REMOTE BANGALORE by RIMINI PROTOKOLL.

The Fun side of Bangalore exists on two things Cricket and Weekends or may be Weekends and Cricket.

How can I say!! Well then be around these times to see it for yourself!

And we bunch are the ones who live on the Weekends and call ourselves ‘Stickers’...a mad crazy bunch of IT guys who by Gods grace have Stick together for yeearrs now! (Don’t ask how many years!!)

We go for music, theatre plays, cinema trips, treks and etc…

Feb 1^st 2014 was one another Weekend, about which we were in planning a week before as to what to do on this day.  Sitting bored at home, just a week before, in front of ifnothingtheninternet (noun these days) entered Bookmyshow.com in my browser. Index finger clicks on This weekend.

A list of talents dropped down.

Comedy play

Musical show

Yoga       (might just need some :|)

…
…
Remote Bangalore by Rimini Protokoll

…

…

.

Closed the Window cursing something different to appear, not like I read through each to know what was in each event.

Again back on ifnothingtheninternet, entered facebook.com. Well every mans last page before shutting down the system these days (just one last time let me see and then ill close).

Cursing again... There might be ‘something’ to see, let me make an effort to read through few. Bookmyshow.com again!

Cursor stopped at ‘Remote Bangalore by Rimini Protokoll’ this time because of a lil funny pronunciation of ‘Rimini’…reading..reading…you will be plugged with headphone…a voice will guide you while walking…reading…treasure hunt…reading…don’t get vehicle…reading…genre:adventure…reading…be in the moment! Two Hours.

 

Whatsapp > new group > Remote Bangalore. Participants added.

 Final image of the whatsapp conversation. Tickets Booked.

Day Feb 1^st, 2014.

John as always keeps reaching, when a phone calls him.

Call 1: I am there da, just five mins.

Call 2: Almost there just ten minutes. Stickers gyani Babaji.

Rashmi calls...me: whats wrong man bloody no parking space I can find on MG. Call Pavi and tell I have reached MG, couldn’t reach her. I will park and call you back.

Pavi tring tring tring….!!

I get down at Indira nagar.

Pavi and Rashmi gets on Metro to reach Indira nagar. Ram gets down Metro and is at Indira nagar. Ram and I receive Pavi and Rashmi.

John: I am there da, almost reached!

We four start walking towards the Venue.

Chinmaya Mission Road. After Ten minutes and 500metres.
Goethe Institut, 716.

: Hi! We are 5.

: Booking Id please (A sweet smile). (Pause) Here you go! Please read the instructions on the pamphlet. There’s a restroom on second floor. Once ready you can follow the map on the pamphlet.

We, now 5, start walking towards ‘the Cart’ as mentioned on the map.

John: Guys let’s take the car till that location anyways we have to walk afterwards.

Distance till cart 200meters. All eyes on John. :|

Ok let’s walk!

A four wheeled Blue Cart waited for us. Everything about the cart was old unless you looked inside of it. 50 receivers each to be paired with Sennheisers! Phewww!!

We were also given with a Metro smart card.

ID’s please!

(It’s funny when ID’s are for identification and none had a face on each of their ID’s that was closer to what we looked like!)

Yeah Sure, here it is!

A lady in red welcomed and guided us how to use the items. She showed us the way into Children’s Park and asked us to wait there with others.

All were plugged, it was an interesting site in the park and had its own excitement. As never did anything like this before.

Meanwhile the headset was abuzz with distortions…which on focusing was birds chirping and sea waves…Tranquil!

There were kids playing around and we ‘Adults’ were plugged… moving like technically controlled. We were. A voice comes through the headset…asking us to wait...sit while in the park and the event would soon begin.

As I pass a swing and was about sit on one…a kid comes by smiling making a hand gesture and says Uncle! This for small kids only!…I was like :| ..oki doki!

Camera time. Click Click Click!!

The Voice was back this time. But it was a She…called herself Deepa! Yet introduces herself as Not a Human Being…me and john were looking at each other :|

Let the Adventure begin!

