Ten years and counting
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Surya Prasad is a proud man as Gunagrahi, a journal covering the fine arts, completes a decade in print RANJANI GOVIND
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Avid readership The journal reaches nearly 10,000 readers across the world
Surya Prasad M., musician, columnist and editor of Gunagrahi says: “The completion of a decade in print of Gunagrahi is a proud moment for me. I love the intimacy with fine arts, writing and publishing. The
journey of the English and Kannada monthly journal, which reaches nearly 10,000 readers across the world reflects some noteworthy moments.
To commemorate the decade-long run, an evening of Hindustani gayan, dance-drama and Bharatanatya was organised recently here.
“When I started Gunagrahi in the Nineties, there weren’t any journals dedicated to fine arts,” says Surya Prasad. Karnataka has had a traditional musical lineage with the pitamaha of Carnatic music Purandara Dasa penning thousands of kritis here.And the importance of popularising them gains weight, given the fact that even the royal scions of Mysore Maharaja patronized fine arts for several centuries.The Hindustani genre, equally vibrant in the Northern parts of the State, is proliferating and thriving in Bangalore., the software punches for dilutions and cross-culture influences notwithstanding.“Under the circumstances, it is time we encouraged culture in print and brought about a focussed awareness,” he says.
Gunagrahi features independent articles on music and dance, with profiles and interviews with artistes too. Topical editorials are something Surya Prasad enjoys, just as reviews are the lifeline of the magazine. “We rope in y
oungsters too with rare contemporary CD reviews and music quiz.”
The tenth year specials, however, are indeed singular in their approach. “We have a piece on the dances drawn from prayers and mythological devotional stories. And one more on musical instruments used as tools for experimental research as against any lab- and-classroom research.”
Surya Prasad, who started off as a violinist, belongs to a family of performing musicians. Having taken to the academics of fine arts over the years, he contributes articles in Kannada, English and Hindi for various well-known newspapers across the country. He is regularly invited by the Madhya Pradesh Kala Academy as an Observer for the Kajuraho Dance Festival and the Tansen Music Festival where he records his observations to advise the government body. He is also in the audition committee of Doordarshan and Akashvani. He was the Standing Committee member of Karnataka Sangeetha and Nrithya Academy and the chief editor during the time when Seshadri Gavai was President and the duo were responsible for bringing out 42 books in music and dance in three years during the early Nineties.
When he was the co-ordinator of Bharatanatya Utsav held by the Sangeet Natak Academy in Delhi, he created an appreciable network of young and old artistes of music and dance for documentation process.
Amongst his overseas assignments, his tour of London for lectures and seminar presentations for Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is what he holds close to his heart as the responses from students were overwhelming. Surya Prasad is now the head of the department of Hindi in Vijaya College.
Next year, Gunagrahi birthdays will be commemorated with cultural weeks wherein programmes, cutcheris, lecture-demonstrations and symposiums will help spread awareness of the arts better. This year Guna Nidhi Awards were initiated t
o musicians and musicologists who have worked for the cause.
“Just as I welcome any researched article for Gunagrahi, I will also encourage talent and youngsters to reach to the audience,” says Surya Prasad.
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