Cultural catalyst
SARASWATHY NAGARAJAN
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Kiran Seth talks about SPICMACAY’s three-decade-long journey and the challenge that lies ahead.
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Photo: S. Mahinsha
Leading the way: Kiran Seth.
Awards and honours, including the Padma Shri and NDTV Man of the Year Award (2007), sit lightly on this sparsely built man. But for 32 years, on those shoulders have rested the responsibility of setting up, building and mentoring the Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth. The contraction SPICMACAY would immediately ring a bell for generations of youngsters who were exposed to the richness and diversity of India’s heritage on account of the programmes and lecture-demonstrations organised by the cultural body that was founded by Kiran Seth in 1977.
Dr. Seth was in Thiruvananthapuram ahead of the national convention of the SPICMACAY which will be held from May 24 to May 29 in the capital city. Excerpts from an interview where Dr. Seth, Professor of Applied Mathematics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, talked about SPIC-MACAY’s three-decade-long journey through the campuses of India and his personal encounters with India’s artistic and cultural heritage and its torch-bearers.
The journey
It has been a story of more failures than successes. What we have been trying to achieve is not something tangible. It is subtle, abstract and the gestation period is rather long. But our enthusiastic volunteers have kept the spirit of the movement alive.
As a student of IIT-Kharagpur in the fifties, we used to attend an all-night music festival called Green Amateur Night conducted by D. Sen, a staff member in our college. We used to sit at the back, play cards and so on… I was a fan of the Beatles (right on top of the list), Jimi Hendrix, Sting, Pink Floyd, The Mamas and the Papas… After my graduation, I joined Columbia University and happened to hear a concert of the Dagar brothers. I was swept away by their music. It was a turning point for me. The seed that was sown during my IIT days sprouted on that day. It made me wonder why I had not heard of singers and musicians like Nikhil Bannerjee, D.K. Pattammal, M.S. Subbulakshmi, Gangubai Hangal, Ustad Vilayat Khan or Chembai while I was familiar with Bach, Mozart and Beethoven and the pop groups that were the rage then.
Did it have something to do with my upbringing? When I could be moved so powerfully by the music, why should it not do the same for others too.
SPICMACAY
Thus was born SPICMACAY which brings the best of Indian artistes to the campuses in India. The cultural dialogues initiated by SPICMACAY has maestros from myriad fields visiting academic institutions to reach out to students. I have students in North India completely smitten by Koodiyattam and Kathakali performances.
Unfortunately a monetary-driven society and a celebrity-driven media have had its influence on many youngsters who lack the patience and the effort to understand the nuances of our cultural traditions that have been developed over thousands of years. I fear some of our great arts may one day be confined to the museums if we do not act now to reach out to the young generation.
All show and no soul
I am perturbed by the tendency among artistes to focus on show and not content. I remember a true story about Ammannur Madhava Chakyar. Once he was in the midst of a Koodiyattam recital at the Koodalmanikyam Temple when someone peered in through a door. Not a single person was there to see the performance. Madhavji was absorbed in his recital. Afterward, he was asked if the lack of an audience bothered him. He replied: ‘Why should it affect me. I was offering my prayers.’ That introspective aspect of our music and art seems to be missing now. Performances are technically perfect, slick presentations but somehow the bhava, the rasa seems to be missing. I find that many performances do not move me the way a Chembai recording would do even now. Many of our concerts seem to be focussed on kritis without enough time given to the alaap. The alaap is the essence of a concert. One has to build it up brick by brick. I have heard maestros render an alaap in a raga for three hours. Now it is dismissed in 10 to 15 minutes.
Music and the self
Our performing arts help one connect with the self. I call it ‘Nad Yog.’ It is unique and each rasika connects with his inner self in a way that is unique to him. And our mission is to help each one discover his/her path to the self.
Mentoring
There is a paucity of role models in today’s world. We hope to correct that lacuna by offering this scheme by which those selected for this scheme gets to spend a month in the company of a great artiste or role model. Youngsters from all over India between the ages of 14 and 26 are chosen for this scheme. We have had young people spending time with the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Ammannur Madhava Chakyar and so on. Many of them are transformed by the experience.
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