JOIN USEric Maisel once said that ‘creativity is not a talent of ability; it is the fruit of a person’s decision to matter’. Planning their desire together are the members of ‘Murmurs of the Metropolis’ who believe in churning out their creative passion about and for the city of Bengaluru.
Formed in June 2015, the club is the brainchild of Kusum Punjabi who moved from Mumbai. Being a writer herself, she wanted to join hands with the other creative artists in the city and express their thoughts on various topics.
Talking about the inception of the club, Swati Krishna Sharan, a photographer says, “Kusum and I were college friends and we’ve worked on various writing and photography projects together. When we both moved here from Mumbai, we wanted to continue doing what we used to do back there.”
“When I proposed this idea, Kusum came back with other like-minded people and decided to start this club.”
The team meets every Saturday at various locations like National Gallery of Modern Art or Dasaprakash hotel and brainstorm for ideas for their final show. “We come together and think about various ideas that everyone want to work on. After about 2 to 3 months, we display all our work in a show format for the other audiences,” says Mohan Ram, a theatre artiste.
So far, they’ve hosted 4 shows under the name ‘Bangalore Expresso’. Spanning out to a one and a half hour show, the team puts up performances in genres of plays, films, videos and poetry performances.
Mohan says, “One of the best things about being part of this group is that you get to meet various other creative artistes in the city. All of our skills are put together to bring out something new and creative every time we meet.”
During their weekly meet-ups, the team read excerpts from Peter Colaco's ‘Bangalore’ and have writing exercises. The members talk about the city, their experiences and memories here, how it used to be back in the day and how it’s changed over the years.
Ravi D’Abreo, the founder of Origami Creative Concepts Pvt Ltd, says, “The club’s main intension is to celebrate the city. The format that we use to celebrate is a go beyond how theater usually is — a play. We create a space where all art forms come together and talk about how one views the city.”
With 5 core members and 15 members as part of the group, ‘Murmurs of the Metropolis’ brings about a collective set of ideas. There is also no age bar to be a member of the club. At present, the youngest member in the team is 11 years old and is very enthusiastic to be part of the next project.
Nithya J Rao, a theatre artiste, says, “I’ve been part of every project they’ve hosted so far and it’s been great. I love how everyone has the freedom to add their inputs and no one is given any special treatment. The group is about us, our city and what we want to do with it — that’s exactly what we get to do here.”
And for those who aren’t good at certain other creative areas, they also get the freedom to experiment and showcase their work. The club focuses only to bring out new ideas even if the certain area they are working is not their forte.
Arun Bhat, an engineer, says, “I’ve been in charge of the light designs for the theatre programmes so far, but for the next edition, I’m hoping to delve into the literature world and see how good I can be at it. I am planning to write a play — the story line is in place, I have to start writing it down.”
Bringing together people from various backgrounds and professional lives, the club puts together their passion for the city in the best way they can. They only focus on putting their best foot forward and help each other out without any criticism. It’s only about constructive feedback.
(‘Murmurs of the Metropolis’ can be reached at www.facebook.com/murmurs.of.the.metropolis)