Room at the top

You don't need a large space for a successful cultural event, finds Business Standard. An attic is enough.

The first thing that strikes you when you enter The Attic, in New Delhi, is that the name isn't just an attempt at quaintness "" this really is an attic, a cosy room (with a couple of small adjuncts) near the top of a building in Connaught Place's Outer Circle.

At first, it's a little difficult at first to see how this limited space can host cultural events ranging from puppet shows to classical dance performances. But participate in one yourself and you get a better understanding.

The Attic, which celebrates its first anniversary early next month, was opened by Preminder Singh, who has been running The Shop (where handblock-print textiles and home furnishings are sold) for over 30 years, and who also set up India's first discotheque, The Cellar, in the late 1960s.

The initial idea was to use the space as a gallery to display various museum quality saris, shawls and phulkari embroideries from the personal collection of Singh's mother.

However, cultural activities have also been organised here on a monthly basis "" there have been exhibitions and talks, a Dhrupad workshop, even choral performances and cooking demonstrations.

"The idea," says Singh's sister Geetanjali Chanda, "was to provide an informal ambience where the lines between a performer and an audience are not rigid. The small space facilitates this type of interaction."

I got a firsthand view of this on the evening of July 8, when The Attic hosted the first edition of "Conversations" "" a book-discussion series for authors, publishers, marketing executives and, of course, readers.

The book in question was Manju Kapur's Home and there were four panelists "" Kapur herself, Random House India publisher Vivek Ahuja, academic/critic Shobhana Bhattacharji and yours truly, as a blogger who has written about the book.

However, this was meant to be an interactive conversation, and so the key speakers weren't segregated from the rest of the audience.

The charming little folding chairs (which Singh picked up from an antique store in Jaipur "" apparently, they were once used in an old-time cinema house!) were rearranged to form a rough circle against the walls of the room. There was a certain amount of moderation "" by Chanda "" but on the whole the atmosphere was one of candour.

Each panelist spoke for a while about their experiences with the book. Kapur described the 10-year process that went into the creation of Home, the story of four decades in the life of a conservative Karol Bagh joint family.

Bhattacharji suggested that "reviewers read each other more often", conversations between reviewers being vital to a better exchange of perspectives.

Ahuja discussed the clashes between marketing and editorial: "Manuscripts that have been approved by editorial sometimes get blocked by marketing people."

Anuj Bahri of Bahrisons bookshop contributed insights into the retail process, while members of the audience questioned Kapur about her approach to writing and her "refusal to let her characters dream".

All of this added up an evening scarcely different in feel from a dining-room conversation but one that allowed various parties in the publishing and reading process to exchange information and perceptions.

It was also a lesson in how a group of dedicated people can create the right ambience with minimal resources. This is what Singh hoped to do when he inaugurated this "space for the living arts".

"We want an intimate interaction between audience and artist, dancer and spectator, musician and 'rasik', creating a cultural ferment where each appreciates the needs and art of the other leading to sessions and evenings of quality and enjoyment."