amby valley visuals

Today morning during my walk in the neighbourhood, I saw a very pleasant sight. A man, in his bermuda, bringing the car out , cleaning it including spraying some deodourant .He was hovering around the car, checking it everything was just so. I saw the lady walk out of the house, with a handbag and lunch bag and comfortably get into the car and drive off.
Flash back in time a couple of decades. The man of the house is busy getting ready to go to work and creates a massive commotion in doing so. He orders his wife for the breakfast which is not yet ready, his purse, office keys or tie or what have you. She submissively runs around and gets his stuff and he starts off for work on his bajaj scooter.
Times change, cooler tempers and characters exchange roles.

Amby valley, Lonavla

Discovered a new place this time, as a venue for a business meet. Lonavla is fairly well known and it is a dream destination, more so at this time of the year. Though I have lived in Pune for a couple of years and passed by Lonavla a number of times, i never had a chance to be there for a couple of days.
Hence i jumped at the opportunity.The exact location was amby valley city. Yes, it is a 10,000 acre township owned by Sahara group. It also boasts of a helipad.It is more than 25 kilometres from Lonavla and regular signboards guide you to the amby valley city, make no mistake.
The table top mountains looked quite barren and shorn of any vegetation. I was imagining my next visit here during or soon after monsoon. The whole place will have a mesmeric appeal.The weather was pleasant with a slight chill in the air.
The site office is itself a massive affair, almost like a state headquarters.There were heavy security arrangements as you enter the city. The reception committee consisted of a group of turban clad artists with noisy instruments, which created a massive racket!
We were assigned a city vehicle and an escort to reach our 'tent'. It was easily five or six kilometres into the city and we reached a 'site reception area'. We were transferred to a third vehicle and made a small detour of the flat terrain on which massive tents were lined like a frontier base station.
The interiors were quite swanky and comfortable, thank you.
Nights are the best time to spend there, with inky black surroundings and the starlit sky like a svarovsky dome sparkling away. I was remembering the time in Mudukkur, a number of years back, where we could lie down and see the entire stellar constellations blinking at us back.
Dinner was in the open terrace and one did not relish the food, as the eyes were feasting enough.Lost our way back from the dinner place, as all the steps were leading to nowhere and we finally realised that the only way to get down to our rooms is to go up!children would have unlimited entertainment here going up and down myriad steps like a snake and ladder game.
If this location was beautiful, the next day dinner was arranged by the lakeside and it was still better. The lake was huge and had the backdrop of hills.Fountains were spraying myriad colours into the sky and the mountains were silhoutted .I was strugglig to cope with all the beauty around and suddenly found an entire flock of sparkling white swans gracefully walking away from the waters towards the lawns.Dinner was a washout as i had truly lost my appetite.
The late evening drive back to Lonavla and then Mumbai was a perfect end to a dream destination.The entire canvas of sky was painted in bold strokes of ever so many shades of deep red and orange and purple and deep purple and then night hawk black was specially got up for our benefit!

Kalakshetra

Kalakshetra

A perfect new year eve programme was organized by Kalakshetra in their auditorium.
Koormavataram was a dance recital by their students. I have not witnessed this particular production, though some of their other productions I have seen them more than once.
The entire package is worth experiencing; the location is away from the crowds, tucked away beyond thiruvanmiyur in a vast expanse; the auditorium is a typical kerala style architecture and brings with it its own aura of sanctity and reverence for art; the students who are receiving you do so with lot of finesse and style; everything is classy and understated;the audience invariably exude appreciation of art, music and dance in its pure form; a small outlet selling their kalamkari paintings and a few publications completes the picture.
The musician plays a very strong role in all their productions including significant use of the flute.The performers dress in typical kalakshetra style; nothing jazzy and jarring the senses, but very ethnic and aqccessories are usually custom made ;cotton outfits with vegetable dyes are predominant ; make up is just right without obstructing the fleeting emotions that are depicted by the artists.Nothing elaborate about sets on the stage; it is simplistic and a lot is left to your imagination.
The production as such is exquisite where one can witness the attention to detail and absolute commitment in its execution.It is very obvious that the teachers and students there are in it for their passion for this art.One can see really fluid movements and that elusive thing called ‘kalakshetra bhani’.Nothing distracts the viewer from being focused on the artists and the simple story that they are conveying to the audience.
I was quite overwhelmed with the dance recital, that basic questions on relevance of art, why artists take so much effort in conveying through various forms, the role of the interested audience and what they are seeking, the wonderful puranas that are part of Hinduism which add the drama and depth to the entire production were all sweeping over me.
The programme got over and I was reluctantly coming out of the spell.Kumar and me did not utter a word and were slowly walking towards the car.The calm soothing glow of moonlight shining on the bushes and the almost silent campus were the perfect finish to a glorious evening.