Patna-born Sanjiv Kumar quit his job at a nationalised Indian bank in 1988 when he realised that he cannot change the world as a banker. “I thought I’ll do anything else, and if nothing works, I’ll get back to my village and start farming. I wanted to do something that directly benefits the society,” he explains. Next, he tried his hand at real estate development in New Delhi. And then went on to open three Delhi Public School (DPS) franchises across the country. But something was amiss.
It was at these campuses that he felt the need for his students to have a strong foundation in the arts, which eventually led to the birth of Takshila. “Without a culture of rooting ourselves into the practice and interaction of the arts what we will have is a population of jungles,” he says adding, “We started having art events along the boundary walls of our schools. There were display of visual arts, and although the effect was slow in manifesting, people noted the difference. This was what, at a later stage, evolved into Takshila.”
Kumar founded the Takshila Educational Society in 1997 to provide his students a strong foundation in the various art forms, apart from the usual drill of necessary subjects and holistic extra curriculars. This initiative, within a few years, indicated a need for an accessible to all, multi-art platform. The conviction for an inclusive and throbbing space for all streams of performing and visual arts, literature and cinema only grew stronger when he visited the Prithvi Theatres in Mumbai, sometime in 2009-10.Patna needed something like Prithvi, he thought.
Arthshila came into being in 2016. “Arts are an integral part of our lives and contribute to our overall well being,” says Kumar, explaining that the vision behind Arthshila was to create a vibrant space for all art forms to reside in harmony. Today, the venue hosts performances in the various dance forms and theatres, screens documentaries, and hold debates. This dynamic multicultural arts centre in the heart of Patna is fast becoming one of the major attractions in the city. With the support of a diverse group of advisories, it showcases exclusive experiments in culture from within India and across the world.
Arthshila is still very much a work in progress. A permanent and a temporary art galleries are under construction. “We already have curated some paintings for the permanent art gallery, but since our budget is small and self-developed, this will take another year to formulate,” Kumar informs. “We are brainstorming on what verticals to include and how we can bring in more students to use our spaces creatively and for their growth.” As we spoke, fervent preparations were underway for a classical dance evening with Kathak exponent, Elisha Deep Garg, and Odissi dancer, Arushi Mudgal.