Grammy Award Winner Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhat to perform at Oxford tonight!!

Celebrating 100 years of Begum Akhtar: 3rd November 2014 at The Nehru Centre

WHY SPIC MACAY?

Classical music is often seen as an elitist art form. It is an art which can create a glorious experience for its listeners and takes a huge amount of devotion to portray at a high level and can be enjoyed by all on some level. Indian cultural heritage is from one of the oldest civilizations in earth and some elements of India’s diverse heritage have had a profound impact across the world.

There seems a lack of understanding and therefore interest among people in general in the classical arts in their purest forms - primarily owing to lack of knowledge and exposure. We have encountered numerous occasions where people have asked to organise a bollywood-bharatnatyam or something more fusion style that is catchy, blingy and "more appealing". However, our firm belief in our classical arts and our rich cultural heritage - music, dance, arts, folk, food, handicrafts...the list is endless, has led a group of volunteers to revive a cultural youth movement here in the UK called SPIC MACAY - Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth. (www.spicmacay.co.uk)

SPIC MACAY infact is a youth movement over three decades old, that started in India (www.spicmacay.com) in 1977. It is now a non-profit, registered society in India whose objective is to enrich the quality of formal education by increasing awareness about different aspects of Indian and World heritage and inspiring the young mind to imbibe the values embedded in it. For this, the most accomplished artistes render performances in art forms ranging from classical music and dance, folk, poetry, theatre, traditional paintings, crafts & yoga in the local communities and in the premises of educational institutes.

The SPIC MACAY logo is the inner eye that inspires inquiry and introspection to help an individual become a better human being. This non-profit movement is driven by youth volunteers and works with a wide network of schools and universities. Volunteering offers the chance to give something back to the community or make a difference to the people around them. For others it provides an opportunity to develop new skills or build on existing experience and knowledge while being able to experience these art forms.

SPIC MACAY is currently active in over 1500 academic institutions and holds a staggering 8000 events every year in over 350 cities in India and 50 cities outside India reaching out to more than 2 million students each year. Besides actual performances by renowned maestros, these events include lecture-demonstrations, film screenings and reviews, heritage walks, yoga and meditation sessions and also workshops in classical and folk arts/crafts. As students observe the classical arts, interact with evolved artists & learn about art forms, they imbibe the beauty, grace, humility and discipline that define heritage.

London Virasat 2014 concludes, paves way for a new beginning for inspired youngsters

                                    

                               

              SPIC MACAY and The Nehru Centre celebrate India’s rich cultural heritage

SPIC MACAY and the Nehru Centre recently concluded a week-long festival of Indian Classical Music and Dance, ‘Virasat 2014’ in London at the Nehru Centre from July 28 to August 1, 2014.  This first of its kind exhibition and series of programmes through the week were very well received by locals. SPIC MACAY (Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth) is a voluntary movement which organises about 8000 events in 1500 schools and colleges in 400 cities around the world every year to promote Indian classical music and culture. The Nehru Centre is the cultural wing of the Indian High Commission headed by Minister of Culture Sangeeta Bahadur under the direction of High Commissioner of India Ranjan Mathai.

The London Virasat 2014 festival brought together children, youth and local communities in London and the classical arts in a most interactive and easy-to-understand manner. The festival was attended by people from all walks of life (including well known personalities) and all ages – from school children to university students, families to senior professionals, counsillors to educationists and it also brought together some old SPIC MACAY volunteers who had lost touch with the movement for years!

The London Virasat festival opened with an audio visual presentation to introduce various forms of Indian classical music and dance. There was also a beautiful exhibition curated and made by children between 6 to 15 years on the same theme. 

Sarod maestro Ustad Wajahat Khan spoke on cultural preservation, evolution and the role of SPIC MACAY in promoting India’s classical arts for 37 years in India and around the world. Ustad Wajahat Khan's father, the legendary Ustad Imrat Khan, had presented one the first concert for SPIC MACAY back in 1981. 

Through the event a Bharatanatyam dance workshop was conducted for beginners and children by Guru Usha Raghavan (July 29). 

Lecture-demonstration programme by Padma Shri awardee Kathak Guru Pratap Pawar (July 29) left audience overwhelmed especially after he performed his composition of Bahadur Shah Zafar’s ghazal dedicated to his love for India. Bharatanatyam Guru Usha Raghavan (July 30) demonstrated the beautiful stories of Krishna leela and spoke of the dance form’s evolution from temples to the stage. Ustad Wajahat Khan (August 1) gave a brilliant introduction to Indian music giving a detailed comparative account between the western music and Indian music. He not only played pieces on the sarod but also on sitar but was accompanied by artistes from Rajasthan, India who played Sarangi and Tabla.

