Artistic Adventures - eCAPA 2025 , Bangalore [Sep 26-28 ]

Five of Nishant’s  art works were part of eCAPA  exhibition organised by The Art Sanctuary  .Though his works have been selected for this consistently since 2020 for online exhibitions , twice at STIR galley , New Delhi and Salarjung Museum , Hyderabad last year – this one was extra special as we could attend it in person as a family .  I still am in amazement of the treat for the eyes – 150 + art works of 50 neurodiverse artists – a glimpse into their beautiful minds – each unique and evocative !!

The D’Tale gallery itself was very well organized and apt for this display – only thing missing was its curator Bose Krishnamachari – we were really looking forward to meeting him . In his absence Priti Vadakkath  an artist herself and mom to a neurodiverse young man had done a wonderful job over 3 tiring  days of arranging the artworks in the gallery – each piece could be savored individually as well as with the themes they were part of  . Kudos to Priti and Abhirami from the gallery who supported the entire effort  .

We met Shalini Gupta of “The Art Sanctuary “ for the first time .We have been closely connected over the past 5-6 years and it was lovely to meet her in person. She has brought this wonderful show together time and again  - and I am in awe of her dedication  and grace . Her attention to detail and hard work to get the best exposure of our artists are commendable !!

On the premier night, 26^th September  it was exciting to meet with all the other artists and their families and spend time with them and their art . It was heartwarming to catch up with old friends and make new ones too  .The next 2 days the exhibition was open to all and I am really touched by all the family and friends who battled Bangalore’s terrible traffic for hours to reach the venue and spend time with us and the  exhibition  .Feel so held and connected with both our close circle of support and friends from the neurodiverse tribe .

Each painting of Nishant’s is a labour of love – he ideates, I help plan how to execute – he tries , corrects , smells , savors …he enjoys the process so much . For us who see him do this week after week on our dining table, it was mind blowing to see these pieces take a place of pride among the other art works. One more thing to be proud about was that 3 of Amaze interns /students – Nishant , Gokul and Inian  -  were part of this exhibition and their digital art was intricate and eye catching . Kudos to Saravanan  [Sir] our Graphic arts instructor from Amaze who has been guiding them over the years  . It was also heart warming to see so many familiar names in the artist lists - friends from Adventure camps , art festivals , part of WhatsApp groups - we are indeed a robust, thriving community now - this is a dream come true !!

                             

The journey from Coimbatore and back was also eventful and challenging. We had to cancel and change our tickets for 26^th morning due to train delays and took an earlier train so had to leave home at 6 am on 26^th.We reached our service apartment and they had reserved a 1 bedroom apartment instead of the 2 bedroom that I had paid for and we had to convince them to give us one more unit and close by . We were 5 of us – Nishant, Nivriti, my 81 year old mother, Ramesh  [Nishant’s aide] and me  ].We managed to settle down but it was quite late and were not sure how Nishant would behave at the preview without a proper dinner  . He was ravenous as expected by7 pm and initially did not want to see the exhibition and kept looking for food. Nivriti saved the day by ordering him some noodles .After that he was in good cheer  and everything went ok.We all reached back and had dinner at 10 pm. Next morning was a bit relaxed and we went back to the gallery to receive all our friends and family – We were done by 5 pm  .

However, the next challenge was to to get to Chowdiah memorial hall which was a 2 hour drive across town to listen to a concert “Pankh” led by Kaushiki Chakraborty which my niece Apoorva Krishna  was a part of  as a violinist . Again, we were nervous about how Nishant would deal with the traffic and no food – Noodle did the trick again and he had some just before we reached the venue  .It was a treat to see him thoroughly enjoy the concert and though we left early by 9.15 pm and reached our accommodation close to 11 pm .  Nishant was calm all through and the adventure  was worth the risk we took  . We are touched by my cousin Murali’s  [Apoorva’s dad ] gesture – he ensured we  had the best seats in the concert and arranged for our transport  to and fro – the previous day he came all the way to view the ECAPA exhibition . It is a matter of family pride for Nishant’s and Apoorva’s great grandmothers [my grandmother and her sister  ] -  that these two children who are about the same age are doing so well in their chosen fields  . We shared the pictures in our family groups and every one was happy and proud of Nishant ,

Of course, all this joy is always bitter sweet for us as we dearly miss Ram – we could feel his presence with us every moment and  I am sure he is extremely proud of Nishant and happy for him – but it would have been so great if he had been there with us in person ,

The journey back home was an adventure no less – We reached the station at 1.30 pm and had to walk almost a kilometre in the hot sun to our compartment  .We had not eaten any lunch and we got to it only by 2.45 pm and till then made doo with some snacks and drinks and the lovely brownies that our cousin Kanna had brough us and the lovely peda’s that a friend brought us . Then of course since we were on Vande Bharat we were on a continuous eating binge  .Nishant enjoyed the train rides thoroughly – found a new hobby of clicking the photos of the scenery on his iPad  .He was very clued in with the announcements on the train and indicated to me we were nearing Coimbatore – as I was distracted by some phone calls  .We reached back home tired yet satiated and grateful for all the richness this experience had let us soak in  -  Art , music , food , family , friends and lots of love !!