For quite some time, my mind has been facing a total outage. It
refused to think beyond daily “things-to-do” and blogging was procrastinated to
“better” times. But the entire buzz this weekend was difficult to stay away
from, because it was marked by two very different events that showcased how
Bangalore voraciously celebrated a contemporary event while still holding on to
its roots, with equal gusto.
Bangalore’s traditional festival, known as the Oora Habba,
was celebrated in certain parts of the city, where local communities please the
Gods with festivities and rituals, to look after the well-being of the people.
Witnessing this was like taking a time travel back in history where hundreds of
people, largely agrarian, used to pray for a good harvest. The sheer scale and
splendor of the Oora Habba procession was a visual treat indeed!
Hero worship has always been in our system. We have always
reveled in the thought of some superpower saving us from “whatever that is
troubling us” and therefore wonderful stories about super heroes and evil
villains, were narrated and handed over through generations in the form of
mythologies. And then came America unleashing its creativity and bringing us a
whole new set of characters to worship and abhor.
This weekend, true to its identity as the quintessential
metropolis that balances traditional and contemporary, Bangalore hosted the
Comic Con fest that brought together the best artists & writers of the
country.
And for our own reading, we took back 2 comics.
"Zeus and the rise of the Olympians" by Campfire (with its stunning graphics, this is already turning out to be an awesome read)
and the second one which I'am most excited about,
"Ravanayan" - a new comic book series by Holy Cow Entertainment, that retells Valmiki’s classic epic from the point of view of its antagonist - Ravana (finnnne, the man did get tempted, but there was more to him!). And from the look of it, this might make the "Avengers" seem small.
(Pic courtesy: http://www.holycow.in/ravanayan/)
