The Seven Gems - spic macay

To Inform & InspireFor private circulation onlyVol.15 - No. 2 - October 2009Society for the Promotion of IndianClassical Music and Culture Amongst YouthINSIDE1Dedications...................................6ConceptualCorner...................................7State News...................................10Convention Photos...................................13Trust WithA Mystic...................................14New Website...................................15I Feel Strongly...................................17NationalConventionReport...................................19NE DecisionsThe Seven GemsVirasat ‘09 is dedicated to those who left us this yearD.K. PATTAMMAL(1919 - 2009)Smt Pattammal once said in an interview thatshe was the first Brahmin to come on stage as aCarnatic singer, like Rukminidevi was forBharatnatyam. “I was 10 when my father'sfriends approached him to let me sing for agramophone record company. First, my fatherrefused, fearing that the record will be played atall and sundry places. He did not want the worksof great masters like Thyagaraja and Dikshitarand his daughter's voice to be heard at such places.Then Dr. Srinivasan of Kancheepuram, who ismy husband's uncle (I was not married then),persuaded my father to let me sing. My schoolheadmistress, Ammukutti-amma, also urged myfather to let me accept the offer. After a lot ofpressure from a number of his friends, my fatherfinally agreed.”Life & TimesPattammal, born in an orthodox Brahminfamily in Kancheepuram of Tamil Nadu, wasnamed as Alamelu, but fondly called "Patta" as achild prodigy. Her father, Damal KrishnaswamyDikshithar inspired her to learn Carnatic music.She received no formal gurukul training. As achild, Pattammal would sit through the concertsand on returning home, would notate the kritisshe heard and key phrases of ragas. Her brothersD. K. Ranganathan, D.K Nagarajan and D. K.Jayaraman - later her vocal accompanists,helped her in this task. She would also sing simpledevotional hymns and songs that her father hadtaught her and received tuition from anunnamed Telugu-speaking musician.Singing careerIn 1929, at age 10, Pattamal gave her firstradio performance for Madras Corporation Radio(MCR) and 3 years later, she gave her first publicconcert at Madras Rasika Ranjani Sabha in 1932.She soon moved to Chennai to become a regularperformer in concerts and gave her firstperformance at the Mahila Samajam (the EgmoreLadies Club), and won acclaim. In 1939,Pattammal married R. Iswaran and quickly roseto stardom with her musical career spanningmore than 65 years!Pattammal was also the first woman to haveperformed Ragam Thanam Pallavi in concerts.Ragam Thanam Pallavi was classed as a malestronghold and is the most difficult concert itemin Carnatic music, as it calls for great skill and aPattammal was the first Brahminwoman to sing on stage, likeRukminidevi was forBharatnatyam.high degree of concentration to handle therhythmic complexities involved. She wentfurther to perform very complex Pallavis inintricate talas (rhythmic cycles); impressing andearning the respect of her male peers,connoisseurs and fellow-musicians. Today, manyfemale Carnatic musicians perform RagamThanam Pallavi as the main item in theirconcerts.Pattammal possessed a full-throated voicein the low alto/high tenor range. Her outstandingmusical qualities included an overwhelmingtechnical expertise, an uncompromisingadherence to pitch and rhythm and clearenunciation of lyrics. She also has a reputationas a very disciplined musician. As a child she wokeup before dawn and practised for hours.

we rememberSandesh2 October 2009Throughout her performing career shemeticulously planned her concertitems weeks in advance and practisedrigorously.LegacySmt Pttamal's legacy is being carriedforward by he grand daughter, Dr.Nithyasree Mahadevan, also referredto as S. Nithyashri, who is an eminentCarnatic musician and playbacksinger for film songs in many Indianlanguages.GANGUBAI HANGAL(1913 –2009)GANGUBAI's deep and powerful voicewill always resonate in the ears ofevery connoisseur of Hindustaniclassical music. Her passing away hasended an illustrious musical careerspanning over 70 years.Gangubai Hangal was born in1913 in Hangal village (from whereshe gets her second name) of Dharwaddistrict in Karnataka to Chikku RaoNadiger, an agriculturist and Ambabai, a vocalist of Carnatic music.Hangal received only elementaryeducation and her family shifted toHubli in 1928. She began to trainformally aged 13 at the music schoolof Krishna Acharya, studyingHindustani classical music instead ofCarnatic music. Following in hermother's footsteps Gangubai settledearly in marriage with Gururao Kaulgiat the age of 16. Unfortunately herhusband died after just four years oftheir marriage.However, she continued to learnmusic and pay for her home too. Shelearned from Dattopant Desai beforestudying under Pt. RambhauKundgolkar, better known as SawaiGandharva --guru and teacher tomany eminent musicians includingPt. Bhimsen Joshi and Firoze Dastur.Another strong influence onGangubai's music, though indirect,was the singer from Agra, Zohrabai.At first Hangal could only studysporadically under Gandharva whenhe returned to his home, but receivedan intensive training of three yearsafter he relocated permanently toHubli. She was soon following theKirana Gharana. She once said thatthe reason she chose Hindustani overCarnatic was because of her motherwho loved the former. “Light musicwas never my forte. My voice is moresuited to singing only pure classical,"she once said.Singing CareerHangal's family was considered froma low social status and for women ofher generation singing was notconsidered appropriate employment;Hangal struggled against thisprejudice and made a career. Sheperformed all over India and for AllIndia Radio stations until 1945.Hangal initially performed lightclassical genres, including bhajanand thumri but later concentratedon khayal. Hangal served ashonorary music professor of theKarnatak University too and gaveher last concert in March 2006 tomark her 75th career year.Gangubai's stage debut took placein Bombay, at the Bombay MusicCircle, where she was heard by severaleminent musicians. After her debut,Jadden Bai (mother of actress Nargis)convinced her to participate in amusic conference in Calcutta. As thestory goes, In Calcutta, the organizersfirst insisted that she first sing in aprivate sitting a night before theconcertbe cause they had doubts if she,a frail girl at that time, was capable ofsinging! She gave her test and wasgreatly appreciated. In fact, she wasawarded a gold medal by theMaharaja of Tripura. At the sameconcert she kept remembering hermother who was no more and just thenfelt a hand on her shoulder. When Iturned around, I saw K. L. Saigal, whosaid, 'bahut surila' (very melodious).“I was happy but then very upset thata strange man should touch me!", shesays in one of her interviews.Gangubai Hangal received anumber of awards, which included:Karnataka Sangeet Nritya AcademyAward, (1962), Padma Bhushan,(1971) Sangeet Natak AkademiAward, (1973) Sangeet NatakAkademi Fellowship (1996) andPadma Vibhushan (2002). TheKarnataka government declared twodays of mourning for Hangal and astate funeral was announced in Hubli.She had the rare honour of beingfelicitated by nine Prime Ministers andfive Presidents.In Gangubai there was none of theaffected stylised demeanor that oneassociates with senior artistes, sheremain a simple person till the end.TYEB MEHTA(1925 - 2009)Tyeb Mehta was a noted painter andpart of the noted Bombay ProgressiveArtists' Group, which included greatslike F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza and M.F.Hussain. He was from the first postcolonialgeneration of artists in India,who also broke free from the nationalistBengal school and embracedModernism instead, with its Post-Impressionist colors, Cubist forms and

