Switched Over

I have been to Chennai enough number of times, but always on business. Therefore, last week when my wife's friend was getting married over there, I had to do a family trip. A first with my family. Normally, my office would take care of all the stay arrangements, this time I had to do it on my own. Besides, I had to look for an affordable place without compromising on comfort. A quick search got me to something called POD Hotel – Luxury Boutique Hotel. I was a little skeptical as I had heard of those capsule hotels being extremely tiny but then I discovered The Park POD. It was exactly what I was looking for!

A south-Indian wedding was another first for me. That it was a daytime affair helped a lot as we were too tired to stay awake all night but loved the Oonjal, Muhuratham and Saptapadi. Have enough pics from the ceremonies. Still need to go through the lot and upload a few. Finally, the feast! Never knew the South-Indian cuisine had so much more to offer! Having tucked in enough we took leave of the newly-weds and their family and returned to our hotel. Luckily, the place is located right where the action is, so didn't have to go far to shop for the local stuff.

Next day, hit the gym, and after some rest were dropped at the airport. It was short trip but did not feel like I ever left home.

Chennai in Colour

I finally got a call to put up my work in a place other than Delhi. I have had done a few shows at art galleries around Delhi, but when a Chennai art gallery called me up, I was not too sure but I went anyway. They told me they would put me up at a POD Boutique hotel in Chennai. I did not what that meant, but I went along. It was the Park Hotel, one of the 5-Star boutique hotels in Chennai. I was there for a full week, that is how long the art show went, and everyday found something new to do at the hotel.

At the art gallery too, I ended up selling two of my pieces. Besides, was introduced to a few curators who promised to show my work around. I got to know a lot from the other artists there. The days were great – interacting with them, hanging around with like-minded people. The evenings were even better – drive to the beaches, roadside dinner.  The nights were the best as most of us were staying at The Park POD and would stay up till late chatting, or at the Sauna.

I came back inspired enough to paint quite a few canvases and next month am going back for another show there. Hope I check into the same hotel!