Pillow Fort: My One-day Excursion to Venkatappa Art Gallery

By Gokul Krishna

I was prepared to cancel this trip when I got up this morning. Why, you ask me? Why? Because none of my friends were attending, and without them, these events wouldn't be as enjoyable. By the time I wanted to, most of the group had left, so I was unable to. I was therefore alone, missing my pals, and feeling sorry for myself.

We were waiting at the college for the rest of the posse to arrive so we could depart, and as I sat there among familiar faces I had barely spoken to, I thought this is going to be a long day if I don't have company, and there he was, stuck like me in a predicament he couldn't get out of.

When we first started talking, he explained that he was on the team because he misread the google form the college had sent out to invite students to join in the excursion and assumed he was filling out an application for a job. I don’t blame him; the form was a bit too formal for an excursion.

We departed from the campus at around 10:30 am and took the metro, which only cost us 20 rupees. It took us 15 minutes to walk from Cubbon Park to the Venkatappa Art Gallery, and during that time, my new friend and I discussed a variety of topics, the Bangalore traffic, paranormal activity, conspiracy theories, and the list goes on and on. As we reached the gallery, the large red structure loomed over us as we entered the gallery with its vast history and size

The art gallery was filled with ancient relics and artifacts belonging to various civilizations and timelines. As we browsed through each of them, “life must have been so different back then” said my friend, and it made me think, these weapons, artifacts, statues were a part of such a different time, where they had no technology like now, but yet they figured ways to make these complicated designs, and structures that can not be replicated with all our technology combined. My thoughts turned to the Egyptian civilization, whose pyramids are so exquisitely crafted that even the brightest minds of this century are baffled as to how they managed to get the angle just right for all four of the pyramid's sides to meet at one point at its top and how they managed to make the four sides identical or how they were able to make compartments in the pyramid that are so difficult to access today. According to experts, replicating the pyramid would take 600 years with current technology and even then, if the calculations were off by a tenth of an inch, the pyramid would not resemble the original. The pyramids hold the greatest secrets of our history because I believe that they were a far more advanced civilization, one we might never achieve.

We then headed towards the paintings section of the art gallery where we came across many beautiful pieces, being an artist myself, I was able to appreciate these pieces and enjoy the different styles and forms of paintings I came across, there was a display in the art gallery that showcased the equipment and tools of the artists of the 19th and 18th century. I was astonished as to how much work they put into each of their pieces, compared to now where you can paint, blend, and finish paintings with a stroke of your apple pencil. Art had a greater value to it in the past compared to now, which was very evident as I browsed through every piece of art in the gallery.

As our excursion came to an end we headed towards the state central library, we sat in the park Infront of the massive structure for our small picnic. By this time, I had come to the realization that I had not missed my friends as much, even though I knew I would have had an even better time with them. I understood that I can go out and find new and interesting company, that I don’t have to worry about getting bored, or feel left out. We as humans, being social animals do find a way to connect to each other, we can surprise ourselves in the most unexpected of times. These familiar faces had given me a chance to know more about them, and the time we spent was filled with laughter and joy. 

The sun was shining his brightest as our small trip came to an end, we got back on the metro, reached our college, and dispersed to go back to our lives. I surely was out of mine, this excursion more than being educational, was more eye opening to how I have built this comfortable pillow fort, that I barely come out of. My incompetence to say ‘no’ kind of did work in my favor as I was forced out of this pillow fort of mine, to go out and explore what I have been afraid of, to face the truth, that in the end my pillow fort is holding me back from my true potential. I have now realized that there is more to life than what we think of it, that there is much more I don’t know of, much more I want to explore, and much more that I have to do.

I already can’t wait for my next unplanned, unexpected trip. I want to see how far I can go and how long I can stay out of my pillow fort.