Thanks to Townista, I got wind of this great place that I've missed all these years at Bangalore. The Kitsch Mandi is a hidey hole at the Pebble - Jungle Lounge in Palace Grounds. A quick background, Kitsch Mandi was started to support creative entrepreneurs through organizing Art festivals and workshops. The place has been around apparently for four years started by Diva Ganeriwal and Laila Vaziralli (more details here). You guys rock.
To cut a long story short, it is a great place to appreciate and support art and the artists. Have a conversation with the people who are creating their craft and bringing it out to the world. If that is not enough to satisfy you, there's always the great food and booze. You can wind up on one of those cozy mattresses and listen to some great Indie bands, while you catch a game of cards or carom or connect four that's lying around with a friend. And hey, you can get your kids and pets too. Just make sure they are well behaved (an oh.. while we are on the subject of taking kids, jut so you know, people around will be smoking).
This time around, they had artists like Archana from Ink Trails with her beautiful illustrations. I loved the one depicting the traffic situation in Bangalore. Go check out her prints. You can buy the prints directly from her (Nah, I don't get a cut). There was Pigtails and Ponys with their adorable accessories for the pretty head (getting one for my daughter definitely). Honey R Us was there with their delectable range of gourmet honey. They like to describe it as "rare and unusual, seasonal and reasonable, pure and raw, stunning and salivation!" (maa kasam, I didn't make that up).
And hey, I almost forgot about Bheemstyx - the all purpose stick store. My personal favorite was the ET stick that you see above. These are sturdy sticks that you could take to your next trek/hike or even gift it to your grandparents if they are really a riot. They also make a great conversation starter should you be incapacitated to carry around a supporting stick to college/office - hey all you with those fractures, get one of these. Hmm... should I fake a fracture to get one? Una Accessories was there with their great range of colorful bags for the ladies. There was this quirky stall with the guys from The Indian Family Sticker store (quite a mouthful) who simply make these small 5x3 stickers for your car's windshield. You have a great range to choose from and they are fun.
I know I did not write about the music and the Indie bands that were supposed to be playing at Kitsch Mandi simply because I didn't hang around long enough to see/hear them play! Well, that should be reason enough to go there again ;)