One of the things that I enjoyed abroad but missed in Bangalore were fun events which were free. You just had to walk to the town centre and there would be music, theatre or dance being performed, a juggler displaying his talent, a man on stilts....you get the picture. Significant days would be celebrated by activities and treats for both kids and adults.
Now in Bangalore, I find myself ferrying Anya around from one such event to another. Sample this. In the last three months, we have been to:
- A magic show and a pet interaction session sponsored by an upcoming school. Anya also got to dance with her favorite cartoon characters, play games and paint to her heart's content.
- A story telling and puppet session at Kaikondrahalli lake.
- A brilliant play on Tenalirama by Bangalore Little Theatre on World Theatre Day.
- A bird and reptile census at Kaikondrahalli lake. (We spotted a mongoose, 8 toads and 2 newly hatched water snakes.)
- Cycle Day: I just visited this event with a friend. I didn't take Anya along this time but next time, she is surely going with me. It's an event organised on last Sunday of every month wherein cycles are rented for free. A stretch of road is cordoned off from traffic and made free for various activities. You can cycle a pre-planned stretch of a few kilometres and afterwards participate in traditional street games like pallankuzhi, hopscotch, skipping rope etc and various other activities. I was thrilled to bits to see games like ashta-changa and chippas drawn on the road. Some people were busy making a rangoli, others were drawing graffiti with chalk. There was a workshop on quilling, a slow cycling competition, endurance games, skateboarding.....you could try your hand at many things and there were volunteers to help you around. It was a morning very well spent and I missed Anya umpteen number of times. She would have loved cycling or making graffiti with chalk. Though there wasn't enough time to indulge in all activities, we managed to cycle, learn a little quilling, compete for slow cycling and try our hands( rather feet) at skateboarding.
Bangalore is happening and we are loving every bit of it!!
