Partying it up

An artiste collective that curates house parties introduces storytelling in its 75th edition

We guess there is no need for an elaborate first paragraph to explain just how location and traffic determine our leisure plans. For Hari Sankar, too, the journey of Beatmap, a venture that has now blossomed into a full-fledged artiste aggregator, began much the same way.

Hari Sankar

In 2015, Sankar quit his corporate job and spent a lot of time introspecting in order to find out what was it that he was really good at. "I was staying in Aarey Colony and I loved the idea of loud music, meeting new people and finding new friends. But unfortunately, everything from Aarey is a road trip. Even getting to Bandra entails negotiating traffic and hours of travelling. So, we would all end up having house parties around our home. We'd put up a few fairy lights, my friends would bring out their guitars and we managed to make a great night of it. And then it dawned on me that I was actually pretty good at sitting in on house parties and making conversations. But of course it didn't seem like a lucrative idea then," he tells us, ahead of the collective's 75th party.

Moira Rajpal

Essentially, the first house party that Sankar and team organised in 2017 was a closing party for his venture, but it serendipitously became a huge success. "I think I got a call from mid-day and people started talking about us," he recalls. From then on, they have managed to host parties across five cities, pooling in resources in terms of hosts, sponsors, and artistes. For Saturday's edition, Sankar has roped in storytellers who often feature in events by Kommune, a performers' collective where he works as the entrepreneur-in-residence in a bid to bring storytelling into a more intimate space.
The roster features Amandeep Singh, Rakesh Tiwari and Moira Rajpal, as well as a set by singer-songwriter Sunit Zadav. Speaking about the confluence of a house party and storytelling event, Rajpal says, "I am excited about this because I have never attended such an event before. I think it's very cool that a house party is managing to give a voice to storytellers."

On: October 13, 7 pm to 11 pm
At: Versova (full address to be disclosed post registration).
Log on to: Beatmap on Facebook
Entry: Rs 500 onwards

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