Let’s first talk of impediments: traffic, social media, work hours, the city itself. So at best – with hardly any energy to surmount these roadblocks– you could meet a friend over an SMS, or gchat. How then did the world exist before these virtual realities took over our lives? Or are barriers only in our minds because we find messaging a convenient alternative?
Great ideas, though, can never be discussed over four-line messages. It takes like-minded people to come together and meet in person to do so. And so there are meet-up groups in Bengaluru centred on shared interests, from books to business, gaming to coders, nature to photography.
Open Coffee Club One of the earliest meet-up groups in Bengaluru, Open Coffee Club (OCC), meant primarily for entrepreneurs, was started in 2007 by Vaibhav Pandey. Entrepreneur Amarinder Singh has nurtured OCC since 2008. “In its initial days we used to meet twice a month. OCC started in London and spread across the globe. In India, it was started in Chennai first and then in Bengaluru,” says Amarinder. “Our meet-ups are informal, quite unconference-like, so to speak. We get to know the participants, who they are, what help they want and how the group can offer them help. Because it is unstructured, dynamics are open and fluid. Everybody is equally important.” Amarinder clearly remembers his first OCC meet. “I fell in love with it. I had a start-up in Jaipur, but when I came to OCC I couldn’t imagine there could be a group so open.” There is no charge and no condition of which language to speak in. They have an active Google group and a Facebook page where meets are scheduled. “Our meet-ups are held all over — in coffee shops, MNCs, Christ College, we even had a meet-up in Rangashankara. We meet in different corners like Whitefield and Banashankari. The venues keep changing to make easier for everyone to attend.”
Thank God It’s Saturday Independent photographer Shankar Subramanian, Anand Sharan, director of Bangalore School of Arts and Photography (BSOAP), with a few passionate photographers, co-founded Thank God It’s Saturday, five years ago. TGiS as it is known among its members, is an exclusive group of photographers, both experienced and amateur, who despite their varied professions get together every Saturday/Sunday to pursue their collective love for photography.” The group was set up to provide a supportive and nurturing space for serious hobbyists who have passed out of BSOAP. “It was set up for them to practice their newly acquired skills,” says Shankar, adding: “Areas of interest vary widely among the members from portraits, wildlife, bird photography, macro-photography, culture and performing arts. TGiS provides a creative space for amateurs to learn from senior hobbyists/professionals about the art of using the full potential of the camera. He says that the focus is not on photo walks. “We have particular themes. For example, we might have an expert give a talk on macro photography and then we start shooting. We share our photos on the group and critique each other’s works. The best photos are selected and we display them in an exhibition once a year.”
Lean in Bangalore
Inspired by Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In, Lean in Bangalore is based on the concept of Lean In Circles that are small groups who meet regularly to learn and grow together. “Circles are as unique as the individuals who start them, but they all share a common bond: the power of peer support,” says founder-member Charanya Chidambaram. “It was started up as a community to help women entrepreneurs. However, our first meeting saw women who are working professionals, designers, and entrepreneurs, as well as students who are at the cusp of stepping into the professional jungle. We heard voices that went beyond the need for support within professional circles alone. As women, we have adapted to all the challenges that are thrown at us on an everyday basis both in personal and professional lives. Hence, Lean In Bangalore is now a community that provides a non-judgemental, open space for women to share their concerns and gain a strong peer-to-peer support group that rallies around them and a space to discuss changes that we would like to see in our professional lives and engage with organisations and leaders to make the change happen through actionable solutions over time.” The group meets once a month and look to network beyond Facebook. “A tribe truly connects when you meet in person. While Facebook and online tools are great to sustain conversations, these conversations can only begin when people meet in a physical space,” says Charanya.
An informal book club
Aneesha Bangera and her friends started an informal book club this year for the love of books. The avid readers meet once in a month. “It’s informal and no, we haven’t named our book club,” says Aneesha. “We do not have a Facebook page or a Whatsapp group. We just have an email thread. There have been days when people have been late or have got confused about the venues. But we all quite like that it’s old-school. We recommend books and then people come with notes, questions. We’re happy that it has grown quite organically.”
Brigge
This is an app that brings like-minded people to meet to engage in activities. “The idea was to build an open platform that leads to real world social interaction,” says Prasanna Jagannathan, who along with Murali Satagopan and Sampath Jagannathan, co-founded Brigge. The idea for the app came when Prasanna and his brother, Sampath, who were in the US, returned to Chennai a couple of years ago and found it hard to find company. “Murali too faced a similar issue. So we decided to build an app for like-minded people.” Available on Android playstore, Brigge has crossed over 1,600 downloads. There are 16 broad categories which has varying activities. “People have done photo, food and heritage walks. There have also been people who found volunteers of scribes for the visually impaired in Chennai,” says Prasanna. In Bengaluru, though the app is still in its infancy, people have met for activities through this app. “There was one activity where people went on a motorcycle ride to Yelagiri. There were some people who met over tea to discuss start-up tech products. There was an early morning walk by a lake.” In the app, people select their areas of interest as per location. You can also create an activity which has a message board to post. People can either join an activity or even follow it.
Ingress
It’s ironical that a mobile game leads to meet-ups, yet that is an integral feature of Ingress, a radical, geographical, community-driven game. Going by the In Game Name MoonsCar42 is Shravan, a young man from Chennai now based in Bengaluru. “I got into this game through a mutual friend. It’s a global game with extremely random people from different walks of life coming together. There are certain requirements in the game that can be fulfilled when played as a team. Over weekends, eight or more people from each faction meet up at places where ‘portals’ in the game are clustered. We share news about the game and a lot about our lives. In rare and extreme cases, both factions meet up, which ends in friendly talk and food, which is always good. The game and community has helped me transition better from Chennai to Bengaluru.”
