffee chain managers were unavailable for comment.

When a troupe of disabled children wanted to perform in front of Shivajinagar Bus Station, near Bowring Hospital, the police allegedly assaulted an artiste.

Sources at a theatre group participating in the Habba said though the artistes had permission letters from the Habba authorities and the police, there seemed to have been a major communication problem. Dancer Padmini Ravi, who along with Nandini Alva, has organised the event said: "These were stray incidents that happened on the first day. Though we had the permission letters from the police, the volunteers did not have them at the site. With regard to the incident at the coffee outlet, the management may have forgotten to inform them about the performance. Nothing of that sort has happened again, as we are being extra cautious."

Though local artistes are grateful for the Habba providing them space to perform free of cost, many felt that the public is unresponsive. When a rural street theatre troupe performed on M.G. Road, the artistes were dejected as they were not "clicking with the urban audience".

"This is an event that has been organised to promote the performing arts. People should encourage artistes. They should participate and respond," said Deepak.

The Adventure Maze

Swinging tyres, obstacle races, walls to climb, and bridges to build. That was the whole idea of the Adventure Maze at the Bangalore Habba — to infuse a spirit of teamwork and adventure among youngsters of today. But the whole affair has been low-key and a non-affair because hardly anyone knew of this event. Elaborate equipment was set up but things got off to a watery start on Sunday with rains playing spoilsport at the opening. Also, the event is badly timed as far as kids are concerned. Impending exams are keeping them away from all the tantalising spider webs, ropewalks and tree houses, admitted Habba representative Preethi.

Said K. Chandrashekhar Chowdaiah, CEO of Escape, adventure consultants who have organised the event for Habba: "Not many people know of the event. It's happening in the interiors of the Palace Grounds, so casual passers-by don't stroll in, out of curiosity either."

Moreover, these events have to be played in teams and at least two rival teams are required for the competition to start.

But where the kids lost out, those with the child in them freaked out. Read corporates. As of Tuesday, around five corporate groups had ventured through these activities that are a test of time management, leadership and trust. But even corporates are staying away from the event on weekdays and are opting for the coming weekend to participate. Shilpa Tyagi, from HCL Capital Market Services HR Department, had a whale of a time playing paintball combat with over 20 of her colleagues and family. "I liked constructing the Tarzan bridge too but the warfare scenario of the paintball-combat game was really fun. We wore masks and had to fire paintballs from semi-automatic rifles. We got splattered with paint all over."

Chandrashekhar said they want children to participate with parents, so families can take part free. Corporates are being charged Rs. 250 per head. The event is on from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Palace Grounds between Freeway 19 and Sheesh Mahal entrance (Bellary Road).

Faded magic

On Monday evening, Cubbon Park wore nothing of the festive look that the venue for a magic show should. Spanning across different stages along the walkway outside Bal Bhavan, the performance saw five different magicians, from Indushree R.'s ventriloquism to Prahlad Acharya's illusion and disappearing tricks. Although the performances had something of value to offer, the audience wasn't really buying.

For the first two performances, there were barely two or three dozen in the audience. Even though more trickled in, increasing the number to around 200, most were bystanders who had wandered in. Like Mahesh R., an engineer who turned up with son Arun, most of the people there had not heard about the event, but had simply wandered in and stayed on to watch the performance. Most were adults, and the intended audience, children, had very scarce representation in the meagre crowd.

According to one of the performers, the crowd just didn't seem interested in the performance. Her disappointment was also apparent on the stage, with the audience reluctant to participate with enthusiasm. As for applause, it was almost absent throughout the evening. Nothing seemed to get the audience excited, and every trick was being greeted by the same ennui. "If I had to rate this performance with others I've done," she said, "I wouldn't include it in the rating at all. This wasn't a very great show, as the audience wasn't interested," said the hapless performer.