Sandesh3 October 2009we rememberbrusque, Expressionistic styles.Among his most noted later paintingswere his triptych Celebration, whichwhen sold for Rs 1.5 crore ($317,500)at a Christie's auction in 2002, wasnot only the highest sum for an Indianpainting at an international auction,but also triggered the subsequentgreat Indian art boom. He stayed andworked in Mumbai for much of his life,except for three spells at London, NewYork, and Santiniketan, each havinga distinct impact upon his work.Life & TimesTyeb Mehta was born in Kapadvanj,Kheda district, Gujarat. He was broughtup in the Crawford Marketneighborhood of Mumbai, populated byDawoodi Bohras. At 22 years, duringthe partition riots of 1947 in Mumbai,he witnessed a man being stoned todeath by a mob, this he not onlyexpressed in a drawing but it was tohave lasting impact on his work,leading to stark and often disturbingdepiction of his subjects.For a while he worked as a filmeditor in a cinema laboratory atFamous Studios, Mumbai. Later, hereceived his diploma from Sir J.J.School of Art and was part of theBombay Progressive Artists' Group(BPAG), which drew stylisticinspiration from Western Modernism.Painting CareerHe left for London in 1959, where heworked and lived till 1964. Thereafter, hevisited the New York, where he wasawarded the Rockefeller Fellowship in 1968.He made a three minute film, Koodal (Tamilfor 'meeting place'), which he shot at theBandra slaughter house. It won the FilmfareCritics Award in 1970. He also remainedan Artist-in-Residence at the Santiniketanbetween1984-85 and returned to Mumbaiwith significant changes in his work.Common themes of his works were trussedbulls, the rickshaw puller, from here hemoved to the 'Diagonal series', which hecreated through the 1970s, afteraccidentally discovering it in 1969,when in a moment of creativefrustration he flung a black streakacross his canvas [4]. Later in life, headded 'Falling Figures' and severalmythological figures into his work,highlighted by the depictions ofgoddess Kali and demonMahishasura.[10].Tyeb Mehta held the then recordfor the highest price an Indianpainting has ever sold for at auction($317,500 USD or Rs 15 million) forCelebration at Christie's in 2002. InMay 2005, his painting Kali sold forRs 10 million ($230,000) at Indianauction house Saffronart's onlineauction. A reinterpretation of the taleof demon Mahishasura by Mehtashowing goddess Durga locked in anembrace with the demon sold for $1.5million. In 2008 one of his paintingssold for $2 million.In December 2005, Mehta'spainting Gesture was sold for Rs 31million to Ranjit Malkani, chairman ofKuoni Travel, at the Osian's auction.This makes it the highest price ever paidby an Indian for a work of Indiancontemporary art at an auction inIndia.Mehta's were the first works by acontemporary Indian artist to sell forover a million dollars, and indicated aburgeoning interest in Indian art bythe international market; as a result,Mehta became a cultural hero. He alsoreceived several awards during hiscareer including the Padma Bhushanby Govt. of India in 2007.HABIB TANVIR(1923–2009)HABIB TANVIR was one of the mostpopular Urdu, Hindi playwrights,theatre director, poet and actor. Hewrote plays such as Agra Bazar (1954)and Charandas Chor (1975) whichwent on to become landmarks in Indiantheatre.A pioneer in Urdu/Hindi theatre, he ismost known for his work withChhattisgarhi tribals at the NayaTheatre, a theatre company hefounded in 1959 in Bhopal, and wenton to include indigenous performanceforms such as nacha, to create not onlya new theatrical language, but alsomilestones such as Charandas Chor,Gaon ka Naam Sasural, Mor NaamDamad and Kamdeo ka Apna, BasantRitu ka Sapna.He was the last of pioneeringactor-managers in Indian theatre,which included Sisir Bhaduri, UtpalDutt and Prithviraj Kapoor and oftenhe managed plays with mammothcast such as Charandas Chor whichincluded an orchestra of 72 people onstage and Agra Bazaar had 52 people.Habib Ahmed Khan 'Tanvir'was born on September 1, 1923 inRaipur, Chhattisgarh, to Hafiz AhmedKhan, who hailed from Peshawar. Hepassed his matriculation from LaurieMunicipal High School, Raipur andlater completed his B.A. from MorrisCollege, Nagpur in 1944. Thereafter heattended Aligarh Muslim University.Early in life, he started writingpoetry and took upon a pen name,Tanvir, and soon he was being called,Habib Tanvir.Acting/theatre CareerIn 1945, he moved to Bombay andjoined All India Radio as a producer.While in Bombay, he wrote songs forUrdu, Hindi films and even acted in afew. He also joined the ProgressiveWriters' Association (PWA) andbecame an integral part of IndianPeople's Theatre Association (IPTA) asan actor. Later, when most ofprominent IPTA members wereimprisoned for opposing the Britishrule, he was asked to takeover theorganization.In 1954, he moved to New Delhi,

we rememberSandesh4 October 2009and worked with Qudsia Zaidi'sHindustani Theatre, and also workedwith Children's theatre, and authorednumerous plays. It was during thisperiod he met actor-director, MoneekaMishra, whom he was to later marry.Later in the same year, he producedhis first significant play 'Agra Bazar',based on the works and times of theplebian 18th-century Urdu poet, NazirAkbarabadi, an older poet in thegeneration of Mirza Ghalib.In this play he used local residentsand folk artist from Okhla village inDelhi and students of Jamia MilliaIslamia creating a palette never seenbefore in Indian theatre, a play notstaged in a confined space, rather abazaar, a marketplace. Thisexperience with non-trained actors,and folk artists later blossomed withhis work with folk artists ofChhattisgarh.For him true "theatre of thepeople" existed in the villages, whichhe strived to bring to the urban"educated", employing both folkperformers as actors alongside urbanactors. During his lifetime he wonseveral national and international awards,including the Sangeet Natak AkademiAward in 1969, Padma Shri in 1983, KalidasSamman 1990, Sangeet Natak AkademiFellowship in 1996, and the PadmaBhushan in 2002; apart from that he hadalso been nominated to become a memberof the Rajya Sabha (1972-1978).His play 'Charandas Chor' got him theFringe Firsts Award at EdinburghInternational Drama Festival in 1982 andin 2007, it was credited for "an innovativedramaturgy equally impelled by Brecht andfolk idioms.Some of his popular plays are: AgraBazar (1954), Shatranj Ke Mohrey (1954),Lala Shoharat Rai (1954), Mitti ki Gaadi(1958), Gaon ke naon Sasural, mor naonDamand (1973), Charandas Chor (1975),Bahadur kalarin(1978), Ponga Pandit(1960s), Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya(1990), Kamdeo ka Apna Basant Rituka Sapna (1993), Raj Rakt (2006)His filmography includes: FootPath (1953), Rahi (1953), CharandasChor (1975) (lyrics and script),Staying On (1980) (TV), Gandhi(1982), Yeh Woh Manzil to Nahin(1987), Man-Eaters of Kumaon (1986)(TV), Hero Hiralal (1988) and Black& White (2008).PALGHAT R. RAGHU(1928-2009)Palaghat Rahu was born on January9, 1928 in Rangoon, Burma. As achild, he was immensely talented andinducted into Mridangam lessons veryearly in life. His first mridangamlessons were from TinniamVenkatarama Iyer and TrichyRaghava Iyer. Later he learnt the artfrom the legendary Mridangamwizard Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer. Eversince, he has accompanied numerousartists for the past 60 years withdistinction. He is a graduate ofmathematics.Unique TechniquePalghat Raghu was a percussionmaster known for his distinctive styleas well as his effortless fingermovement and technical brilliance.His unique style which involvesimaginative use of the Toppi (left partof Mridangam) combines melodywith rhythm and lifts the concertperformance to high levels. Usingdifferent techniques, he adjusted hisplaying style to not only differentartists and instruments but alsocaptures the bhava and sahitya ofmusic.His tani avartanams with complexand highly mathematical Korvaisbear the stamp of innovation,scholarship and majestic mastery ofthis complex instrument. The taniavartanams with other rhythmvirtuosos such as Harishankar,Nagarajan (kanjira), AlangudiRamachandran , T. H. "Vikku"Vinayakram, Subhash Chandran (ghatam),remains memorable to this day.Palghat Raghu toured extensivelyacross the world and performed withrenowned artists like Pandit Ravi Shankar,Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shivkumar Sharmaand even alongside the Tabla Wizard AllaRakha in numerous concerts. He was alsoinvolved in East-West fusion music. He wasvisiting professor of music at WesleyanUniversity in Connecticut, San Diego StateUniversity and University of Berkeley.He won several Awards like theSangeet Natak Akademi Award in1983, Palghat Mani Iyer award (firstrecipient), Padma Shri in year 1985,Sangeetha Choodamani andSangeetha Kalanidhi (2007).Palghat Raghu is universallyconsidered to be the torch-bearer of theillustrious Maha Vidwan ThanjavurVaidyanatha Iyer's tradition of the artof mridangam playing, passed on tohim by his most beloved guru PalghatMani Iyer.ALI AKBAR KHAN(1922 –2009)ALI AKBAR KHAN was the Maihar gharana,known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod.Khan saheb was instrumental inpopularizing Indian classical music in theWest.