Speaking to the media, Ms. Bahadur said, “The Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the Indian High Commission have been encouraging and inviting artistes from India to perform at the Nehru Centre. We are pleased with the response received for Virasat 2014 and that it has inspired several members of the local community.”

Councillor Natasha Sheikh with Sumit Jamuar 

Councillor Natasha Sheikh who attended the closing ceremony along with Councillor Amit (both from the Ealing constituency) enjoyed the sitar and sarod lecture-demonstration recital by Ustad Wajahat Khan and commended SPIC MACAY for having organised a programme of this format and scale. She was particularly impressed by the exhibition and said, “the artwork done by children was incredible. It is a great initiative and must be extended to other youngsters, especially those from the Indian ethnicity as this is their cultural heritage.”

Congratulating the team of volunteers for the grand success of the festival, Executive Chairman of Global Gene Corp, Sumit Jamuar, who serves as Chairman of the UK Advisory Board for SPIC MACAY, said, "We have been delighted by the success of London Virasat 2014 and exceptionally touched by the response from the community. The desire for understanding and experiencing our rich Indian cultural heritage and the accompanying arts has truly been incredible. The spirit of volunteerism is truly alive to organise a festival of this scale. Finally, it is through the generous support of The Nehru Centre and ICCR that we have been able to host the inaugural London Virasat".”

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Says one participant Anisha Safaya, “it was the first time for me and my friends to learn about ragas and their importance in Indian classical music. The format of the programmes was such that we not only learnt the basics of the ragas and various techniques, but also got to watch the maestros perform for us like in a concert.”

Anjelli Wignakumar, a student of Bharatanatyam was delighted to be a part of London Virasat. She said, “It is a great honour to be able to experience our culture and heritage because being brought up in this country, not everyday we are exposed to the way older generations used to live. I feel it is very important that us, the younger generation, explore and delve into our ancestors’ culture and ensure it is not lost. I have found my way of doing this; through the arts. My guru also gave me the chance to dance in Chidamabaram (a temple in Tamil Nadu, India) where Lord Natarajah resides. I addressed the deity directly and I felt an emotional change in the way I danced. From that day on, I danced with more understanding and valued this beautiful art form much more. I hope the work of SPIC MACAY carries on as it is a great learning curve for all those involved and I wish them all the best.”

One of the parents of a child who did the artwork for the exhibition, Mrs. Vemury said, “attended a programme after very long time with Indian culture and flavour. Hats off to Spic Macay and looking forward to contribute to this movement in whatever possible way. Kids really enjoyed and confidently spoke in the stage."

Chief Executive for SPIC MACAY (UK) Lakshmi Kaul sees this as a mere introduction to the work of SPIC MACAY and wants the movement to reach the entire student community across England. She adds, “Virasat 2014 was intended to provide an experiential introduction to India’s classical music and dance to the audience. We are delighted to see such overwhelming response to our programmes. It is heartening to see how the audience have responded positively to our effort and now want to be a part of this movement in whatever way is possible. We hope to take Virasat next year to schools and colleges all over England and make it a series of programmes across locations as opposed to being held at one place alone. Our vision is to have a heritage club in all schools and colleges one day!”

Twitter   @SpicMacayUK

SPIC MACAY UK Volunteers Celebrate Holi

Everyone brought home cooked food - Pot Luck

A fantastic time was had by all playing with colours and water guns

A bring and buy sale was organised - everyone brought items from their homes and sold to raise funds for SPIC MACAY. A total of £60 was raised as a result. Another £66 was raised via the raffle ticket sale & draw.

Over 45 people joined in the celebration and fundraising effort on the occasion of Holi.

Padma Awardees Announced on the eve of India's 65th Republic Day

Following is the list of the 127 awardees of Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri which were announced on the eve of the 65th Republic day.

Padma Vibhushan

The Padma Vibhushan is the second highest civilian award in the Republic of India. It consists of a medal and a citation and is awarded by the President of India. It was established on 2 January 1954. It ranks behind the Bharat Ratna and comes before the Padma Bhushan andPadma Shri. It is awarded to recognize exceptional and distinguished service to the nation in any field, including government service. The first recipients of this award were Satyendra Nath Bose, Nand Lal Bose, Zakir Hussain, Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk, V. K. Krishna Menon in the year 1954. 

