9GOMANTAK TIMESPANAJI, October 7, 2018FOCUS GT WEEKENDER

The seasonal hostel unites artists from different parts of the world to form a community unlike any other. GT scribe VALENCIA MASCARENHAS fi nds out more about the artistic place.

QUOTES FROM ARTISTSI am pursuing my bachelor’s in Indian

Classical Music in Ahmedabad and this is my fi rst experience to such a hostel. ImagiNation gives you space to

rediscover ourself as an artists and I don’t want to restrict myself to only Indian Classical Music but also learn other forms of music.”

- KEVIN UPADHYAYA, 18Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

I came to ImagiNation because of its catchy name.

The experience has been amazing as I met people from so many diff erent countries, and each of them had their

own unique essence. I had a lot to learn about people and their perspectives. When artists get together, magic is bound to be created.”

-AANCHAL GEHI, 25Travel enthusiast, Drummer and psychologist, Pune.

We were so welcomed at the hostel that we felt like

we’d walked back into our home in England. Everyone felt completely on the same wavelength, there was no egotism

or self indulgence - only support for your art, and a collaborative vibe from all around the globe. - CHANTELLE AND CONNOR,

Musicians

THE FOUNDERS

Dream come true for Pareen Lathia and Mansi Sheth Q. What was the idea behind coming up with a hostel for artists?A: ImagiNation is a place that was built out of an idea to give space to artists who have dared to venture down the path of fi nding their own voice. Many talented youngsters want to pursue their passion but get bogged down by the discourage-ment from their friends and family. It is especially diffi cult in the phase where they quit their jobs and are looking to take that fi rst step. ImagiNation provides a safe space at such time and a community that is ready to help.

Q. What are the facilities provided for artists?A: The hostel is designed for artists with numerous instruments for musicians (an electric guitar, a Drumkit, Cajon, Djembes, Keyboard, Acoustic Guitar, and Tab-la). We have canvasses, colors, palettes, and brushes for painters. Last but not the least, a library of hand-picked high-quality books.

There is a cozy little place for them to stay with other artists, a quiet working area to practice their art, write and work and a jam / chill area where they can meet, talk to others and play music.

Q. How has the journey been so far?A: Initially, we started with Happy Panda, a 30-bed hostel in Arambol in the year 2016 wherein we had the opportunity to host 1500 artists from 43 countries in just 10 months. Later, we sold the place and started with an 8-bed hostel especially for artists. ImagiNation was visited by 70 artists from 23 countries in just 6 months in 2017. This year we are looking to host artists who want to quit their jobs and pursue their art full-time and help

them in any way we can.The journey has been rewarding, to say the least. We made friends for life,

learned many things from everyone, and created songs, paintings, and memories of a lifetime.

Q. How do you help artists in fi nding their dreams?A: We are looking for artists who have already learned on their own and do not consider their art as a “hobby”. In India especially, writing, poetry, music is con-sidered a hobby. We want to change that. These are pursuits for life and we wish to support those passionate artists who dedicate their lives to their art.

Apart from providing a safe space to open up, we help them with acquiring skills by connecting them to the gurus in their fi eld, by helping them fi nd their own voice and understand the importance of marketing and branding their artwork. Since both of us come from a startup background, we have connections across the coun-try that can help provide a platform to market their art.

Last year we had a guest from Finland named Anna Petäjä who had a great voice but was a bit nervous about singing. After a few days, we heard her singing and recommended her to participate in an open mic at a cafe in Arambol. This was her fi rst such interaction but it gave her enough confi dence to perform at several other venues.

Q. What led to the birth of ImagiNation?A: We are two crazy people who quit the city life of Mumbai and relocated to Goa because we were tired of our urban life. We hate the hyper-consumerist lifestyle, corporate work culture, media overdose, and money becoming the sole driver of society. Meeting several travellers and artists, we realised that we were actually fed up of all the lies being peddled for short-term benefi ts. Being with artists de-toxed our soul of these lies.

In this circus of democracy, only artists can speak the truth and have an in-centive to do so. Artists are a known exception in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Today, more than ever, we need more artists to imagine, create a world where these interests are aligned.

BY VALENCIA MASCARENHASvalleymascarenhas@gmail.com

Pareen Lathia and Mansi Sheth had a common dream of mov-ing to Goa like many other people who wish to quit the busy life of metro cities. Their

lives changed completely when they met several travellers and artists and real-ised the need to listen to their hearts.

“We sold everything that we owned and came to Arambol. We told our fam-ily that we are taking a year’s break but we had no idea of what we would do in Goa,“ said Pareen Lathia, Co-Founder of ImagiNation with a huge smile.