Sandesh5 October 2009we rememberAli Akbar Khan was born in the villageof Shibpur, Comilla, in present-dayBangladesh to revered musician andteacher, Ustad Allauddin Khan and MadinaBegum. Soon after his birth, the familyreturned to Maihar (in Madhya Pradesh)where his father was the primary courtmusician for the Maharaja of the princelystate.Of his training on sarod,he wrote:“If you practice for ten years,you may begin to pleaseyourself, after 20 years you maybecome a performer and pleasethe audience, after 30 years youmay please even your guru, butyou must practice for manymore years before you finallybecome a true artist — then youmay please even God...”Music CareerAfter years of rigorous training Ali Akbargave his debut performance at a musicconference in Allahabad in 1936, at the ageof 13. Three years later, in 1939, heaccompanied Ravi Shankar on the sarodduring the latter's debut performance atthe same conference; this was the first ofmany jugalbandis between the twomusicians. In 1938 Khan gave his firstrecital on All India Radio (AIR),Bombay (accompanied on the tabla byAlla Rakha), and starting in January1940, he gave monthly performanceson AIR, Lucknow. Finally in 1944,both Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar leftMaihar to start their professionalcareers as musicians; Shankar wentto Bombay, while Khan became theyoungest Music Director for AIR,Lucknow.In 1943, on his father's recommendation,he was appointed a courtmusician for the Maharaja of Jodhpur.There, he taught and composed musicbesides giving recitals and was accordedthe title of Ustad by the Maharaja.With India's independence in1947 Khan saheb moved to Bombay.In Bombay, he won acclaim as acomposer of several film scores, includingChetan Anand's Aandhiyan, Satyajit Ray'sDevi, Merchant-Ivory's The Householderand Tapan Sinha's Kshudista Pashan("Hungry stones"), for which he won the"Best Musician of the Year" award. Later in1993, he would score some of the musicfor Bernardo Bertolucci Little Buddha.Beginning in 1945, Khan sahib alsostarted recording a series of 78 rpm disks(which could record about 3 minutes of music)at the HMV Studios in Bombay. For onesuch record he conceived a new compositionRaga Chandranandan based on fourevening ragas, Malkauns, Chandrakauns,Nandakauns and Kaushi Kanra. This recordwas a huge success in India and the ragafound a worldwide audience when a 22minute rendition was re-recorded for theMaster musician of India LP in 1965 - oneof Khan saheb's seminal recordings.He performed in India and traveledextensively in the West. Khan first came tothe USA in 1955 on the invitation of violinistYehudi Menuhin and later settled inCalifornia. He was nominated for fiveGrammy Awards and was accorded India'ssecond highest civilian honor, the PadmaVibhushan, in 1989.In 1956, he founded the Ali AkbarCollege of Music in Calcutta, with themission to teach and spread Indianclassical music. He founded anotherschool of the same name in Berkeley,California in 1967 and later moved itto San Rafael, California. In 1985 hefounded another branch of the AliAkbar College of Music in Basel,Switzerland. He was the first Indianmusician to record an LP album ofIndian classical music in the US and toplay sarod on American television.Khan saheb participated in anumber of classic jugalbandi pairings,most notably with Pt. Ravi Shankar,Pt. Nikhil Banerjee and violinist Dr L.Subramaniam. A few recordings ofduets with Ust. Vilayat Khan alsoexists. He also collaborated withWestern musicians. In 1971 heperformed at the Madison SquareGarden for the “Concert forBangladesh” along with Pt. RaviShankar, Ustad Alla Rakha and SmtKamala Chakravarty; other musicians at theconcert included Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton,George Harrison and Ringo Starr.Khan saheb was based in the UnitedStates for the last 40 years of his life. Hetoured extensively until he was preventedfrom doing so by ill-health. His legacy liveson in the form of Ustad Ashish Khan who isa well known Sarod player himself.VISHNU PRABHAKAR(1912 –2009)VISHNU Prabhakar was a renowned Hindiwriter and had several short stories, novels,plays and travelogues to his credit. His workshave elements of patriotism, nationalism andmessages of social upliftment.Vishnu Prabhakar was born on in1912, in Mirapur village ofMuzaffarnagar district in UttarPradesh. His father, Durga Prasad, wasa religious person who kept himselfuntouched by modern times. Hismother, Mahadevi, was the first welleducatedlady of the family whodared to reject the 'Parda Pratha' of theHindu families. Prabhakar stayed inMirapur until the age of 12, andcompleted his primary education. Hismatriculation happened from Hissarat his maternal uncle's place. Unableto pursue higher education owing tofinancial situation he joined thegovernment service as a class IVemployee with a salary of mere Rs.18per month. He still kept his studiesgoing along with his work andobtained degrees of Prabhakar andHindi Bhushana in Hindi, Pragya inSanskrit and B.A. in English.Along with his work he pursued aninterest in literature and joined a theatrecompany in Hissar. His literary life startedwith the publication of his first story Diwaliin the Hindi magazine Milap in 1931. Hewrote Hatya Ke Baad, his first play in 1939.He made writing as his full time career. Hestayed with the family of his maternal uncleContinued on page 6

conceptualcornerSandesh6 October 2009Education today has become veryinformation-based. There issome amount of knowledgecommunicated, but practically nowisdom transferred. The focus is,primarily, in the tangible domain sothat young people can get jobs – thehigher the potential pay packet, themore attractive is the course.However, education has a big roleto play in the intangible domain andunless we give this aspect an equalimportance, we will continue bringingincomplete human beings into thesociety. Therefore, it is very importantthat our composite heritage, which isalso our core competence, beintroduced in a concerted manner atall levels of our education system inthe curricular and the extracurriculardomains.It can be argued that all childrenare not getting to learn even the basicsContinued from page 5A FULL EDUCATIONlike ‘Reading, Writing and Arithmetic’in the villages because of financialconsiderations. There are not enoughteachers and schools – and theinfrastructure is also very poor due topaucity of funds. With the Right toEducation Bill being passed in bothhouses of Parliament, these problemswill hopefully be solved to some extent.However, while the the basics arenecessary, they are not sufficient.Similarly in the cities, schoolswith all the facilities, have childrenfocussing on wanting to becomeengineers, doctors, managers, lawyersetc. Here , it is imperative that theyare introduced to and made tounderstand our classical arts, literatureand other aspects of our heritagethrough curricular and extracurricularefforts. Strong heritageinputs through literature, folk andcraft traditions of the area can easilyREMEMBERING THE SEVEN GEMS..be provided at hardly any cost. Thisaspect should be given the importanceit deserves.These same ideas must beimplemented at the college anduniversity level. Today, many privateuniversities make huge profits byproviding only professional courses (thequality of which is also a suspect) toyoung people who join them. Whilefreedom must be given to the universitysystem, some guidelines must be set, oneof which is that even engineering,medical, law, management and otherprofessional courses must have strongcurricular and extra-curricular inputsof our heritage. This can be done bymaking it mandatory to set up a LiberalArts Department or School, beforegiving accreditation to any college oruniversity.Contd. on page 16until the age of 27. After Independence he worked as the drama director atAakashvani, New Delhi.He made news when in 2005 he threatened to return his Padma Bhushanafter he allegedly had to face misconduct at Rashtrapati Bhavan.‘ PRABHAKAR’- The acquired nameThere is an interesting story of how he assumed the name of 'VishnuPrabhakar' from 'Vishnu Dayal'; his original name as was listed in theprimary school of Mirapur. When he shifted to the Arya Samaj School, onbeing asked his 'Varna', he answered 'Vaishya'. So the teacher put downhis name as 'Vishnu Gupta'.When he joined the government service, the officers changed his name to'Vishnu Dharmadutt' because there were many 'Guptas' in the office andit confused them. He continued writing by the pen name of 'Vishnu' whenone day an editor asked him why he was not using his full name. Duringthe course of the conversation the editor asked if he had passed anyexamination and Vishnu answered that he had passed the 'Prabhakar' inHindi. Thus the editor changed his name to 'Vishnu Prabhakar'.Prabhakar was fond of traveling. Hetraveled for 14 years continuously tocollect material for his book - AawaraMasiha which is a biography of famousBangla author, Sharatchandra. For this hehad to visit all the places linked toSharatchandra. His love of travelsalso resulted in many travelogues.Some of his novels are: DhaltiRaat (1951), Nishikant (1955), Tat KeBandhan (1955), Swapnmayi(1956), Darpan Ka Vyakti (1968),Parchhai (1968), Koi To (1980),Ardhnarishwar (1992).Prabhakar ji is survived by twosons and two daughters.BOOKS HE WOTE