The award was established by Presidential decree on 2 January 1954. The Padma Vibhushan was originally established as the Pahela Varg(First Class) of a three-class "Padma Vibhushan" awards. However the structure was changed in 1955 and there is no record of the award being presented to recipients in the original structure. The award was suspended between 1977 and 1980 and between 1992 and 1998. (Source: Wikipedia)

This year's awardees: Dr Raghunath A Mashelkar, Science and Engineering, Maharashtra; B K S Iyengar, Yoga, Maharashtra

Padma Bhushan: The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year. It is conferred by the President of India at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The award was established on 2 January 1954 by the President of India. Shivam Shetty Manohar was the youngest to have received this title. It is awarded to recognize distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field. As of January 2010, 1111 people have thus far received the award. In 2013 the veteran playback singer Mrs.S. Janaki rejected the award, stating that the honour came to her too late and that the artists of South India were not duly recognised. (Source: Wikipedia)

The list of 2014 awardees:

Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, Art-Painting, Gujarat; Begum Parveen Sultana, Art-Classical Singing, Maharashtra; T.H. Vinayakram, Art-Ghatam Artist, Tamil Nadu; Kamal Haasan, Art-Cinema, Tamil Nadu; Justice Dalveer Bhandari, Public Affairs, Delhi; Prof Padmanabhan Balaram, Science and Engineering, Karnataka; Prof Jyeshtharaj Joshi, Science and Engineering, Maharashtra; Dr Madappa Mahadevappa, Science and Engineering, Karnataka; Dr Thirumalachari Ramasami, Science and Engineering, Delhi; Dr Vinod Prakash Sharma, Science and Engineering, Delhi; Dr Radhakrishnan Koppillil, Science and Engineering, Karnataka; Dr Mrityunjay Athreya, Literature and Education, Delhi; Anita Desai, Literature and Education, Delhi; Dr Dhirubhai Thaker, Literature and Education, Gujarat; Vairamuthu, Literature and Education, Tamil Nadu; Ruskin Bond, Literature and Education, Uttarakhand; Pullela Gopichand, Sports-Badminton, Andhra Pradesh; Leander Paes, Sports-Tennis, Maharashtra; Vijayendra Nath Kaul, Civil Service, Delhi; Late Justice Jagdish Sharan Verma, Public Affairs, Uttar Pradesh; Late Dr Anumolu Ramakrishna, Science and Engineering, Andhra Pradesh; Prof Anisuzzaman, Literature and Education, Bangladesh; Prof Lloyd I Rudolph, Literature and Education, USA; Prof Susanne H Rudolph, Literature and Education, USA; Dr (Smt) Neelam Kler, Medicine-Neonatology, Delhi

SPIC MACAY Poster by our 5 year old volunteer!

Nainika Tikoo, age 5  years decided to make a poster on SPIC MACAY!!! She wanted to write what we do at spic macay. :)) She was not asked by anybody to do it and this was her own project. She did this on her own initiative. She wants to talk to her class about SPIC MACAY at "Show and Tell". 

  

Transcript of her poster (handwriting is a bit hard to read for some of us):

Spic Macay: Created by - Nainika

What we do at Spic Macay
1. We do dancing
2. Meeting
3. Programme
4. Singing
5. Workshops

What are workshops?
They are for making. I did it as well. Do you want to do it?

Happy New Year!!

SM Volunteers Get Together: 29th December 2013

 Over the last 6 months, we have all worked very hard and given of our time, resources and ourselves to the revival of the presence of SPIC MACAY in the UK.

To celebrate our hard work throughout 2013 along with its many successes and failures, as we have only grown from strength to strength; learning from our mistakes and repeating good practices. A big thank you to all the lovely volunteers and friends who came and joined us in our celebration.A big thanks also to those who couldn't make it in person but were there very much in spirit at the First Annual Get Together of Spic Macay UK volunteers. There was home cooked food made lovingly by the volunteers and served affection. 

More photos on our Facebook page: www.facebok.com/spicmacayeurope

Paying our tribute to the sitar maestro - Late Pt. Ravi Shankar

It is exactly a year since the maestro, the guru Pt. Ravi Shankar left for the heavenly abode. 


"It is very important that our government introduces classical music, dance and other art forms on a compulsory basis right from the kindergarten level. We need a conservatory of music and music colleges. I wish all the millionaires and billionaires in India would contribute something to the art of their country. I am not condemning any type of music but when the whole world comes to see and visit India, it’s the incredible tradition of this wonderful country that attracts them." - Excerpts from a conversation between Raviji and Satish and Shashi Vyas, June 2007.

