KOCHI: Culture makes people understand each other better. And if they understand each other better in their soul, it is easier to overcome the economic and political barriers, said Paulo Coelho.Over the past 40 years, Kiran Seth, an academician at the IIT in Delhi, has engineered a cultural renaissance in Indian campuses. A faculty of mechanical engineering at IIT Delhi, he has been striving to instil cultural ethos in the minds of the students and making them feel proud of their rich heritage. He found that culture is the cauldron that holds the faith, values and attitudes and Indian classical art, which reflects our tradition is the right medium to converse with the youth. That was the inspiration to start SPIC MACAY, the Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst the Youth, a non-political, voluntary movement in 1977.
“Our education system bombards students with information,” said Kiran Seth. “But it fails to impart knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is the ability to assess and then integrate information into a meaningful whole and wisdom is the capacity to apply knowledge effectively to new situations. True wisdom is understanding the essence of life. Through classical arts, we are trying to enrich the quality of education by increasing awareness about different aspects of Indian heritage and imbibe the values embedded in it. It is a mission to inspire youth through experiencing the mysticism embodied in the cultural tapestry of Indian Heritage and inspire one to become a better human being.”
“Our educational system lacks four qualities - abstraction, subtlety, inspiration and respect for the mystical. SPIC MACAY attempts to sow the seeds of values in the minds. The process may be slow, but it will bear fruit in future. We plant the seeds, Not all seeds will grow. But I am sure some of the seeds will grow and bear fruits. The seeds from those trees will reach far and wide keeping the tradition alive.”
How did the idea of integration through culture germinate in Kiran Seth’s mind?
As a student at IIT Kharagpur, Kiran had the opportunity to savour classical music as a faculty used to organise classical music programmes. He used to sit at the back and play cards. Later while he was doing his PhD at Columbia University, he saw a small advertisement of a presentation by the Dagar brothers at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York. he was moved by the performance and could feel the cultural connect. Then he started arranging performances by great artists from India under the aegis of the India Club of Columbia University. After his PhD, Kiran decided to return to India after he was offered a job in IIT Delhi. He started organising classical music presentation for mechanical engineering students. The first programme in 1976 was a ‘disaster’. But later it started influencing the students.
“We organised a week-long international workshop at IIT Kharagpur from June 3 to 9, this year,” said Kiran. “Around 1,000 students from India and abroad participated in the workshop and around 70 of them were from Pakistan. They used to wake up at 3 am in the morning and undergo a three-hour yoga class. After breakfast, they engaged in ‘shramdan’ devoting their physical labour to clean the campus. In the evening there were performances by great masters of classical arts. We hold a 45-minute demonstration before the performance to help the students understand the art form.”
In 2017-18, SPIC MACAY organised 512 events in 25 towns across Kerala and the volunteers are planning to conduct 2,500 events in the state this year. The plan is to reach out each and every student in Kerala by 2025, said national executive member Velayudha Kurup. The foundation had organised 5,000 events across the country last year.
“We met Chief Secretary Tom Jose in Thiruvananthapuram and presented a project worth Rs 1.15 crore to organise cultural programmes at schools and colleges in the state,” state coordinator S Sundaresan Nair.