Sandesh7 October 2009state newsANDHRA PRADESHAfter a heavy schedule of programsthroughout the academic year 2008-09, the state went soft after March.Aactivities restarted with newenthusiasm on August 9, 2009 whenthe Vishakapatnam chapter organizeda performance of Hyderabad Brothersat Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya –Kommadi. The accompanists were Sh.Dwaram Satyanarayana Rao (Violin),Sh. V. Venkata Ramana Murthy(Mrid- angam) and Sh. NemaniSomayajulu (Ghatam).Hyderabad Chapter witnessed achange in its Executive Body too. Theresponsibilities of Chapter Coordinationare passed on to the new officebearers. Sh. PVRK Prasad (IAS) is thenew Chairman. Kumar Ashish is theSecretary, A. Sudarshan is theTreasurer, Smt Lathamani will becoordinator for Schools and Colleges,Smt Rukmini Kulkarni will take careof Media and Smt Monica Reddy willlook after orientations. The team is agood mix of both young and mature,just like a flowing river with strongbanks on either side.The new working body of theUniversity of Hyderabad Sub-Chapterhas also been formed after thesuccessful 2 years tenure of theoutgoing team under the leadership ofKumar Ashish.A koodiyattam workshop by Sh.Margi Madhu was held at Universityof Hyderabad for four days (inAugust). The response for theworkshop was great. There was alsoparticipation from neighboringinstitutes.Sh.Margi Madhu also gave threeperformances in Hyderabad duringhis stay. The institutions which hostedthe Koodiyattam maestro were AroraBusiness School, Vidyaranya Schooland University of Hyderabad. TheWarangal Chapter hosted twoperformances of Sh. Madhu at Instituteif Technology and Management (ITM)and National Institute of Technology(NIT). Chittoor is emerged from itsdormancy and hosted theperformances of Mysore Brothers onAugust 31. It also marked theinauguration of a new chapter in SPICMACAY Andhra Pradesh.Among the other programs inAndhra Pradesh were of CarnaticVocal by Sh.O.S Thiagrajan, CarnaticViolin by Sh T. M. Krishna and Odissiby Vidushi Kavita Dwivedi.RAJASTHANThe state is off to a grand start againwith the Virasat 2009 from August 1.There are a number of artists touringthe state, covering most cities.Smt Vijaylakshmi Shivaji,Mohiniattam performed in Kota,Jaipur and Banasthali. Schools thatparticipated were: Akalank PublicSchool, Maharani School, Rampura,Govt. Girls School, Gumanpura,Central Public School, Talwandi, DAVPublic School, Lakheri, (KOTA)Seedling Public School,Parasrampuria Gem InternationalSchool in JAIPUR and BansathaliVidyapeeth (Banasthali).Sh. Salil Bhatt on Satwik veenaperformed in Udaipur, Nathdwara,Bhilwara, Kota, Tonk, Nagor andChittorgarh.Participating institutionswere: St. Paul's Sr. Sec. School,(Udaipur), Govt. Girls College(Nathdwara), Vivekanand School,Mayur School, (Bhilwara), Tagore BalNiketan (Tonk), Karni Vikas Samiti,St.Teressa Sec. School, Jhalawar,Lakshdeep Sec. School, Bundi (Kota);Banasthali Vidyapith (Banasthali),Central Academy Sr. Sec. School,Senthi, Govt. Sr. Sec. School,Arniyapanth (Chittor) and L. K.Singhania School (Nagor)Sh .Tarun Bhattacharya onsantoor performed in one of the longestcircuits of the state covering: Jaipur,Banasthali, Kota, Fatehapur, Sikar,Sardarsaher, Bikaner, Jodhpur,Barmer, Sirohi and Udaipur. The 15institutions that participated were:Tagore Public School, BanasthaliVidyapeeth, Sir Padampat SinghaniaSchool, Medical College, Vidya MandirSchool, Dadabari Neerja Modi PublicSchool, Nimawat Public School, SwamiKeshwanand Memorial Sr. Sec. School,Vidya Mandir School, VeterinaryCollege, Rajmata Krishna KumariGirls School, Mayur's Noble Academy,St. Joseph School, LaxmipatSinghaniya School, J.K.Puram and St.Paul's SchoolSh, Narendra Kholi gave talks inKota, Chittorgarh and Jaipur whileSmt Madhusmita Moanty hadstudents enthralled by her Odissiperformances at BITS Pilani, PahariaSchool, Pilani, BRJD Public School inBhorugram, IASE at Sardarsehar,Maharani College- Jaipur, Govt. Sr.Sec. School, Chittor, Vishal Academy,Chittor, Sangam School of Excellence,Bhilwara and Mother Teressa Schholat Kota.Finally, Ustad Bundu Khan andtroupe (folk) went over the statecovering Sri Ganganagar,Hanumangarh, Chittorgarh and Kota.They performed at Sri Devi GirlsPolytechnic College, Abohar Road,DAV Public School, Nohar, ChildrenParadise Sec. School, ChanderiyaSanwaliya, Govt. Girls P.G. Collge,Gandhi Nagar, IBB College, Ranpurand Chhatrapati Shivaji School, RACMAHARASHTRAThe Mumbai Virasat '09 wasinaugurated by Pt ShivkumarSharma at SNDT Women's University,Juhu on August 31, 2009. The Virasatseries will see over 50 events in variousschools and colleges across Mumbaiand would include talks, moviescreening, workshops and concerts.Meanwhile, the Vidarbha regionhad only one artist in July. Allactivity since was stopped due to SwainFlue in Maharashtra. Pt. RonuMajumdar (Flute) gave 5 lec-dems inthe region: Tirupati Tantra Niketan,Akola; JNV-Shegaon; JNV-Amaravati; BVM, Wathoda and BhideGirls High School, Nagpur. Allprograms were successful wherenumber of students present at eachlec-dem was between 300 and 500.BIHARThe Bihar VIRASAT - 2009 wasinaugurated on 25th August 2009 inPatna with the programme of Pt.Hariprasad Chourasia and Pt.Vishwamohan Bhatt at the L N Mishra

state newsSandesh8 October 2009Institute. Pt. Chourasia also performedat IIBM, Patna while Pt VishwaMohanBhatt went on to perform in a few moreinstitutions like: NMCH, NIT, St.Joseph Convent and Patna College.Earlier Meeta Pandit gave 6 LecDems in Patna in July.Shri Ramkailash Yadav ofBhojpuri Biraha performed in Biharin the month of September. Concertswere held at Indian Railways Inst. ofMechanical and Electrical Engineering (IRIMIEE), Jamalpur; VidyaBihar Inst. of Technology, SSKGVS,Dhamdaha, Katihar; Ramprit UchhaVidyalaya, Belwa; DPS-Bhagalpur;DPS-Patna; DPS-Muzaffarpur andSanghamitra Public School, SiwanKERALATHE state, fresh from successfullyhosting the 24th NationalConvention, is now gearing up for aseason of Virasat series. Pt. RonuMajumdar (Flute) with Sudhir Pande(Tabla) performed in Ernakulam,Trichur, Palakkad Calicut Kasaragodand Tellicherry.Pt. Tarun Bhattacharya(Santoor), Dr. N. Rajam (Violin), SmtPriyadarsiniGovind(Bharathanatyam), Smt SushmitaBanerjee (Kathak) also went on a tourof Ernakulam and Trivandrum. SmtAshwini Bhide Deshpande will also betouring the state soon.In addition to the above artistes,there is a plan to have 100 filmscreenings featuring the classics ofCharlie Chaplin and Satyajit Ray. Thechapter is also in touch with SouthZone Cultural Centre (SZCC) of theCentral Government for getting acircuit each of Theyyam andOtamtullal sponsored by it so that wecan do about programmes of thisunique form in the stateCHHATTISGARHThe Virasat 2009 series wasinaugurated here by Dr. N. Rajam(Volin) accompanied by Sh. AjeetPathak on Tabla on September 2,2009 at DPS, Raipur.This wonderfully coordinatedeffort was made possible after thesuccessful state convention that washeld on July 18-19 where Pt. HariPrasad Chaurasia (Flute) and SmtSombala Kumar (Dhrupad)performed. According to statecoordinator Ajay Srivastava, Thestrategy to involve youth in themovement is showing results.The other programmes under theseries were held in different parts ofthe state: namely DMAT, KPS, Raipur;BIT Durg; NH Goel public School,Raipur, Guru Nank School, Bilaspur,GGCU, Bilaspur and OPJIT, Raipur.A Symposium on Schooleducation was also held in Sargranthwith over 300 students attending theevent.Photo: Dipanjan GhoshHARI JI ENTHRALLS KOLKATA LAWYERSIt was perhaps the first time that he felt nervous before going in for a concert. Hewas afraid that he was entering some court house with lawyers all around, saidPt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia, smilingly! He was giving the ‘Living the SpiritualDream’ concert at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences(NUJS) on September 4, organised by the Kolkata chapter.Hari ji also struck a humorous cord with his audience. He began with playingraag Yaman and for the next raag he asked the audience for their choice, uponwhich he got quite a few requests. Someone said, “Saawan ka mahina hai, raagmegh malhar ho jaye!” The many requests prompted another dig by the maestro,“Aaplog to muhhse bhi zyada raag jante hain. Itna to main bhi nahi janta!” By thetime he was done playing the notes on his flute, its magical spell had worked yetagain leaving many budding-lawyers enchanted.The evening also gave students the avenue of interaction with the maestro as thelatter lovingly invited students to ask him questions. He asked students if anyonecould tell him the difference between the two ragas he had played - Yaman andVihag, to which two students gave correct answers, giving rise to surprise androunds of applaud from their peers! “The concert had lot of spirit, zest, josh andyoung people. That's what we had wanted,” said Rupali Sachdev, of Kolkatachapter. Pandit ji also shared with students' the power of music. “I am glad Icame here. Listen to shastriya sangeet during your studying intervals and itwill increase your learning power and facial glow,” he said Chaurasia.

