BENGALURU: The recent months of lockdown have been both a challenge and blessing for Bharat Thakur. Challenge because his yoga company needed him to improvise, and a blessing because amid serene natural surroundings in Uttarakhand, he has been able to introspect, evaluate, write and study. And out of this came his app called Bharat Thakur Art, which was launched recently.
The app will include live blogs, audios and videos related to art and yoga and more specifically to paintings, sculptures, poetry, music, recipes, posture breathing and even light-hearted banter. Studies about well-known artists, their biographies and techniques, insights into their work will also be part of the app. “I have been largely by myself and I feel as if I’m in the womb of beauty and serene silence. With the yoga company, it felt like I was in the midst of a raging storm in a season of upheavals, at the same time here in Haridwar, I’ve found a quiet zone,” he says. “Undoubtedly, art and yoga go hand in hand.
Yoga is an art. In fact, 25 years ago, we created artistic yoga, knowing that it is not just physical posture, but something that makes you aware of yourself,” adds Thakur, for whom Bengaluru holds a special spot since his painting journey began here in the late 1990s, when he used to do live impromptu paintings and auction work to raise money for yoga workshops. In addition, his studio here beckons him often to the city.
His tryst with art started when he would frenetically produce sketches at night. Then, he took a sabbatical but got back to painting a couple of years ago while playing with water paints to amuse his toddler son. “I find this ‘gift of technology’ full of possibilities for an artist who will be able to connect with several people at one go. Earlier in the lockdown, I also created a yoga app to help people stay healthy which is the need of the hour,” he says.