Bonding over art

���I was afraid no one was going to come,��� said Siddhartha Tawadey, at about the time his photo exhibition was coming to an end on a recent evening in the city.
He needn���t have worried, because a whole host of his school and college buddies, relatives, business acquaintances, friends of his parents and just curious visitors stopped by.
People came early, but most found someone or the other they knew and stepped outside after having a look at the works for a drink and something to nibble on as they caught up with each other.
Pleasant evening: A series of ���Hey, how are you��� and mwaahs followed. Maneka Gandhi stepped in for just a while, took a look at the works with Renu and Dilip Tawadey, Siddhartha���s parents, and left quickly.
���Indian art has broken free and is growing bigger by the day, and I���m glad photography as a medium is gaining momentum,��� she said. When asked what else, besides visiting the exhibition, she was doing over the weekend, she waved a hand dismissively, smiled and left. Vasant Sathe and Uma Vasudev spent longer there, and Sathe said, ���I don���t understand modern and traditional art and all that. Whatever appeals to you, whether it���s music or painting or cinema, is good art.���
Phoren, Indian and friends of friends... Since Siddhartha says he���s lived everywhere, including England, Singapore, New York, Kolkata, Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, his friends turned out to be an eclectic bunch. The pretty Farhana Mattar had come down all the way from Singapore to help Siddhartha curate his exhibition.
Sajive, a Delhi businessman, said his wife held the most important post ��� that of ���domestic engineer���. Kalyani Chawla was quite unwilling to be photographed, saying, ���I look like crap.��� Kalyani ��� look like crap? ���Oh, I���ve been with my daughter all day long and...��� she said distractedly.
Spotted: Shantanu, Nikhil, Rima and Vidushi Mehra, Uma Vasudev, Vasant Sathe, Shovana Narayan, Herbert Traxl, Maneka Gandhi, Neera Nath, Vandana Mohan, Shreya Singh, JP Aggarwal, Sudhanshu Mittal, Maxwell Pereira, Kalyani Chawla, Kiran Saxena, Pratima and Prakriti Das, Simi Ruprah, Jane, Aisha, Kavita, Judcael, Julian, Gitanjali and Sajive Jain, Pallavi and Vijay Anand, Sonal Kalra, Sonali Craddock, Farhana Mattar, Aaliyah, Nandita and Rohit Bose, Hanumant, Dipannita, Maria, Sergio, Sabina Singh, Sumit Chaudhary, Pia Goswami