Sandesh9 October 2009state newsJHARKHANDThe Jharkhand state convention washeld at the Birsa AgriculturalUniversity (BAU), Ranchi, onSeptember 5 - 6. The convention wasattended by delegates from Ranchi,Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Hazaribaghchapters.In his keynote address, Dr KiranSeth spoke about the concept of themovement and how to make it moreeffective. He said though SPIC MACAYis basically a students' movement,there was a need to involve others too,in order to bring about stability.“While students are like the riverwhich provides continuity, seniorsand housewives are like the bankwhich provides support,” he said.Jharkhand state chairpersonBinay Sarawgi welcomed thedelegatges and spoke about the need tostart new chapters in order to spreadthe movement in Jharkhand. Severalorganisational issues were discussedduring the convention.A kathak recital of Mrs ShovanaNarayan was held to a packed hall inthe evening. It was like a veritablefeast for rasiks of Ranchi. The audiencegave a standing ovation after theconcert. Dignitaries present on theoccasion, included state Industries andMines Secretary Mr. N.N. Sinha andBAU Vice-Chancellor Dr N.N. Singh.On the 2nd day, Ram KailashYadav’s Biraha troupe stole the show.A large number of students and facultymembers gathered to watch theperformance and enjoyed each andevery moment of it.During the convention, it wasagreed to hold a series of activities indifferent parts of the state inNovember for which names of a fewartistes were suggested.NORWAY COLLABORATIONOur collaboration with Norway hasbeen extended for another four years.More activities will take place underthis renewed cooperation.Rikskonsertene and SPIC MACAYwill now be conducting more concertsand workshops in both the countries.Four Schools have been selectedin Delhi that will work with Musiciansand students from Norway in theseworkshops. These interactiveworkshops will last for two years. Asenior delegation from Rikskonsertenewas in India in August to meet withthe management, music faculty,students of these selected schools .Thedelegation had constructive meetingswith all four schools. The meetings willhelp them decide which school will beable to conduct workshops in theappropriate manner. These workshopswill culminate with students fromNorway coming to India and studentsfrom India visiting Norway.The delegation also met withProf. Anjali Mittal, Dean of the facultyof Music, Delhi University to explorethe possibility of a research orientedprogram between Delhi Universityand Rogaland University, Norway.Besides this new module, underthe ongoing exchange, sevenmusicians toured Norway fromSeptember 10 to October 3. Theseincluded Smt. Ashwini Bhide, Us.Akram Khan, Sh. Murad Ali, Su.Sunanda Sharma, Sh. MukeshSharma, Sh. Mithilesh Jha and Sh.Vinay Mishra. They conducted Lec-Dems in different parts of Norway.Smt. Bhide conducted 2-day longworkshop in Oslo before starting herLec-Dem circuit. In November ‘09,Rajasthani Folk group will be touringNorway for 14 days.They will also beperforming at the famous Oslo WorldMusic festival. Us. Bahauddin Dagarwill also be touring Norway in thesame month conducting Master classesin different universities in Norway.Two groups of musicians will bevisiting India between October 2009and January 2010 to conduct schooland college concerts. These Musicianshave been selected by Dr.Kiran Sethduring his visit to Norway. TheWestern Classical music group will betouring India from mid-Octoberonwards and the Jazz Group will betouring India from the last week ofJanuary 2010. Dates will be sharedwith all as soon as they are finalized.MUSIC IN THE PARKMusic in the Park series in Delhiwill resume from October 2009 withthe inaugural concert by legendaryKishori Amonkar and BahauddinDagar on October 10 at the NehruPark, Chanakyapuri. On Oct.31stUstad Amjad Ali Khan will grace thepark, on November 14 Ustad SultanKhan will perform while BegumParveen Sultana will enthrall us onNovember 21.In the Jaipur edition of theseries we've had four concerts betweenApr 2009 and Sept. 2009. The concertis held on second Saturday of everymonth at the popular Central Park. Wehad Pt Channu lal Mishra in April, PtDebu Chaudhary in May, Us. ShahidParvez in August and Smt Girija Deviin September.Delhi will witness some more concertsin the coming months. Pt. RaviShankar and daughter AnoushkaShankar will perform on Dec 5.HIMACHAL PRADESHIt was a proud moment for SPICMACAY on Sept 13, when a powerfulperformance of "Charandas Chor" waspresented at the packed hall of thehistoric, 122-years-old Gaitey Theatreat Shimla, which was recently reopenedafter many years.Gaitey Theater is one of the twotheaters of its kind in the world, thesecond being in France. The first playthat was staged here was "Time will tell"by the troupe from London in 1888.Noble Laureate Rudyard Kipling,Legendary Prithviraj Kapur andmany famous personalities haveperformed here in the past.Habib Saheb during his visit toChandigarh had expressed his desireto perform at Gaitey. SPIC MACAY wasdetermined to make it possible. Whata befitting tribute to the departed soulthat his desire is fulfilled in the yearwhen his company NAYA THEATERcelebrates its 50th anniversary. Theplay was inaugurated by the chiefsecretary who gave a standing ovationContinued on page12