They landed in Arambol in 2016 while working on a non-profi t project and fell in love with the community and the pristine beach. While staying in the hippie village of Arambol, they found a great place to start a hostel. Thus, ‘Hap-py Panda Hostel’ was born. It was the fi rst hostel in Arambol. In a short span of 10 months, the place attracted about 1500 people from 43 countries and was ranked on all travel portals like Hostel-World, Booking.com, and Trip Advisor.

“We were looking to travel the world but we ended up bringing the world to us. We just wanted to meet people, ex-plore their cultures without thinking about making a profi t,” Mansi told GT.

“But since it gained the top posi-tion, Happy Panda started to become commercialised quickly. We had guests sleeping on the fl oor, in tents and even in our house outside the hostel. Since the hostel was doing well, and we had invested our hard earned savings, we worked very hard leaving no time for ourselves. We found ourselves in the

vicious cycle again. We were exploring our options when we connected with the founders of Zostel and they sent their EDP participants to stay with us. They liked the hostel, so much that they continued with the brand Happy Panda instead of franchising it to Zostel”, she added.

“After selling Happy Panda, we just rented an apartment and were living in Arambol. We had a friend - Aarsh Meh-ta, a writer and poet - who stayed with us for a few days and he liked the peace-ful environment. He found himself to be much more creative in this environ-

ment. One day he said, why don’t you make a hostel for writers? I will get all the writers and poets from Mumbai. His advice acted as a seed and thus ‘Imagi-Nation’ was started in 2017 after selling Happy Panda”.

ImagiNation is open from October to March with a limit of 8 beds built exclu-sively for artists. It has been visited by over 60 artists from 21 countries includ-ing musicians, painters, writers, poets, a wood carver, photographers, jewellery designers, a rapper, theatre artists and chefs.

The quintessential place is apt for

artists with all the musical instruments, a huge library, and a view of the hills from all four sides for those looking for

products,” stated Roshan who is busy shaping his snake-shaped hairpin.

The best thing about this place is that you feel like home with similar people like you. It provides a platform to connect with various other people across the globe and helps us to understand their ideas and skills, he added.

Anna Petäjä from Finland is a shy girl with great potential for singing and chose to come to ImagiNation after her friend recommended her to stay at the hostel for six weeks.

“With great support from friends at Imagination, I decided to perform at an open mic and then I ended up perform-ing at several venues. In the end, it was something completely new to me. We also formed a duo with a friend from Sweden from the hostel who played with me. I re-alised that if I really want to do this there are all these possibilities to move forward. I am very grateful that they pushed me to go and play and also came to see every single one of my performances, said the young musician who continues with her musical journey across India,” she cited.

Another talented musician, Nizar Jubran from Palestine, found his lady love from Australia - who is a writer and a painter - during his 1-month stay at Imag-iNation. Nizar plays the bass guitar, key-board, and synthesiser. He was a part of several bands and performed at some of the biggest venues in Arambol.

“The best thing about the hostel is that it is not built to make money, but is built to provide space to budding artists who are accepted as they are without any judgements. It’s a community of creative people from different cultures who stay in harmony under one roof. The place is spacious which helped us to rehearse for long hours and motivated us to do more,” stated Jubran.

Band practice: (In pic from left: Omri from Israel, Nizar from Palestine, Anandadeep Murli from Varanasi and Luca from Poland).

Nina and Antu from Finland painting.

Drummer / Jam sessions (In pic: Aanchal Goel from Pune who is a psychologist and a drummer)

Meditation session in the morning

inspiration. The day starts with a beauti-ful sunrise - which is visible from the balcony and dorm rooms - and sets as the family gathers on their terrace to watch the sunset from. Evenings are fi lled with jamming sessions, campfi re, a poetry evening, mov-ie screening, or just conversations about life and the universe.

Artists from around the world converge at one place and share their cul-ture, knowledge, and skills. The stay is affordable with a minimum charge of Rs 200 per day and increases to Rs 500 during the peak sea-son.

27-year-old Roshan Dongare is a wood crafter from Mumbai

who quit his job as an event manager and eventually decided to travel while living off art. He makes wearable wood carvings like pendants, hairpins, decoration items like lamps, candle stands, windchimes and sells it at cafes or at the Arambol beach.

“Last year, I was encouraged to visit the fl ea market by the ImagiNation team with my products which were appreci-ated by the hippie travellers who visited the beach. Slowly I gained confi dence and now I am travelling the country by selling my woodcraft. Goa has a good market with tourists who love buying such handmade

Project aims: Provide a safe space where artists are encouraged to create their best work Help artists learn through workshops, peer-learning, self-learning, and practice Help people earn their living from their art Provide a get-away / co-working space to artists Provide a space without censorship - where artists can create anything they want

Pareen Lathia and Mansi Sheth

‘ImagiNation’, a hostel for artists in Arambol‘ImagiNation’, a hostel for artists in Arambol