The Voice asked us to look around. Look at other people who were plugged. Asked to look at clouds, trees, feel the air. It spoke like an invisible person yet not a person besides you around you, time and again making us conform to It. Well we had no choice, we opted for it also It assured us ‘I will take care of You, I will back You’.

04:00PM.

The Voice: Move towards the Big open Green gate. Let’s see who reaches first to it. Remember there will be few who will walk faster towards to it, few will be in the center who will never get anything because they are at the center and there are few who will at the last and they will be left back. Choice is yours whether you want to be in front or center or last.

We looked at each other walked towards the gate. We were at the Last.

The Voice: After the gate take a right and then again right. Let’s see who walks past other to get in front. (Pause).

Probably after about 100metres we (50 people) reached at the gates of a school. Resurrection School. There was a strange link to all that was happening.

The Voice: Take right and stand below the big green tree. 

We heard kids shout and play around in our ears. Turned around there were none. What on dear earth!!!  Heard again turned around...None! What the heck is happening!!

Realised it was The Voice. (sennheiser 3D effect nailed it!)

The Voice: Can you imagine your childhood. Playing around, carefree.

It again played the voices of kids playing around, calling names, happy running around.

Right that moment I could just link…. ‘Resurrection School’. Saw the faces of few how they felt resurrected to their old times. Made us realize what we had left back.

The Voice: Let’s move on now. Look diagonally right at the palm tree between the school buildings. Walk towards it and walk through it towards left.

We walked towards it. Few of us turned back to see probably themselves, their invisible young self, waving back at them.

Once at the palm tree...

The Voice: Walk straight and take the right. There's a big grey gate.

One of us tried to open the gate.

The Voice: Ohh looks like someone was waiting for us, how nice. Now walk through it.

A street hawker was shouting his business. Looked back there was No one.

The Voice: Look at the houses to your right. (Houses were small, broken, yet life unbroken in them) Wonder what is behind those closed windows and shut doors. Now look at the swanky Apartments in front of you. A new change.

The Hawker shouted again and this time no one turned back.

The Voice: Take a left. Lets walk together and remember don’t be in the center and at the last because they will be left. Enter into the big open gates on your left.

CV RAMAN GENERAL HOSPITAL.

It was hot and dry outside. Few were walking tired steps.

The Voice: Walk on the path to your left. Enter into the iron gates on to the right. I see you need shade as some might be tired. You will find good cool shade inside.

We all enter into an underground huge parking kind of space with lots of pillars, darkness and a fuzzy Sunlight at the end of it.

The Voice: Isn’t it better now. There’s shade. I told you I will take care of you.

Strange effective Assurance.

There were voices of kicking the empty cans in an empty big hall. Looked to see who it was. Well you know who It was. It was strange how The Voice was introducing us perfectly to each environment like It wanted us to be part of it like a homogenous mixture.

The Voice: Go explore yourself. Play hide and seek as u did back then.

Well it worked for few of us. We did play a light hearted hide and seek just to get into the mood. There were smiles on the faces.

The Voice: I have been guiding you. I give you a chance to set yourself free. There are two staircases in front. One on the left near the Sunlight and one on the right. I will let you choose any one of them. Go people but go as a group. Let’s see how you convince each other to do this.

People funnily looked at the each other. Half were on the left and half were on the right walking confused.

The Voice: Alright, don’t worry. Like I said I will take care of you. I will help you choose the right one. Take the one on the right. Climb up. Take the first left.

Walked up the stairs. On left there was empty space with a Reception and a Pharmacy on either side.

The Voice: Stand against the wall on all four sides. Now how do you feel being here? How would you feel if you were dead? How would you feel if you had cancer? How would you feel if you had some disease? How would you feel if you were hurt?

I could see faces change their expressions from whattt? To what the F^&*??

Felt it was for a reason we were made with those questions. For it wasn’t answered in any way by The Voice.

The Voice: Ok let’s move on. Take the path near the Reception. Be quite, take the right towards exit. Don’t make noise, this is a Hospital.