GLIMPSE OF24 TH NATIONALCONVENTIONSandesh10 October 2009

Sandesh11 October 2009GLIMPSE OF24 TH NATIONALCONVENTIONPhotos : Ranjeet Nirguni

state newsSandesh12 October 2009to the troupe. Another performance ofthe same play was held on Sept 14 atAuckland House school, Shimla.PUNJABThe Jalandhar chapter had its Virasatseries at many places from September1-3. Some of the schools thatparticipated were Jalandhar Model SrSec. School, Sanskriti KMV School,Cantt. Board Sr Sec. Boys School,Eklavya School, Nakodar Road, ArmyPublic School. Programmes outsideJalandhar were held at: Hindu KanyaVidyalya, Kapurthala and KirpaBhavan Orphanage, Lamma Pind.TAMIL NADU/ PONDICHERRYThough SPIC MACAY activities inTamil Nadu and Pondicherry may notinspire much pride but like they say,every cloud does have it’s silver lining.Two workshops were arranged forabout 400 NSS Volunteers whogathered at Sriperumbudur for theNSS Mega Camp from June 22 to July3, 2009.The Ministry of Youth Affairs &Sports, in collaboration with RajivGandhi National Institute of YouthDevelopment (RGNIYD) and NationalService Scheme (NSS) organized thismega camp for the volunteers whocame from all over India.The tireless efforts of SPIC MACAYvolunteers Ms. Shraddha and Mr.Guthi Rajashekhar from Chennaiunder the guidance of Panchamji fromDelhi, resulted in the two workshopsby two emminent artists, Smt ChitraVishveswaran and Sh. T.V.Shankaranarayanan.Smt. Vishveswaran explained theorigins of Bharatanatyam and involvedthe audience by asking them to followher students who were performing.Apart from the fact that the dance formis named after Bharat Muni, the nameis also an amalgamation of the initialletter of the three words: Bhava:Expressions; Raaga: Music; Thala:Beats or rhythm. Bharatanatyam isincomplete without these threeelements.As for the Carnatic vocal recitalby Shri Shankaranarayanan, therendition of the "kalpana swaras" theversatile artist was well appreciatedby the audience.Both the workshops seem to havemade an indelible impression on theNSS volunteers, in particular, since itwas a novel experience for them.A program of Western ClassicalMusic - Violin and Cello - by JulieAnne Derome and Gabriel Prynn wasalso organised on September 9 atMadras School of Economics. About 60students attended the concert and theartists spoke about the pieces theyperformed and about the composers ofwestern classical music. Towards theend, students and the artistes engagedin a discussion on the relationshipbetween mathematics and music.The Indian tour of these artisteswas supported by the CanadianCouncil of Arts (CCA) and QuebecCouncil of Arts (QCA). The Chennaiprogram was supported by AllianceFrancaise while the Marriot Hotel wasthe hospitality partner.More programs in Tamil Naduand Pondicherry are planned forOctober. A few programmes in August2009 had to be cancelled due to theswine flu scare.NORTH ZONE CONVENTIONThree hundred young delegates fromPunjab and neighboring statesattended the North Zone Conventionof SPIC MCAY at the ThaparUniversity, Patiala from Oct 1 - 4.The participants witnessedperformances of maestros of classicalmusic, dance, leading folk artists, talksby eminent people from different fieldsand also attended workshops of yogaand folk arts of Punjab.Some of the eminent artistes whoperformed at the Zonal conventionwere Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt, Pt.Channulal Mishra, Pt. RonuMajumdar, Sh. Wasiffudin Dagar,Smt. Rani Khanam and WadaliBrothers. There were also folkperformances by renowned theaterperson Sh. M.K Raina.Apart from the above mentionedperformances, there was a lec-dem byMaster Puppeteer Sh. Dadi Pudumjee,a talk by senior photogapher Sh.Raghu Rai and screening of Japanesefilm Seven Samurai by late AkiraKurosawa. Delegates also had theopportunity to learn from leadingexponents in various art forms byparticipating inthe intensives andworkshops.“Today, we constantly remainconnected to the rest of theworld through internet,television and the mobile phonebut have lost touch with ourinward world. Such effortstaken by institutions likeThapar University provide anopportunity to the youngperson to connect inwardlytoo.” Said Dr. Kiran Seth.“Overall, it was a multisensoryand memorable experience for all theparticipants. The combination ofdiverse music and dance forms,colorful folk performances, yoga andpeople from different states wasrejuvenating and delightful” said Dr.Abhijeet Mukherjee, Director-ThaparUniversity.UTTAR PRADESHThe UP Virasat was inaugurated atD.P.S. Agra on August 11 by Pt. BhajanSopori (Santoor) and Smt ShantiHiranand (Ghazal). The otherprogrammes held under the serieswere of Pt. Debu Chaudhuri atAllahabad and Faizabad, PtVishwamohan Bhatt in Varanasi andLucknow, Sh. Mumtaj Hussain atSikohabad, Pt. Ronu Majumdar inGorakhpur, Devaria and Basti & Sh.Prateek Chaudhuri in Kanpur. Sh.Rajendra Prasanna, Smt NandiniSingh and Sanjeev Abhyankar alsoperformed in various places.HARYANAAll through August we hadconcerts by Sh. Ram Kailash Yadav(Biraha) at Rohtak, Hissar, Fatehabad,Yamuna Nagar, Rai, Kurushetra andby Smt Nandini Singh in YamunaNagar, Sonipat, Sirsa and Hissar.more news on page 16

Sandesh13 October 2009Saluting alegendTryst with a MysticC.S. Panchamkesan remembers his first meeting with UstadAbdul Rashid Khan, who completed 100 years of age and recentlyperformed at our 24th National Convention.The schedule I had in my hand, of the10th National School Convention ofSPIC MACAY at Modern School, NewDelhi, looked impressive with a hostof legends gathered 'under one roof' forthe Intensive workshops, concerts andparticipation.There was a particular name inthe list that looked awe inspiring. Theschedule had Ustad Abdul Rashid Khanslated to perform as well as conduct afive-day workshop for children. A fewmonths ago, one had chanced a reviewin The Hindu about this nonagenarianand that is how I recognised the nameof the artist. Now that I write of thisexperience, I feel somewhat ashamedthat it has taken me almost six decadesof life to know about such a great artistof our era. I now had the opportunityto find out more about this mysticwithin the precincts of the hallowedModern School.As I walked towards the GuestHouse where the visiting artistes werehoused, there was a great sense of anticipation,awe and even trepidationas to what the Darshan would be like.I asked a student where Khan Sahebwould be and she directed me to anearby banyan tree under which hewas seated. I glanced yonder and sawthe majestic tree which could be aboutseventy five years old. Little did Irealise at that time that under the treewas a mystic older than the tree itself.Yes, Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan was sittingthere in the pleasant sunshine ofthe winter month, in a very pensiveand perhaps meditative mood. I somehowunderstood that he was not alseepbut in deep search of peace and tranquilitythrough the spiritual path of“...I felt mosthumbled at the profundityof the occasion whenhe tried to focus his visionon me at his feet. The eyesdidn't see but had strangerecognition in them, therecognition the mystichad for SPIC MACAY...”music.I have often wondered why I amalways overwhelmed when I see anelderly person. Is it the awareness ofmortality or is it the awe of looking ata person with decades of struggles, triumphs,pains and achievements ? Asper a tradition practiced by my forefathersand bequeathed to me by myparents, I am intuitively trained to recitemy lineage and offer a Namaskarat the feet of the elderly for blessings. Iwas uncertain as I neared the wizenedold man almost beyond anyanotomical size or shape, sitting therewith his back towards me. From whereI was, I could only see an outline of awhite Kurta and a rather shakystooped figure on a wheel chair. I camewithin inches of the old man, as old astime itself. The external contours of hisshape reminded me of the sketch ofMahatma Gandhi - the simplicity of asketch of an outline.I was shocked to see the mysticwhose extremities were eaten up byage and whose eyes looked vision-less.I was aware that the divine being atmy arms’ length had suffered a lot andwas crippled by some illness. Age andillness vied with each other to debilitatehis size and shape but not his willpower, determination and great musicalacumen. He fell on the thorns oflife, bled yet he conquered everythingthat life shoved at him with his musicalpowers and he continues to do so. Itmoved me so much that I ran the remainingfive steps and stumbled at hisfeet with my palms and head in acharan sparsh.I realised that my forehead restedon a pair of stump like legs. Tearsrolled out of my eyes and I washedthese two stubs, which once upon atime were legs. My mind was filledwith the sense of divine reward and astrange tranquility prevailed as I introducedmyself as a SPIC MACAY volunteer.I felt most humbled at the profundityof the occasion when he triedto focus his vision on me at his feet. Ibecame aware that the eyes didn't seeexternally but had some strange recognitionin them which I later realisedwas the recognition which the mystichad for SPIC MACAY.Continued on page 14

