VISION TOMMOROW

VISION TOMORROW

This may be quite known to you in terms of the technological development of India but we here are drawing our own vision for the youth of tomorrow to improve their aesthetic sense.

When asked what we are most proud of, without any dint of fogginess in our mind we say “our culture”; then are we true to the youth of tomorrow? As the time passes by, we ponder upon how many of our great artistes have left us and how many of the newcomers have really displayed an iota of their genius, perhaps not many. Then our culture is one of the endangered species of this wild world where the ignored gets lost.

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

And this is what is exactly happening today and ruining the culture of our country. SPICMACAY through its constant effort has been trying to save it. Hence our vision for tomorrow is:

-To be the next Ustads, Gurus, Pandits leading the legacy of the masters of the present Indian culture.

-To grow in number and to move the young minds in harmony with the nature, god and spirits.

-The spirit of service inculcating voluntary work –the hidden agenda of movement SPICMACAY.

-And inspire to aspire.

-For we and for all, to inculcate this wisdom.

Culture is the process by which a person becomes all that they were created capable of being.

SPICMACAY-At THAPAR UNICERSITY

PERFORMANCES AT THAPAR UNIVERSITY

vPt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, the creator of the instrument Mohan Veena, has mesmerized the world with his pristine pure, delicate yet fiery music.

vHe was awarded the highest music award of the world that is The Grammy Award in 1994.

v He has not only spelled his magic in India but also in other countries like U.S.A., U.S.S.R. and European countries.

He visited our university on September 27,2005

vMargi Madhu is an internationally renowned

great exponent and maestro in Koodiyattam.

vKoodiyattam, which is mainly a temple dance, is one of the oldest existing classical theatre forms.

vHe was awarded the Junior Research Fellowship to explore the dying art by the Indian Government. Also conferred the Sanskrit National Award and the Yuva Kala Ratna Award.

vHe visited our University in November,2005.

vKavita Dwibedi is one of the leading exponents of Odissi

dance in India today.

vShe has earned wide acclaim for her performances in countries like the U.S.A. and Canada and including her presentation at the UN Headquarters in New York.

vShe was awarded the Junior Fellowship and was also a recipient of a Govt. of India Scholarship in the field of Music & Dance.

vShe performed in our university on October 12,2006.

• Tindra, the Norwegian group has mesmerized the audience throughout the world by their performances.

• a) Ashild Vetrhus - Folk Song,

b) Jorun Marie - Fiddle,

c) Irene Tillung – Accordion.

• Fiddle which evolved from violin is considered the national instrument of Norway.

• Accordion is a compact form of piano.

• Performed on February 7,2007.

The scholarship scheme

The Scholarship

Scheme

If you are a good artist, a dedicated social worker, a Kathak dancer, or trying to regenerate your spirit and soul by yoga and meditation or a lot number of any such activity; you have the opportunity to spend a complete month(May/June/July) with the Gurus (the people who have dedicated their lives for a larger cause).The Gurus are:

Aruna Roy - a social worker, earlier an IAS officer, Rajasthan	. Dalai Lama Monastery in Dharamshala – Monk, Buddhist preaching
Swami Niranjanand Saraswati – Bihar School of Yoga, Munger	Medha Patekar – social activist
Anjolie Ela Menon - painting, Delhi	Anna Saheb Hazare – social activist, Ralegaon Siddi
Gangadhar Pradhan – odissi dance	Ammanur Madhav Chakyar - dance, Irinjalakuda
Tibetan Nunnery – Buddhist preaching,Dharamshala	Shambhu Hdge – social activist, Honnavar
Teejan Bai – pandavani, Bhilai	Ghulam Mohd. Sheikh – painting, Vadodara
Margi Madhu – Koodiyattam	Isha Guru Loknetra – yoga, Coimbatore
Ram Ashreya Jha – classical vocal, Allahabad	Sulochna Brihaspati - vocal, Delhi
Abdul Rashid Khan – classical vocal, Varanasi	Habib Tanveer - theatre, Bhopal
Chandi Prasad Bhat - environmentalist, Chamoli	Abhay Narayan Malik - vocal, Delhi
Fahimuddin Dagar - dhrupad, Delhi	Father Windy – social activist, Hyderabad

Selected students are sent to these Gurus and they thereby get an opportunity to discover themselves. Students are first called for interview. Requirements are: no-objection certificate from their parents/guardians and bond money of Rs.4000/-. Money is refundable at the end of their 30 day stay with the guru, if they are selected, otherwise immediately after interview. Applicants screened for the interview will be informed by the post. And then selected students are sent for training. Travel expenses to and from the guru’s residence and the staying expenses will be borne by SPICMACAY.

Activities Of SPICMACAY-a BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Along with the cultural awakening, SPICMACAY aims at complete personality development of the youth. We have a number of activities to achieve this MISSION.

v VIRASAT: It is a festival comprising lecture demonstrations, performances and workshops in folk and classical arts, literature, crafts, talks, walks, theatre, films and yoga held in different educational institutions.

v LEC DEMS: Lecture demonstrations are crucial components of our programs of Indian classical music and dance.

· Programs are informal and facilitate a close interaction between the students and the artists.

v FEST: The festival (FEST) series is held within a concert format with a more formal presentation.

· The aim of this series is to inspire the student community with the “real thing” which will be sustained as they attend more and more Lec- Dems and baithaks.