What was strange, Hospital was empty. All the windows of the rooms that could be peeked into, were transparent from one end to other. Wondered ‘why don’t make noise’. Voices played in the background of people asking for help. Waiting for their number to be called for checkup. A rushhour of a hospital.

Felt the idea of the voices was hence not played to show off the 3D effect but to affect us in a deeper way.

We made an exit.

The Voice: Take the ramp on to your left.

Dogs barked around ears. ‘Coincidentally’ there was a dog there.

The Voice: Walk fast through it. And ‘Don’t look back’. Keep walking.

Sun was making its usual slow fall. We were walking through an empty stretch, with dry trees giving a gravely look.

The Voice: Would you walk through this alone? Would you walk through this in the night? Would you walk through this if are a girl?

 

Walk up to the Big tree on the right. There are two buildings in front of you. Both part of Children’s hospital years before. Now Nature grows here. There are bushes trees through the building. There are two stairs on each building. Walk past the stair on the building to the right. And take the left.

 

There were broken children’s play structures. Burnt ash ground.  A dog in the building alley.  A broken display with C missing indicating the years.  A helpless state. Broken windows with webs bushes stating a nature very against the one it was supposed to support.
 

There were tents in which there were families living. Small kids were running around waving at us as we pass by. Huge trees marked our exit.

 

The Voice: Pass through the big black gate in front of you. Turn right.
(Pause). Enter through the entrance in front of you. Walk up the stairs.

We were entering into Metro Station Entrance. We stood at the top open space after climbing the stairs.

The Voice: Wait here and look at the traffic below. It never stops. No matter what happens it knows a way out and keeps running. Just like blood. Imagine the traffic going away from you as Arteries and the ones coming your way as Veins. Traffic vehicles as blood cells. They keep flowing.

Are people looking at you through their windows? Are they using GPS to navigate their way?

Every eye was glued down and had its own visible experience.

The Voice: Alright let’s move inside. You will find two queues one for men and one for women. Each is inspected before passing by. Please keep your bags in the x-ray machine, don’t worry.

Now use the Metro card to swipe and pass through. As the first one passes through, others intently watch what is done and how it is done. The ones who now have crossed look back and see how others are doing it. See how the numbers decrease.

(Pause)

The Voice: Now let’s walk ahead.

Look down at the floor. The shinning floor like a mirror. Can you see yourself in it? Now each one stand on a grooved tile near the walls showing different up and downs. Just like in a normal life. Look at each other who are standing opposite.

Pretty crazy moment this was. Weird. Different. Making you think don’t know exactly what but something yes.

The Voice: Now climb up the stairs to the platform to catch the Metro.

I was first :D. We all climbed up to the platform. Waited for the Metro Train to reach.

After a while…

The Voice: Look on to your Right.

Metro was right there. Was like whaat! Almost like the Train was Voice commanded.

The Voice: Get inside.
(Pause). Why aren’t the gates closing? Is it waiting for someone to get on? Could it be that intelligent to do so?

We were greeted by a host of unaware eyes already aboard the Train. 50 people getting in with all headsets on them. Well anyone is going to blink twice.

The Voice: Take a seat to sit down. Look through the windows. Look outside the apartments, traffic, trees. Did you check the map of the train route? Look at the people inside the train. Look into someone’s eyes. Look what others are doing. Bend down as if to pick something up and look at others, how does it feel? 


(Pause)

It played an old...Very old hindi song. Then It sang a hindi song, could not make out exactly which one though.

The Voice: Look at the people who are getting in now. Click some photographs.

Be in the Moment as it was said before. So true. Are we really present in the moment right now? I guess most of us not. Our station arrived. MG Road.

The Voice: Get ready to jump out. Jump out now!

‘Jumped’ Out :) I had a company of a sweet one jumping along with me. It’s fun to tickle the kid inside you at times.

The Voice: Stop where you are. Look at the people leave. Look at them go away. Turn around. The Trains empty. It’s waiting to be checked. It’s empty.

Train leaves.