Ruling the netSandesh14 October 2009A NEW LOOK FOR www.spicmacay.comFriends and volunteers of SPICMACAYnow have another reason to cheerabout. The new look website is nowready for all the net-savvy patrons.You can now register on it, shareinformation with your friends onorkut/facebook/twitter/gmail/hotmail/yahoo etc by clicking on the'share this' button after any article.You can also subscribe to the onlinenewsletter and comment on the articlesif you have registered. If youwant to contribute content to thewebsite then register on the websiteand send us a mail atinfo@spicmacay.com mentioningyour username, chapter details andwhat you want to contribute.If you have old activity reports andarticles, send them to us and we'll putthem online. You can also send us arequest to contribute content as mentionedabove so that we can give youthe access to add content on the websiteyourself.Key features of new website:1. Video, audio and file uploads allowed.They can be uploaded form thecomputer or directly lifted from otherwebsites.2 . People can subscribe for newsupdates and event updates.3 . All states can post their updates.They will all show on the main site.4. Photo gallery will soon be added.5. Anyone can contribute articles.6. Anyone can comment and hope to geta reply to their query. For issues likescholarship scheme it will be helpful ifqueries are posted on the website sothat others can read them too.7. Site is “search-engine” friendly, soarticles posted on it will show higherin the search results.Guidelines for filing reports:1. Reports have to be compiled inMicrosoft Excel 97/XP/2003 format(.xls) or Open Office Calc format(.ods) ONLY.Please note that Microsoft Excel2007 format (.xlsx) will NOT BEaccepted. If you have MicrosoftExcel 2007 you can save the fileas .xls by going to :File > Save As > and changingthe format option given below the'file name' field.2 . The fields to be mentioned:Date, Artist, Art Form, Venue,Chapter. Please do not add anyother field or change the order ofthe fields.3 . Keep the format of the date asDate/Month/Year, all innumeral. For example the correctformat is 24/04/08 for the 24thday of the mon Aril of 2008.4 . Do not put anything like Ustad/Pandit/Shri/Smt with the nameof the artiste. Please give only theartist's name.TRYST WITHTwo arms, or rather, two stubswith all the remaining eaten away byage and illness touched my head .Intially the stubs were trying to gropeand find my head and once located thesmall part of a hand which in itshealthier days was a palm, firmlyrested on my head.His vision did not fall on me yetthere was a strange feeling that hecould see me. I was bewildered but acertain channel of blessings flowingfrom the mystic filled my mind withecstasy. I looked at the serene being5 . For venue write only the name ofschool/college and location (ifrequired). Do not mention fulladdress or things like auditorium/assembly grounds etc.6 . For chapter write name of thecity/town and not the name ofinstitution.7 . All events should be arranged datewise and not artist's circuit wise.8 . After you have compiled the fileupload it atwww.spicmacay.com/activityreport9 . Name of the file should be--.xls .Example: rajasthan-virasat-2009.xls10. The events of foreign module shouldbe compiled in separate file anduploaded in the respective field inwww.spicmacay.in/activity-reportName of file: ---foreign.xlsExample: rajasthan-virasat-2009-foreign.xls11. SPIC MACAY foundation events shouldbe compiled in separate file anduploaded in the respective field inwww.spicmacay.in/activity-reportName of file: ---foundation.xlsA MYSTICand realised that he registered mypresence. He then said that Panchamis a name denoting the fifth letter ofthe Saptha Swaras of music. I feltblessed and realised that destiny hadchosen me to meet this sage.Blessed are we to witness this Centenariansinging in our midst. MayGod make us worthy of this honourand give us the privilege to have himsing for us for many more years. Hereis a musician who is more completethan many I have ever seen. Truly anawesome and inspiring is the experience.

Sandesh15 October 2009I feel stronglyNewly appointed Vice Chairman of SPIC MACAY, Vikas Nagrare,expresses his thoughts on issues confronting the movement ..My tryst with this noblemovement was quite accidental. Itstarted with a peep into theauditorium of Azad Hind College,Mumbai in 1995 -96 where Smt.Kishori Amonkar was at the peak ofher performance. I had gone there notto listen to any classical music, but tovolunteer at the shoe counter outside.For many of us, to volunteer for SPICMACAY programs in neighboringinstitutions, was a good excuse to skipclasses ‘officially’. Till that day,classical music just did not make anysense to me. But that curious 'peep'into the auditorium captivated meforever. The experience left mespellbound long after the performancewas over. I was soon attending classicalmusic concerts regularly, whenever Igot time and the opportunity whileworking for long hours in the hotelindustry.In 2004, when I joined as a Facultyin a hotel management college inIndore, I confronted SPIC MACAYagain. One day I read about PtVishwamohan Bhatt's performing ata local management institute inIndore. I left office early that day andwent for the concert. It was a veryfulfilling and an emotional moment forme when Pt Vishwamohan agreed tomy request of playing his GrammyAward winning number. After theconcert was over, I was approached byNeal Jain, the then coordinator forIndore who insisted that I come for theweekly meeting on Saturdays.I remember going for one of theSaturday meetings and being utterlysurprised to find Neal sitting all alone.I was overwhelmed by his singlemindeddedication and decided tocontribute to the cause then and there.Even then I had never imagined that Iwould be so engrossed in the SPICMACAY movement. Over a period oftime my involvement grew. I wouldtranslate press reports in English fromHindi and coordinate with the press.Later Neal also encouraged me to doartist coordination.Then came the Mumbai NationalConvention in 2004, which was thefirst convention I attended and itchanged my entire perspective of thiscause. I soon moved to Hyderabad andstarted contributing to uplift theactivities there.With all these years of associationwith SPIC MACAY one has also come tonotice some issues that we as amovement must address promptly.I find a big gap between our culturalheritage and the younger generation.No syllabus of any school or universitycovers music, dance, folk arts or craftsas important subjects of study. SPIC... I have gained muchfrom SPIC MACAY. I feel itis an integral part of mylife. I learnt organizing,planning, coordinationand more here . Above all,I found a big family inspicmacayites ...MACAY is dedicated to bridge this gapbut our efforts seem little. Manycorporatised educational institutionsstill display grimace to support thiscause. I am left surprised when I seethe high-fee-charging schools failingto offer even a meager amount asfinancial support for a SPICMACAYprogram in their premesis. I wish theseschools and colleges were moregenerous in contributing financiallyand helping us to spread.The other issue that bothers meis that SPIC MACAY is not active inmany smaller towns. For instance inAndhra Pradesh, there are few ‘B’towns where programs are organized.We msut focus on spreading themovement to all parts of the country.This can be done by funding thesesmall chapters, which most of the timebecome dormant due to lack of funds.Gandhiji used to say that the realIndia lives in its villages. We have toconvince the artists to reach out tostudents even in the villages. Besidesthe private educational institutions,SPIC MACAY must also go to thegovernment schools. If we go throughthe Activity Chart of 2008-2009, onefinds that most places that arehighlighted come from big cities likeDelhi, Hyderabad, Chandigarh,Jaipur, Kolkata, Bangalore etc wheremaximum number of programs areheld. The Youth in these cities isanyways exposed to various art forms,even without being associated withSPIC MACAY. Our focus should be onhow to inspire and make the youth inthe smaller towns more aware.Another thing that I feel stronglyabout is giving a chance to those artistsfrom our ‘Artsites Directory’ who haveso far been completely ignored. Overthe years, we have seen a few artistsgetting too many programs whilemany others not figuring in ourschedule at all. We must understandthat all artists listed in the ‘Artists'Directory’ have been included aftercareful scrutiny. No artist is lesser thanthe other. Picking up selective artistsgives an impression of us promoting afew artsits rather than the art form.Then there is the case of chaptersgoing dormant after some time due tolack of financial support or lack of avolunteer base. At Hyderabad, wehave overcome these hurdles byimplementing a few successfulstrategies. We now charge the privateinstitutions for a performance, in sucha way that we also save money afterall expenses have been met. We nolonger ask for one, big heftysponsorship from a few companies butgo for for smaller amounts from many.Our next step is to coordinate with thecorporate-run schools for an annualfund per student.contd.on page 16

