A new experiment in Pune.

Artizen (on Baner-Pashan Link Road, Pune) is a brilliant experiment, not just for kids but also for adults. For just ₹249, you get a canvas on a mini-easel stand, as many colours as you want, and an assortment of brushes and colouring instruments to express yourself freely on it, and then take it home with you. They also encourage every table to have conversations with every other table, talk about art, make friends, and generally circulate. Or not. Completely up to you.

The brainchild of three very interesting people (including my dear friend and fellow biker, Sid), it is a place buzzing with creative energy whenever you visit. Lovely food and innovative drinks, too, not to mention the eminently Instagrammable interiors.

As a parent trying to understand his daughter and how she thinks, giving her a canvas and paint and allowing her to express herself in a place full of other people also engaged in art while observing the colours she chooses, the breadth and strength of her strokes, and her interpretation of what she wishes to portray (say?) gives me a window into the state of her mind. Kym (my 9yo) and her cousins, Raavi & Shammu, had a fun day at the café this afternoon, with my mother and cousins (Drs Rasika and Neha, one an economist, another a dentist) chatting away over pasta and iced teas.

Just a perfect lazy Sunday afternoon.

P.S.: Did I tell you about the brilliant music Sid and the gang play there on their Marshall boombox? Well, don’t take my word for it. Go and experience it first-hand.