Heritage saviour rues fading interest

NEW DELHI: On his deathbed a few years ago, Ram Kailash Yadav, the Bhojpuri Birha singer from eastern Uttar Pradesh, had seized the hand of Kiran Seth and said, "Birha ko bacha lo (save Birha)." That's the sort of faith artistes repose in Spic Macay, a non-profit organization the IIT-Delhi professor launched in 1977 and its power to revive the dying art forms of the country.
"We have all joined the Spic Macay gharana," jokes flautist Rajendra Prasanna before performing at Maulana Azad Medical College, one of three colleges where Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth (Spic Macay) organized the cultural festival, Virasat, on Monday.
Over 500 artistes — musicians, dancers, craftsmen, theatre-persons — are currently associated with the organization, which holds over 5,000 events per year in educational institutions across the world. Seth has come a long way from standing at the door of Crown Hotel, near Masjid Fatehpuri, and practically begging Bismillah Khan to perform. But another set of experiences had led him to that point.
An administrative officer at IIT Kharagpur where Seth studied used to organize an overnight classical music programme called "Green Amateur's Night". "We used to sit at the back, keep an eye on who's coming, play cards and then go to sleep," he says.
His own taste inclined more toward the Beatles than Bhimsen Joshi. A performance by the senior Dagar brothers — Nasir Moinuddin Dagar and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar — at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York, changed him. "It was a very powerful experience and I felt as if the seed sown by the Green Amateur's Night had finally grown into a shoot," Seth, now 65, says. Once back in India, as a faculty member at IIT-Delhi, he set up Spic Macay. The first programme was held on the IIT campus which featured the Dagar brothers. "We did a lot of publicity for the programme; initially, there were five people in the hall, it rose to 10 in the middle and then dropped to five again by the end," he says.
Seth then approached Bismillah Khan, who initially turned down his request due to low fee. "We pay the artistes who perform at our shows," explains Seth, "If the art has to survive, the artiste must survive. Now, 90% don't even ask how much we can pay ." He spent long trying to convince Khan who finally said, "Chalo, ham kar lete hai (Okay , I'll do it)." Seth was then able to rally in support from many Alisters, including Birju Maharaj, Amjad Ali Khan, Sonal Mansingh, and hold concerts in top institutions. Shows are still not ticketed and the fee paid is a fraction of what the maestros charge for regular performances.
Early support from the eminent artistes has also meant Spic Macay is able to lend crucial support to little-known or neglected art forms and instruments — Birha, Pandavani, a folk singing style involving the narration of tales from Mahabharata, Koodiyattam, a form of Sanskrit theatre performed in Kerala, instruments such as rudra veena and gottuvadyam.
"Students with whom we interact don't know much about the classical music," violinist N Rajam says, adding, "But I was a professor at Banaras Hindu University, so dealing with students comes naturally to me. I do more than 20 events in a year for Spic Macay and their vision is my vision."
Stressing the need to hold classical music shows, dhrupad singer Wasifuddin Dagar says, "There are no dedicated channels for classical music apart from Doordarshan. Why can't private channels also host a few classical shows?" His father and uncle have long been associated with Spic Macay; even he performs at more than a dozen concerts a year.
For remote locations such as Arunachal Pradesh and Andaman, Spic Macay has a workshop-demonstration format. "The aim is not to teach," says Seth adding, "Spic Macay offers a gurushishya parampara, where youths can spend a month with a master."
Despite its unquestionable contribution and wide reach, Seth calls Spic Macay a "banjara" organization. It has a single office — a flat at Modern School, Barakhamba Road — where he and volunteers meet every Saturday. The venue changes to IIT-Delhi on Wednesdays. There are senior volunteers who helm the "movement" as Seth likes to call what Spic Macay does that as well junior ones at school and college level.
Neerja Sarin (64), a senior volunteer, who handles the folk arts and crafts section said, "I organize talks, exhibitions and workshops and have to explain to participants that this isn't a hobby class." Sarin, who also works with international chapters, says those in the US and Hong Kong are the most active.