‘Culture and biz go hand in hand’

From heritage walks to literary festivals, a month to celebrate dance, music and the city itself, Chennai has been the cultural hub of India for several years.

CHENNAI: From heritage walks to literary festivals, a month to celebrate dance, music and the city itself, Chennai has been the cultural hub of India for several years. While all this has been achieved by the efforts of artistes, a large share of it also goes to private/business sector too.

In the latest edition of Heart of Matter series, hosted by InKo Centre, business journalist and author Sushila Ravindranath and historian-cum-entrepreneur Sriram V discussed things that make Chennai unique, both in creativity and entrepreneurship.

Talking about this synergy, the veteran journalist said, “Culture and business in the city have been intertwined since long and you simply cannot have culture without money.”

With a centuries’ old culture, documentation of poetry, dance and music have helped in analysing the culture-business connection in the city. For instance, about 200 years back, musicians were sponsored by rich men to perform, and the tradition still continues. “It was business that brought arts to this part of the world and nothing else!” stated Sriram.

Everyone, including the British, landed in Madras for the sole purpose of business, and gradually arts and entertainment became a part of it. “It’s not just Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam. We support any genre...so as the city grows, the culture and business grows too,” she shared.

From the first woman sound recorder in the world — Meenakshi Narayanan to people taking to classes through Skype, the city has come a long way. “There’s a mix of culture and entrepreneurship everywhere; that connect makes it big,” she added.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com