When it started to pour on the eve of event, my only thought was: Oh my God!… Pop n Shop. Like a child I wished for rain to go away and come again another day. Now, to be clear I was neither on the organizers list or on the participants list. I am a Chandigarhian who was really looking forward to tri-city’s first Pop n Shop festival. And guess what? Rain God heard me. It stopped pouring early morning and under the hovering clouds amidst a breezy day we witnessed a beautiful event taking place and here’s straight from the heart review .
The moment I entered Leisure Valley the first thing I noticed was fest’s minimalist decor which included tiny origami birds, feathery dream catchers, multi colored flags and painted cups hanging from the trees and across the stalls. Such a visual treat to the eyes. Kudos decoration team!
From customized footwear makers to home based bakers, from Sufi bands to painters, From photo booths to butter chicken snacks to what not! Pop n Shop successfully brought an interesting number of creative, enthusiastic people from the town together to showcase their craft and start ups. With only 1.5 hours in hand I couldn’t really check out every stall in detail but I did manage to chit chat with few stall holders and here’s everything which followed:
Aarushi (center) with stall visitors and art enthusiasts
Stall : Aarushi Mahajan’s Art
Owner : Aarushi Mahajan and Poonam Mahajan
Product: Oil Paintings and Sketches
I have a thing for paintings. So don’t judge me on walking to Aarushi’s stall first because trust me it was a great kick start. Not only the paintings were great but she herself happened to be a very warm and pleasing personality to talk to, which clearly reflected in her art. Aarushi’s stall also displayed her mother Poonam Mahajan’s paintings. According to her, twenty something years ago painting wasn’t a very evolved art and her mother didn’t realize her passion until she went to college in Hoshiarpur. There she saw many students walking with canvases in their hands just like a movie scene and thought: I want to be one too! That’s it, no looking back for Poonam Mahajan ever since. Aarushi herself is journalism student. “Painting is a genetic gift,” she giggled. “The only thing I have learnt from my art teachers is patience. I could draw a sketch from various angles in mere twenty minutes and they would emphasize on me spending those twenty minutes on a single angle in order to teach me the art of patience,” She continued. Check out her amazing work on her FB page. She takes online orders.
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Product/Business: Psychology coaching institute
Aashna ran a beautiful initiative ‘Donate A Toy, Spread A Smile.’ To teach empathy, educate & empower the life of children at risk through the medium of play. That’s what I went there for; to do my bit. I couldn’t help but notice beautiful candles put on display. On probing I learned they were hand made by students of SOREM, a school for kids with autism, cerebral parsley and MR. I asked her as a psychologist what should be our basic conduct towards differently able kids? To which she replied beautifully saying “These kids are so full of unconditional love. The best approach is to love them for who they are, just the way they are.” I couldn’t agree more. Now if you are wondering what exactly is Psychopedia? In Aashna’s own words “Its not a conventional psychology institute. We keep it light and informative at same time by including dance therapy, stress management, coloring therapy etc.” Click here for more details about this coolest psychology institute in town.
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Stall: Enigma Artistic Mystery
Product/Business: Paintings, Greeting Cards, Book Marks and Doodles.
A psychologist by education, a jeweller by profession and painter by passion. Meet all in one Abhinav. The guy who was taking on the spot requests for doodle making. He quoted anonymously that “Art is what comforts the discomforted and discomforts the comforted” and on asking what is his art all about? “My art is outcome of my relaxation,” he replied. Since its his first ever exhibition, he plans to donate all the money raised for a worthy cause back home in Palampur. His work seemed pretty enthralling to me, if only I could afford it then I would have surely bought some to grace the walls of my home. However, if you can, don’t hesitate. See for yourself
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Stall: Amy’s House of cakes
Owner: Aameekul Singh (Amy)
Product/Business: Home baked cakes, chocolates and barks
Honestly, the first thing which attracted me about the stall was its name. Simply, because its my name and stall owner’s name too. So when Amy met Amy she got to know that the stall owner is a spectacular baker who’s been baking since she was fourteen. “Now its all about turning my passion into profession,” said Aameekul. She runs a home based bakery and specializes in Fondant cakes, Cream cakes, Wedding cakes and Assorted chocolates. On asking what’s the best part about her work? First her eyes sparkled and then came the answer that “When you bake something kindheartedly and someone savors every last bite of it is the best feeling in the world. That’s what keeps me going.” She provides home delivery for all above mentioned and homemade chocolates and dry cakes. I highly recommend you guys try ‘Dark Chocolate Almond bark’ it was scrumptious and I savored every last bite of it! Check out her work here.
Owner: Siddarth Kanchustambam
Product/Business: Hyderabadi Biryani
Last summer, a 14 year old boy who plays tennis had a minor injury which led to a lot of quality rest time. But who rested? Clearly, Siddarth didn’t. He turned his Grand mother’s biryani recipe into a start up. “I always had this thing for cooking but didn’t get much time to play around. It stayed a hobby until last year summer break. Now I plan to turn it into a successful start up,” said Siddarth, who is a student at St. Jones. I was personally blown away by his energy and will. This Chicken Khurrana story is true! Check it for yourself.
Due to lack of time I couldn’t get in touch with the super organizers Sidhant Das, Shubhangi Gupta or Ankita Garg. But here’s a THANK YOU for putting up such a show. Good job done! I did manage to have a quick chat with Siddharth from their team and he did give me an insight saying “The main idea behind the Pon N Shop festival was to promote tricity based start ups, mostly home based. And we have left no stone unturned to make sure that every stall gets the attention it deserves.”
Personally, I had a great time there. if only I could check out all the stalls and review their craft/business. But I witnessed many do so and I could clearly hear many happy strangers saying good stuff like “Kitna pyara sa event hai” and “Oh, I never knew I could get these sketches made on order” and “I will get the catering done from ___ stall” and so on. The Karaoke counter had people singing and making merry. Every event have areas of improvements but I am not going to talk about them. I’ll rather give highlights a shout out as it was a beautifully done event. Now, Like all good things come to end, this collaboration of startups and consumers lasted only a day. Here’s looking forward to Pop N Shop 2 already. Thank you for giving Chandigarh a perfect 1st Pop N Shop and for me it was great blend of fun, business, PR and opportunities coming together.
Photo Courtesy: Vishal Verma and Sylvester Stephen
Pop n Shop 2016: Reviewed When it started to pour on the eve of event, my only thought was: Oh my God!… Pop n Shop.
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