The Voice: Let’s move towards the exit. Look in front of you. Look at the back of the person in front of you. (Entered an open space)Now stop wherever you are. Look at the people passing you.  Wave your hand. Show the middle finger… that might not be liked. The ones standing near the lift walk down. The ones near the windows look down at the traffic. Now you can look at them but they cannot. There's a barrier in between a glass.


(Pause) 

Now go to the window near the escalator. Look down. Look at the wall outside, it looks like a Fort.

Making us realize how Our mother land was progressing towards her growth. How strong she is. How have we earned our Freedom. A strange likeness was growing towards this event.

The Voice: Lets head out into the streets. Cross the street together. Walk into the Green Alley in front. Walk straight.

Both the sides were transparent glass panes. Further up left was glass and right was a wall with all the black and white, sepia pictures of old Bangalore.

The Voice: Stop right here facing the glass. Stand as if you are posing for a photograph. Short ones in the front and tall ones at the back. Look at the Glass in front. Click a photograph. Capture the moment.

Interesting part, it actually felt as if we were being clicked, being photographed through the window. Amazing little experience.

The Voice: Alright let’s move ahead. Let’s not block the way.

At the back…

John: Da Cp! I need kaapi..

Me: I got water.

John: Ya ya give.

Me: Back pocket in the bag.

The Voice: Hurry up. Get down the stairs and walk to your right.

We cut through MG and entered Church Street, did not know of this little connection, this hidden alley. Walked for few metres.

The Voice: Stop. Look around you. Look at the people passing by. Wave your hands. Now make binocular around your eyes and look at someone. Now rotate 360^o looking around you.

(Pause) couldn’t click.

The Voice: Now walk ahead into an entrance which has a big yellow board on top.

The Voice: Walk inside and find a place to sit. There’s a water pool. Look inside of it. Do you see fishes in it? Do you see yourself in it? Let’s do something. Each one take out an object or item which makes you remind someone or something very dear to you. Could be a photograph or a book or anything in your pocket.

Everyone takes a moment to settle the question in them. Starts fiddling their pockets to find out anything they had which could remind them of something close to them. Few had a novel, a diary, a purse with a photo in it, a watch, and few other some thing’s.

The Voice: Now look at each other. Look at each other’s items, how they define them.

Caught eyes with strangely unknown known faces, trying to read opposites mind, his beloved thing. Interesting how all of a sudden all the smiles turned into careful thoughts.

The Voice: Now let’s walk out. Raise the objects in your hands and walk out into the streets.

Voices of people marching, shouting slogans, shouting for their rights started playing around through our ears. Damn! Was the one word I could think of. I mean how do you come up with something like this. It’s interesting and engaging when you get to relate to things right at the moment they are made to appear in front of you. Wonder how it feels in the minds of the ones who create this so that we kinds feel awed.

The Voice: Alright now put your hands down. And let do a race. Let’s see who reaches to the end of the road.

Everyone starts running. All the bystanders were like :O…!! John was clutching the cars beside to pull himself up!! Babaji seemed to be tired. Few reached the end point. It was the Empire hotel Junction.

The Voice: Look at the ones who are still running and yet to reach. Help them finish the race, lets encourage. Alright. Now we have to cross the road, make sure you do it in a group. Let’s cross.

 

All together crosses the road. You have to cross in a group, constantly reminding us that we are good when we are in a group, when we are a team. None had the ability to get passed us (vehicles). Small very clear understandable things which you hear often and often as words only gets to make sense when you see it for real and it gets etched in your memory like a photograph and we call it Experience.

The Voice: Now all of you stand on the path. Look at the people like they are performers and you are audience. Look at them in their eyes, some try to escape those eyes. Some talk between themselves. Some pass by without even looking at you.

(Pause) Everyone intently looks at the people like they are really the performers. People Oh sorry! The performers actually act funnily, which we do ourselves but positions were switched and it was fun to see how we enact ourselves. Crazy!

The Voice: Now let’s clap for their performance.

Everyone starts clapping at the ‘performers’. Strangely paisa wasool.

The Voice: Now let’s again walk up the streets. Cross the road and walk into the road right in front of you. Walk in a group.

