There is a democracy about the space created by Harsh Neotia, Chairman of the Ambuja Neotia Group, at Swabhumi, Kolkata. Swabhumi is the venue of the five-year-old The India Story, an annual creative arts and design exposition, conceptualized by wife and partner, Madhu Neotia, and held in December last year. Hierarchies blur at the festival where the shawl-clad older generation share front row seats with Kolkata’s self-actualized culturati at Payal Khandwala’s inaugural fashion show. Harsh Neotia says, “Democratizing is important to our nation to bind various sectors and ideas.”
Thus, The India Story has become a space that draws people with a very specific agenda: to shop, enjoy art canvassed from budding talent around the country and listen to emerging musicians in an environment that is not hierarchical towards age and/ or gender. From the physical layout of the land to the design of The India Story, visitors go through a wonderland of discoveries. Multiple levels are juxtaposed against each other and lined with retail offerings. Halls of retail therapy at the end of these levels offer an indoor-outdoor variation that enhances a feeling of adventure. Yet, nothing is out of place. Everything local is celebrated. Every participant in The India Story is Indian.
This story is from the January - February 2020 edition of IFJ.
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This story is from the January - February 2020 edition of IFJ.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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