Art

A new program in Chennai is enabling differently-abled children and children with special needs to experience the joys of music, dance and other art forms in a comfortable and non-invasive environment. With performances from stellar artists, this organization aims at including these children in the cultural space that is largely denied to them due to their peculiarities, and allowing them to immerse themselves in the therapeutic effects of creative arts.

You may have heard various different renditions of our national anthem. Susmit Sen, the former guitarist of Indian Ocean, has given this unique and beautiful rendition of India's National Anthem.

A brilliant initiative is giving artists in Delhi a chance to display their creativity in a prominent public space while making garbage bins aesthetically appealing! Read on to find out how.

Shankar Tucker is an American musician who grew up in Massachusetts. While in his high school, Shankar developed a liking towards Indian classical music. This love for Indian classical music eventually led him to study under the renowned flute maestro Hariprasad Chaurasia. Shankar amassed a lot of fame with his online music series called "The ShrutiBox".

The children have holidays and what better place to go for a bout of innocent entertainment than the Circus? Well, at least that used to be the case for most of us growing up, when the circus came to town! And many of us retain fond memories of those days. Here Gangadharan Menon relives those memories by visiting the renowned Kohinoor Circus not just to watch a show but to meet the colourful characters and talented performers behind the scenes.

It might be one of the most unique covers of a Green Day hit you'll ever hear: young, at-risk girls from an Indian shelter singing Boulevard of Broken Dreams. But that is what Music Basti has brought into their lives. Watch this video to know what music can do.

An advertising creative professional, Swasti Ray, went beyond just feeling bad for the disabled, and worked hard to create a product that helps bring colour and art in the lives of the visually impaired. Read about his innovation and what inspired him to think out-of-the-box!

Sanchali, a social project, provides free alternate education to children & employment to the women in rural areas. We chat up with Dakshayini Gowda to learn how beautifully she blends education with jewellery to make this happen. “We have created look-alikes of pottery, textile, beads, etc. of that period to give them a chance to learn history in a fun, interactive, lively and more effective manner,” Dakshayini says. And since she wanted to ensure that the workshops were free for all, she decided to fund them by starting an eco-friendly jewellery project with the women in the villages in Karnataka.

Remember that greeting card which said ‘painted by a foot artist?’ Malay Desai from Trinayani meets Ramakrishnan, the most famous one of them all, and discover there is much more to their lives than that.

The Hornbill Festival, held in the first week of December every year, is a marvelous riot of colour that shows off the rich fare of diverse cultures and traditional arts that is Nagaland. Here you can witness the attires, folk music and dance forms, headgears, cuisines, paintings, handicrafts, and other intricacies of the varied tribes and sub-tribes of the state, as Meena Vaidyanathan did. Here we invite you to take a look at the festival just gone by through her words and lens, while hoping you can make it there yourself this year!