We walked as one. Site was overwhelming like hoard of bulls charging through at once and all other performers with or without their vehicles seemed to be rock solid fixed to whatever or wherever they were. We entered a narrow street in front of us.

The Voice: Make sure to give way for the vehicles. They will honk, it may not be easy. Walk close to the parked vehicles giving the way. Walk in through the gate that comes to your right. Keep walking to your left. Enter through the second opened door on your right.

St. Marks Cathedral.

The Voice: Find a place to sit. Don’t worry about the cameras looking at you.

I missed the conversation here. For there were beautiful glass paintings, the Cross, the candles, Holy Bible, which needed the attention I felt. There was no one in the Sanctuary. Only Him and Us. Of course The Voice too. Wondered if I should consider ‘both’ as same.

And realized The Voice was now Peter. Deepa had left.

The Voice: Let’s leave the place. Walk through the door on your left.

Door was closed. A girl reached first, wondering looking back at others approaching should I or someone else. She pushed it open. For some strange reason I said to the girl invisibly… Good!

The Voice: Walk straight to the gate in front and take left.

(Pause) We started walking towards the gate. I gave a last glance at the façade, it was different from the one I had seen just a week back when I was here for a friend’s wedding. Clicked her and turned away towards the street.

We were walking on the pavement.

The Voice: Look at the traffic.

It was actually maddening. But was happy, was not part of it.

The Voice: Now walk backwards.

Whaaaatttttt!!!

The Voice: Yes! Walk backwards. Don’t worry I will take care of you.

The same old Strange Assurance.

We started walking backwards.

The Voice: Stop. Look at the Traffic. Look at the people. Their faces. Look inside the vehicles. They can only go forward, but you can go in both ways forward and backward.

(Pause) a quite long pause. We all looked at the Traffic. Performers were clueless as to what was happening. One of the lady inside the vehicle waves at John and asks what is happening. John gestures we are being guided by the God. And being near to the Church, am sure she had drawn her lines.

Everyone on the two wheeler was turning and looking back. Kids, drivers were :O

One damn crazy thing I had done in my life. The very first image of us for me was like those artists who act like rock solid structures without moving a muscle and all the people pass by considering them as a structure throws a dime or two for their act, only here we were not thrown with some. Nonetheless we were artists too.

The Voice: Walk backwards. (Pause). Alright turn around and cross the road, watch for the traffic. Go stand at the entrance of the Jewelry store.

We walked towards the entrance, this time It didn’t say go in a group.

We reached. There was a pause.

The Voice: This is the final destination of your journey. Behind you walk down and climb the stairs. This is your final climb.

All were walking up the stairs through the dilapidated building. Strangely The Voice’s encouragement and the torn posters on the wall had certain similarity. At one point I could see tired faces showing the tired legs look, and right then in front “TATA AIG LIFE INSURANCE” sticker.

ha ha ha! Interesting!

The Voice: Once on top take the right. Climb up the stairs in front.

We were standing on a raised open terrace. With the UB city, masking the sun just enough to let the evening glare pass through, on one side and the Cubbon Park on the other. The MG Road traffic. St.marks Cathedral glowing to some function below with a stepped cake in front.

The Scene was unlike anything.

The Voice: Look down. Can you jump from here? Look around. Let us just evaporate!

Right then from all four sides a foggy white engulfed us, like we were actually going to be a part of transformation, like we were going to evaporate.

Everyone was part of the Nature. I could see those eyes…like let’s just be here, don’t go anywhere!

Quite a Remoteee.. Bangalore was there down below, around us… the one which was there all this time but never knew existed!

Cameras were out.

06:00PM. Two Hours.

: I might have missed couple of sentences of The Voice. If I could remember all I would have been in MIT :P. One Crazy event, glad we made it. Thanks to Mr. Stefan Kaegi, Rimini Protokoll.

Lady in Red: Raaabiya Jayaram.

Deepa: Juliane Mannel.

Peter: Aljoscha Begrich.

The Voice: Unknown. ;)

-Cp