Furthering the classics
N. Rajam
Spic-Macay which for 30 years has worked at taking the best of our cultural heritage to schools and colleges across the country and even has branches actively functioning abroad, is running a National School Intensive from till December 31 at Modern School Barakhamba Road. Talking on what exactly this exercise is all about, Kiran Seth, the brains and catalyst behind the entire Spic-Macay effort said, "Today's child, who knows all about computers and information technology, has little time to visit an institution like the ashram, to get a feel of the quietude and utter peace all round." To hear the Gregorian chant sung in a monastery in France, to see a gurukul where Ammanur Madhava Chhakiyar in Irinjalakuda lives and teaches Kudiyattam, to hear Dhrupad being sung by Ustad Aminuddin Dagar in his ashram in Pavel, to learn yoga in the School of Muger - these experiences make one realise "that ashrams are actually scientific laboratories where the inmates experiment with their lives following the results of research work carried out by our ancestors and directed step-by-step by the gurus... ... This is an attempt to bring the ashram to the student". In other words, bringing the mountain — though we are not all Hanumans — to the student, since he will not go to it.
Giving full cooperation for the effort is the Principal of Modern School Lata Vaidyanathan who clarifies, "the School Intensive is a specially designed module to sensitise a carefully chosen group of students and mentors to an intense experience of our virasat through the ashram way of life." From yoga and shramdaan to intensive workshops on puppetry (Dadi Pudumjee) to naad yoga, and film screenings the six days offer a bewildering variety of fare. Dances like Chhau, Kathak and Manipuri, and music of various genres like Dhrupad (vocal) and Rudra veena by Ustads Fariduddin Dagar and Fahimuddin Dagar and Ustad Asad Ali Khan, and Bahauddin Dagar, Hindustani vocal by Ashwini Bhide, Pandit Ram Ashreya Jha and N. Rajam (violin) and Shabad Kirtan by Bhai Manohar Singh and Gurinder Singh are all on the anvil. Heritage walks, Doll's Theatre by Sudip Gupta are also part of the experience.
Students' reactions
When asked what they had derived out of the Spic-Macay programmes, students gave varied answers. "When I listen and watch gurus, I feel inspired", "I get sensitised about my culture which I don't, from any other activity", "I have realized this is what actual knowledge is all about", "It has taught me to care and be selfless", "In six years, I have got the chance of looking beyond the ordinary — all the experiences one does not get in everyday life", "I have found in art a form of expressing everything happening around us", "You enter the world of the gurus, there is a complete catharsis", "All this gives me relief - an outlet listening and watching".
Of gurus who have steadfastly cooperated with Spic-Macay endeavour and are being featured in the school intensive, Ustad Fariduddin said it was a great thing the movement was doing. Dancer Prerana Shrimali said that she had learned from interacting with students, for they sometimes asked questions which set you thinking — like one student asking how she would portray Krishna in the abstract. "It really made me reflect on this aspect." Manipuri Guru Singhajit Singh, while praising the effort, hoped that the media, a very powerful agency today, would give more space to dance. Barring The Hindu, not much worthwhile news about the world of music and dance was seen in papers. "The written word has a lot of persuasive power."
Hosting 300 children from all over India coming from places as far flung as Guwahati, Surat and Puri on the school campus is an enormous task And Lata Vaidyanathan, who maintains that she belonged to a less restless generation than the student of the present, is enthusiastic and ready to face the challenge — full of hope that students will emerge richer inwardly from this experience. Though such an event makes tremendous demands on her, she is earnestly hoping there will be many more such occasions for all to learn from.
LEELA VENKATARAMAN
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