· Held all over the country from January to May.

v NATIONAL ANNUAL CONVENTION: Held in June every year where you are able to witness the wide spectrum of SPICMACAY.

· It brings together members of SPICMACAY from all states at a common platform.

· This year the national convention will be held in Jammu from 18^th June (for almost a week and anyone interested to go can contact).

• It comprises of organizational discussions, films, theatre, workshops on painting, journalism, kalamkari, social- work, crafts, yoga, classical and folk performances my maestros.

v STATE CONVENTION: The state conventions are held in each state twice a year. It is a forum where the operational details are formulated.

v THE SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME: Are you a good painter and admire to spend a complete month (workshop) with Anjolie Ela Menon. Here is an opportunity for you to do so (free of cost). Great Gurus from all walks of life (yoga, dance and meditation, social work and environment) have accepted to offer this scholarship scheme to our selected students.

vSCHOOL INTENSIVE: A five (or six) day intensive experience for school students covering yoga and meditation, classical music and dance, craft and painting, workshop and performances once a year. Here the students learn to enjoy the richness of our culture.

Interview of Dr. Kiran seth

Excerpts from the interview of founder -chairperson of SPICMACAY,Dr.Kiran seth, Prof-Applied Mathematics, IIT DELHI

How did the idea of SPICMACAY come to you and how was it founded?

When I was studying at Columbia University, I heard a concert of Ustad Aminuddin Dagar and Ustad Fariduddin Dagar. I was deeply affected by it –in fact, I felt that I was moving 1 foot above the ground! In 1976, when I started teaching Operations Research at IIT, Delhi, I asked the class if anybody had heard of Nikhil Banerjee. Nobody had heard of him, let alone listen to him. I felt very sad. Shouldn’t we do something I felt?

In SPICMACAY why do you stress on classical music the most?

Indian classical music has been the most experimented amongst all art forms and has the longest tradition in the world. There is immense freedom but it is also bound within a framework. In life, it is also the same. We can’t have complete freedom, for there would be chaos. And we can’t have only bandhan for that would be bondage.

Also we can reach out to young people through the classical performing arts more easily. The medium is very important and it goes beyond language. So children all over can respond to it.

What is your message to today’s youth?

They are very brilliant. They are focused and much smarter and more aware. However, I feel, two things are lacking in them. One is patience. Often, their questions are ready even before I have completed what I am saying. They ask questions before something has even reached them. So, I feel that they should give themselves some time and go deep. Also have a little more faith. To understand anything of depth, patience and faith are important ingredients. Life is not Maggi noodles or instant coffee…

What is your message to SPICMACAY volunteers?

They should know what they are doing. They should understand the depth of what they are doing. This is not a mere organizational exercise.

What is your vision of SPICMACAY in the future, say about 20 or 50 years from now?

20 years from today I would like SPICMACAY to take young people into much greater depth, through more programs, more workshops and more efforts being made at the primary level. It should have spread geographically and content wise. Not just in big cities and towns but even in villages and schools for the underprivileged. We should realize that food is very important to nourish the body and this is also important- for it nurtures the mind and the soul.

50 years from now, I feel there should be no need for SPICMACAY to exist!

the education of a philistine

by-RAMACHANDRA GUHA (an article from The Hindu, dated Dec 05,2004)

A BRITISH band had come to town, and my 11-year-old daughter wanted to go hear them sing. I was resistant to the idea. So we argued, back and forth. "What is this band?" I demanded, adding: "In any case, I cannot allow you to go out at night." "I am going with my friend and her parents," came the reply. "Then what about your homework," I persisted. "Please, Appa," pleaded the child, "I really love their music — they are to me what that Panditji is to you." "Which Panditji," I asked suspiciously. "You know who I am talking of," she came back: "That Panditji whom you forced Amma to go and listen to — the one who is Norah Jones's father."

I guess I might myself have never heard of Pandit Ravi Shankar had it not been for a programme on Vividh Bharati called Svar Sudha. While at university in Delhi I moved on from Svar Sudha to attending live concerts. At just about this time, a young man in Delhi was setting about spreading musical literacy among his fellow Punjabis — while not necessarily excluding the rest of creation. His name was Kiran Seth, and he had lately returned from the United States to teach at the Indian Institute of Technology. In 1977 he started an organisation with a wordy name embodying a weighty ambition. It was called the Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture among Youth — SPICMACAY, for short. The organisation's subsequent growth had been remarkable indeed. It now has some 200 chapters, and holds in excess of 1,000 events annually, mostly in places of learning, but occasionally also in more "public" venues such as a Town Hall. What Svar-Sudha was to my generation, SPICMACAY has been to the generation after mine: that is, a vehicle for transmitting, in palatable form, the traditions of Indian classical music. To have the great artistes sing in your college for you and your friends, is to bring their music far nearer than were it to come over the radio. The concerts are open to all, and free; so sometimes adult interlopers can benefit from them as well.

The last SPICMACAY concert I myself attended was held at my daughter's school. It featured that very fine vocalist Padma Talwalkar. As Padmaji put it, "When SPICMACAY asked me I could not say no." I heard all of Padma Talwalkar's concert; my daughter heard about half of it. She came and sat in the corridor outside the room where the artiste was singing, thus to hear her last two compositions, one of which was a quite magnificent tarana in Hameer. Afterwards I asked her what she thought of it. She did not answer, but her look suggested that she did not now reject her father's music altogether. With luck, and some help from SPICMACAY, my Panditji might one day become hers, too.