Almost two weeks ago, Apple opened its first store in India amidst much fanfare in Mumbai. Apple BKC was followed by Apple Saket in New Delhi two days later. Apple has got the same global retail experience to the Indian shores and a part of the experience is something called Today at Apple. Today at Apple are sessions where creative, artists, Apple Store employees tell users about art, design among other using Apple products. Apple also invites local artists, experts, and community partners to lead hands-on Today at Apple sessions and showcase their talent with in-store performances.
In Mumbai, Today at Apple sessions have been packed to the rafters because artists and experts have been busy telling people about being creative with their Apple devices.
Take the case of Thukral and Tagra, who generate a poetic story unique to users with the help of an iPad and the power of AI. Or Arati Kadav, who uses the iPad and teaches users filmmaking tips and tricks and get hands-on to develop a storyboard for their own sci-fi short. Kadav shares how she brings her narratives to life — from story boarding to filming.
Thukral and Tagra say that they find Today at Apple sessions rewarding as it gives the chances to share their creativity and in the process build audiences. It is not easy to create an engaging learning environment for attendees. Thukral and Tagra say that the care is the key to building and engaging with audiences. “Providing a safe space to learn, and unlearning with audiences who are together under one moment in time,” say the creator duo.
Kadav says that for her the best thing about leading “Today at Apple” was being able to give something substantial to the artist and filmmaking community.
Sanaya Ardeshir is a Mumbai-based artist and producer. She gets hands-on with the iPad and helps users create their own meditative city soundscape. Better know as Sandunes, she is a composer and pianist from Mumbai. “It can be very rewarding when there’s wholesome support and attention to detail in hosting or developing a session to have lasting impact,” she says about hosting one of the first Today at Apple sessions in the country.
What stood out at leading sessions at Apple BKC
For Ardeshir, it was a shared sense of learning and creating together. “Participants who attended the session seemed to have had a very open minded attitude, and this was despite the fact that we had varying degrees of knowledge or experience in sound,” she says. For Thukral and Tagra it was a sense of gratitude and a one of its kind experience. 
Kadav is passionate about the sci-fi genre and found that were artists speaking of fantasy and scifi with so much happiness and confidence. “I found that a very memorable moment to learn that the young new age filmmakers are keen to make innovative fantastical stories. And that they were discovering tools to translate their abstract sci-fi ideas into a visual flow they could go and shoot anytime,” she says. When she went back home after the session, she received a few social media messages where the participants were still cracking the sci-fi story and giving her alternative storyboards. “I found that truly amazing,” she shares.
Ardeshir says that the one of the things that stood out was that the session gave participants an opportunity to unlock new ways of perceiving a set of tools that may already have been available to them. “It has the potential to plant seeds which may actually translate into works in progress – which can be very powerful,” she adds.
