Arunodaya Kala Niketan

Over here at Chembur A/16, things at Arunodaya Kala Niketan are usually quite loud, but in a good way. You hear the music or the sound of feet tapping on the wooden floor most afternoons. This part of Chembur is okay, it has its own rhythm and feel. We’ve been in this building for a long time, and the walls have seen a lot of students come and go. It’s not a big corporate space or anything like that. It’s more like a place where people just show up to learn something they actually enjoy. Some of the kids have been coming here since they were very small, and now they are taller than most of the adults. We don’t really do big speeches or fancy ads to get people in. Mostly, people just find us because they live nearby or heard about us from a neighbor at the market. The room gets a bit stuffy when there are too many people practicing at once, so we keep the windows open. You can hear the street noise from outside mixing with whatever we are doing inside. It’s a bit messy sometimes, with bags left in the corner and water bottles everywhere on the benches. We just focus on the classes and the practice. It’s a simple setup. If you walk past A/16, you’ll probably see us there. Nothing too complicated about it, just a local spot for art and learning things.