Bengaluru: Open Sky Slam Want a stage? You will find it here

Bengaluru: In a world that's always in a rush to get ahead of everyone else, an artiste’s art is what ends up taking the hit. Open Sky Slam, a non-competitive platform for artistes, counters just that. The trio that heads the community-driven initiative, Shruthi Mohan, Deepten Sarkar and Nalin Vyas, believes that art starts out as something that comes from the heart, but then as the years go by, it becomes a series of calculated moves of what works or sells. More often than not, it is because of the fear of not being accepted for who they are as artistes.

If you walk into one of their monthly meets, you can’t miss the energy and warmth in the air. First-timers are welcomed with extra hoots and cheers and there is silence as someone goes on stage to perform, irrespective of what they present. The mutual respect, the constant support and constructive critique is perhaps what sets this community apart from all other open-mic events for performing arts out there. “It is a safe space,” says 23-year-old Shruthi Mohan, who is a writer, dancer and a part of the core team. “It is cozy and absolutely non-judgemental. You don’t have to be scared of being laughed at or being felt out of place. It is like a family of people who welcome you with open arms and let you be yourself,” she adds.

Chandini Hemdev, a young poet who performed at their June gathering on Saturday at Lahe Lahe Indiranagar and moved the entire room with her poem about sexual abuse, echoes similar emotions. “If I was outside doing the same thing, I know it wouldn’t be the same. There are open mics and people just come and go, no one actually listens to you most of the time. But here, I know my art will be respected. As an artiste, this is one of the most important things,” she says gratefully.  

OSS, although started as a competitive space, morphed into a community soon after its inception. Conceptualised by Bengaluru boys Shaun D’Souza and Tim Lo Surdo three years ago, when an off-the-cuff poetry slam turned into a habit, the boys saw its potential to be more. After Shaun left the country for higher education about a year ago, was when the trio stepped in. “It started out as a slam, but then we saw how much of this kind of a space was needed. It is something we wanted to push through with our hearts and that passion did not really want to tell an artiste that one of them is better and the other is not. It is all about respecting the beauty of it and feel the joy that comes from just performing,” remarks 28-year-old Vyas, part of the trio and a city-based stand-up comedian and singer.

The platform isn't limited to poetry alone. Any performing art, irrespective of the type, finds a space on their stage. From whistlers, jugglers to poets and musicians, this stage welcomes all. “To the outside world the concept of art is stereotypical. It has to fall into a category, but that is far from the truth. Who are we to define what it is?” asks the youngest member of the trio, 21-year-old Deepten Sarkar. “Come sing, come dance, come recite a poem, come share a prose, as long as it feels like art to you, its art to us,” he says with a smile. Open Sky Slam also organises meets in Mumbai, Kozhikode, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad in the country and Karachi in Pakistan and Gold Coast in Australia.