(http://www.ravishankar.org/)

The maestro helped nurture and preserve the beautiful legacy passed onto him by his seniors and he left a legacy that we today proudly uphold. Every one of us as volunteers of this beautiful movement called SPIC MACAY have a responsibility and duty to carry forth this torch. Please pause and reflect on the life and legacy of our gurus. 

Holywell Music Room resonates the sound of the sitar and cello: Oxford Chapter Inaugural

The performance by Pt. Shubhendra Rao (sitar) and Smt. Saskia de Haas (Indian cello), accompanied by Sh. Biplab Bhattacharya (tabla) marked the inauguration of the Oxford chapter of SPIC MACAY, UK.  

We are delighted to share with you glimpses of this beautiful event organised by the volunteers of Spic Macay, UK. Special thanks to our lovely team at Oxford led by Vikaran Khanna, President of the Oxford India Society.

We are extremely grateful to our esteemed artistes, Pt Shubhendra Rao (sitar) and Smt Saskia de Haas (Indian cello), accompanied by Sh Biplab Bhattacharya on tabla, for giving us all glimpses into the magic of the ragas. The marriage of the sounds of the sitar and Indian cello was absolutely mesmerising.

There were 140 people in the audience and they didn't want the artistes to stop!!! So mesmerised that they just insisted on 'one more'. The audience included not only the students, professors but also professionals residents of Oxford.


The QnA that followed saw a number of questions being asked. One of the most interesting questions asked was: "what is the role of silence in music?"Another was on the importance of having the drone - tamboora/tanpura in the background.

The performance lasted for close to 1 hour 40 minutes followed by the QnA. Once the performance was over, the audience gathered up near the stage to ask more questions and interact.

We are grateful to the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) for their kind support in making this event possible. This was a first of its kind event for the crowds and clearly there is a lot of demand and need to organise more such interactive programmes. We are also very grateful to Shubhendra ji for very kindly telling the members of the audience, the value of being a part of this beautiful movement - Spic Macay!

Shubhendra ji and Saskia ji to create magic in Oxford

Chintan - Reflections on SPIC MACAY and its core values

CHINTAN, Reflections on SPIC MACAY and its Core Values is a collection of articles that have mostly been published as ‘Conceptual Corners’ in the movement’s national newsletter Sandesh over the last eight years. Many of these articles reinstate the philosophy and ideology that, like our rich cultural heritage, have been passed on through generations. Others reflect concepts, discussions and experimentations with ideas during various stages of the movement. The intention of this publication is to document all the above that have guided the direction and growth of SPIC MACAY over the past three decades.

Volunteers, who have worked together on this compilation, were spread out over three continents. For them it has been a unique experience challenging and elevating at the same time. While coordinating harmoniously between widely varied time zones through high-speed technology, the message of this work made them pause and introspect, imbibe and feel inspired. May the same experience touch every reader’s mind and spirit! 

Click here to download the publication.

Cambridge & Warwick welcome Meeta ji

Our Weekly Meetings in London

LONDON CHAPTER

Every Sunday, we meet at the University College, London. Join us at UCL’s beautiful campus in Bloomsbury, London.

Day & Time: Every Sunday @ 1 pm

Directions:  WC1E 6BT

Road:       Gower Street, Bloomsbury

Tube:       Euston Square

Bus:         University College Hospital

To know more, email us at london@spicmacay.com or

call Lakshmi Kaul at 07896851813.
www.spicmacay.com

‘Like’ us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/spicmacayeurope

Some snapshots of our meetings in the past:

Welcome to SPIC MACAY UK & Europe

SPIC MACAY – An Initiative in Holistic Education

SPIC MACAY (Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth) is a non-political, non-profit, registered society founded in 1977 by Dr Kiran Seth, a Prof at IIT-Delhi who was awarded the ‘Padma Shri’ for his contribution to the arts in 2009.

SPICMACAY’s intention is to enrich the quality of formal education by increasing awareness about different aspects of Indian heritage and inspiring the young mind to imbibe the values embedded in it. For this, the most accomplished artistes of the country render programmes of Indian classical music and dance, folk, poetry, theatre, traditional paintings, crafts & yog in the premises of an education institution. Focus is on the student in schools and colleges. In 2011-12, 4600+ programmes were organised in more than 1500 institutions in 300 towns in India and 50 towns abroad impacting more than 2 million students.

All these programmes were organised by thousands of volunteers – students, teachers, housewives, retired people, professionals, young and old. SPIC MACAY celebrates Nishkaam Seva - the spirit of volunteerism – of giving selflessly without expectation.