Weekend hobby groups on rise in Bengaluru's Cubbon Park

Free meetups are drawing people to learn languages, share craft tips and listen to stories.

Crochet corner

Cubbon Knits is a forum for crochet and knitting enthusiasts. The participants meet once every week and work on solo projects. They also demonstrate techniques and share leads on craft supplies with each other.

Lakshitha N M got the idea when she saw people coming to Cubbon Reads (a silent reading community) with yarns and needles besides books. “I was pleased to see them because none of my friends crochet,” says the digital marketing professional.

The average footfall is 6-8 but Lakshitha isn’t complaining. “It’s a nice bunch. We have a senior citizen who has made a superman sweater for her grandchild, a girl who wears what she crochets, a man who is an encyclopedia on crochet, and even a 12-year-old. We have made tote bags, llamas and unicorns.”

As a group, they once crocheted 40 pairs of knockers for women who have undergone mastectomy. “Knockers are an alternative to synthetic breast prostheses,” she explains.

Every Saturday, 9.30 am-1 pm; visit @cubbon_knits on Instagram

Indo-Japanese exchange

Minna Shuugou! Cubbon Park is a spin-off of Japan Habba, an annual event to promote cultural exchange between India and Japan. About 40-70 Japanese expats and local enthusiasts of Japanese language, culture and anime assemble for every meet. The attendees are divided into groups of 8-10, featuring Indians who know Japanese and native Japanese. They are encouraged to talk on the themes of the meetup, which can vary from Independence Day to the Olympics.

In their July meetup, which followed the theme of the Japanese star festival of ‘Tanabata’, participants wrote their wishes on narrow strips of ‘tanzaku’ paper, as is customary in Japan. In previous sessions, they have made the ‘kabuto’ hat using origami, played the Japanese variant of rock-paper-scissors, and sampled snacks from both countries.

It is an initiative by Saori Sarkar, Nivi Pal and Meghna Vijaykumar.

Second Sunday of every month, 10 am-12.30 pm; visit @minnashuugou on Instagram

Tell a tale

Cubbon Tales organises storytelling sessions for children under a tree numbered 2763. Since its inception in May, families living in the neighbourhood and as far as Yelahanka have attended with kids aged 4 to 7. Mallika Sridhar, a public affairs professional, performs dramatic readings of books on themes ranging from courage to food, culture and environment.

“The magic of Cubbon Park fuels the imagination of children. When they see a kid falling from a cycle or see people enjoying picnics much like in the stories I read out, they make an instant connection,” she says.

Every Saturday, 11 am; visit @cubbon.tales on Instagram

Dance it out

This untitled group invites people to learn Bollywood, hip hop, bhangra, and classical dance styles. Professional artistes, dance enthusiasts and people with two left feet, all are free to join. The dance instructor teaches choreography on 2-3 songs and the session concludes by making dance reels. “We used to conduct dance rehearsals for a festival involving differently-abled and able-bodied people at the park.

People passing by would ask us if they could join. There’s no place to dance without paying, they would say,” Vishnu Soman, founder of disability rights group Smileys India, recalls how the idea of this meetup came along. It attracts 50-100 people now.

Once a month, 3-5 pm; visit @smileysindia on Instagram

Learn Kannada

Engineering student Sakshi Baid hosts this untitled meetup for people like her who want to learn and improve their conversational Kannada. She is from Mumbai and she started learning Kannada actively six months ago. While she teaches Kannada to her Instagram followers through small videos, she feels languages are best learned from face-to-face interactions. That's why she initiated this meetup and has held two sessions so far. “Local acquaintances also come in to help out with Kannada,” she says. 

Once a month, 10 am; write to [e-mail]