More NewsSandesh16 October 2009continued from page 15I feel StronglyEven Rs.100 per student can raiseabout Rs. 80,000 from one school. Ifeven five schools come up with such acontribution, it will help us raise Rs.4,00,000 per year. No schooladministration or parents' body wouldobject to such a small amount forgetting inspiring and movingperformances. Besides cross-subsidizinggovernment schools and colleges, wheremoney is a major constraint; we can alsosupport the dormant and smallchapters in a state. Because of ouroffering to govt. institutions we can alsoget lenient support from the State’sCulture Department.Dr Kiran Seth, the inspirationbehind SPIC MACAY, alwaysemphasises on the weekly meetings.I strongly agree with his views.Hyderabad Chapter has bouncedback as a strong chapter only due tothe regular conduct of weeklymeetings. The meetings have to beregular without any break. For about2 years, there were times I was theonly person present at these meetingsin Hyderabad. Today SPIC MACAYhas become a brand and manyinstitutions are eager to startchapters and have weekly meetingsin their campuses.Today, when I look back, I feel Ihave personally gained much fromSPIC MACAY. I feel it is an integralpart of my life. I learnt organizing,planning, coordination, directingstudents etc. here. Above all, I founda very big family in spicmacayites allover the country. Moreover, themost precious thing I learnt to facechallenges.SPIC MACAY is not only aboutorganizing programmes, it is aplatform to mould oneself into acomplete human being. SPIC MACAYhas given me an opportunity to servemy country in a beautiful way. Indiais known for its arts, crafts, traditionsand culture more than anything else.I am glad that we have thisopportunity to contribute to ourMother India.SPIC MACAY JOINS HANDS WITH ICCRTHE TWO leading promoters of Indian art and culture in the world – SPICMACAY and ICCR ( Indian Council for Cultural Relations) – have agreed to cometogether. ICCR will sponsor some of the SPIC MACY events in Pune, Maharshtra,which will focus on foreign students. Pune is often called the Oxford of the East orsince it attracts a large number of students who come to study in the manyeducational institutions based here.Under the proposed arrangement, events will be conducted at such venueswhere maximum number of foreign students can attend the programmes. It willbe a part of the ongoing VIRASAT ‘09 series. This weeklong event would compriseof different modules such as concerts of classical music and dance, workshops ofclassical music and dance (which could be extended), yoga, talk, walks tohistorical monuments, screening of film classics (of Indian directors). Therecould also be workshops by Saiduddin Dagar and Arti Ankalekar for Vocal music;Sarvari Jaminis for Kathak, Sucheta Bhide Chapekar for Bharatnatyam, DivyaSoma Mashe for Warli painting, Vijay Ghate for Tabla, Teejan Bai for Pandavani orKrishna Chandra Sahu for Prahlad Natak etc. On the final day of the workshop allstudents learning these art forms would be required to give a presentation oftheir experience. More details regarding the schedule of this programme willsoon be decided.HYDERABAD TO HOST NORWEGIAN GROUPHyderabad chapter is going to host a Western Classical concert by aNorwegian Group in October-end; under World Heritage Series. Theperformances would be organised in various schools and colleges.SPIC MACAY GOES TO NEPALSPIC MACAY chapter of Nepal will be launched in October 2009. Nepal chapteris being inaugurated by Pt. Vishwamohan Bhatt. He will perform at four schoolsin and around Kathmandu. He will be accompanied by Sh. Ram Kumar Mishraon Tabla. The activity in Nepal is being initiated by the Nepal Music Centre.Mr. Santosh Sharma is heading the centre and is keen on bringing Indian ClassicalMusic to the young people of Nepal.SPIC MACAY IN SINGAPOREThe newly established Singapore chapter held its inaugural concerts by Pt.Satish Vyas (santoor) on July 31, 2009. Pt. Vyas was accompanied by PtMukundraj Deo on tabla and gave a scintillating performance at the S.P.JainCentre of Management. The second concert was held at the Global IndianSchool on August 3. The initiative for starting the Singapore chapter has beentaken by Dr Samarendra Singh. A group of spicamacayites worked hard for manymonths to impress upon the institutions the need to create awareness of India’scultural heritage in foreign lands.Contd. from pg.6A Full EducationThe result of all these efforts would be that a young person would become morebalanced and will be able to contribute much more to the society. While satisfyingand improving her material world, she would grow in the inner domain too,thereby realizing that titillation cannot give lasting happiness, which necessarilyhas to come through the intangible domain. A by-product would be, that a lot ofproblems of divisiveness and insensitivity plaguing us would get diluted if wegave the areas mentioned, adequate attention in education.

Sandesh17 October 200924th nationalconventionIN SEARCH OF SELF...By PanchamTHE WORD Ashram conjures upvarious images in the mind. Forpeople of the previousgeneration it meant isolation anddisconnect from the world, perhaps inthe Himalayan caves. For ourgeneration it means a holiday once ina while in Rishikesh without muchdisconnect with the rest of the world!!!For the Gen Next it means a placewhere they can enjoy swimming, spaetc and let their hair down withoutanyone admonishing them.However, for the 650 odddelegates (predominantly students) ofSPIC MACAY, assembled atTrivandrum for the 24th AnnualNational Convention from May24-29, 2009, it was a totally differentexperience being introduced to the richtraditional Indian culture. They werehere seeking a glimpse of the beauty,grace and wisdom embodied in ourheritage to make it an integral part oftheir lives. For these people Ashramlife is an opening of the inner eyes, asour logo portrays, and the realizationof the joy in discovering the soulwithin while being a part of the worldat large.SPIC MACAY’s first Conventionin God's own country – Kerala saw atremendous enthusiasm and a lot ofactivities. Kendriya Vidyalaya,Pattom and Kendriya Vidyalaya,Pangode were the two schools for stay,workshops, Intensives and some of the'talk' programmes. The inaugurationand concerts were held at the famous–AKG Memorial Hall.24th May: Invocatory Panchavadyam,a typical temple art ofpercussion ensemble consisting of fivedifferent instruments, heralded theinauguration function. It waspresented by the well known group ofSreevaraham Ashok Kumar andparty. Shri M. A. Baby, Minister forEducation, Kerala lit the lamp andDr. Kiran Seth at the inauguration of24th National Conventiondeclared the Convention OPEN. In hisspeech, Mr. Baby lauded the efforts ofSPIC MACAY to bring together theyouth and provide them inspirationfor a lifetime. President of SPICMACAY-Kerala chapter delivered theopening address and spokeabout value basededucational system beingthe need of the hour.The stage was set forthe opening concert, aneagerly awaited musicalexperience for the audience.Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharmatook the stage and it wasawe inspiring to watch himat his dazzling best. Keralahad pre-monsoon climateand rains were hanging inthe air.Panditji appropriatelychose to invoke the rainGods by choosing Raag Megh. Thebeautiful sounds of the invocationwere too much for the Rain Gods toresist as they came rushing down onthe landscapes of Kerala while we wereall completely drenched in the NadaShowers inside. Sh Ram Kumar Mishragave able support on Tabla.The second half of the eveningfeaftured Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair and Kalamandalam Gopitogether on the stage renderingSanthana Gopalacharitam inKathakali.25th MAY: As per the conventionpractice, there was Yoga sessionevery day from 4 AM conducted byGurus from Vivekananda YogaKendra, Kanyakumari. The fewstudents who came steadfastlypreferred the Shavaasan so they couldrest their tired limbs and eyes. At 9AM the eminent Kavalam NarayanaPanicker gave a talk on folk lore ofKerala followed by folk danceperformances arranged throughSouth Zone Cultural Centre (SZCC),Thanjavur featuring Ottamtullal andTheyyam of Kerala and Aragattam ofTamil Nadu.This was followed by(L-R) Us. Fahimuddin Dagar, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma,Kerala Education Minister Mr. M.A. Baby andSwami Viviktanand Saraswati at the inauguration.Prahlad Natak by Jagruthi CulturalCentre, Orissa lead by Guru KrushnaChandra Sahu. Intensives beganimmediately thereafter and everyonehad a busy time with a hurried lunchbreak. The food served during theConvention was delightful and theemphasis was to give the delegates anidea about Kerala's traditionalculinary repertoire.

24th nationalconventionSandesh18 October 2009There were 10 Intensivesconsisting Tabla by Pt. RamkumarMishra, Kudiyattam by Smt. KapilaVenu, Dhrupad Vocals by Ust.Fahimuddin Dagar, Hindustani Vocalsby Ust. Abdul Rashid Khan, Yoga bythe yogacharyas of ViviktanandaCentre, Kathakali by GuruRamankutty Nair, Prahlad Natak byGuru Sahu, Kalamkari by ShriGurappa Chetty and Patwa andPattachitra by artists sent by East ZoneCultural Centre (EZCC).In the evening Sh. T.N. Seshagoplangave a Carnatic recital followedby Kudiyattam by Kapila Venu. Whilethe former gave a typical Kutcheri(concert in traditional style) of RaagThanam Pallavi, the latter producedan astonishing array of mudras,bhava, adavu, footwork, theatre,mime and dance when she presentedKoormavatar (the incarnation ofVishnu in the form of a Tortoise). TheNational Convention wasdedicated to the memory of GuruAmmanur Madhava Chakyar andKapila ji's performance was a fittingtribute to the legend. Kudiyattam, adying art form is, at last, in safe hands.26th MAY: After the Yogasession in the morning, everyoneassembled at the Pattom School tolisten to Smt. Aruna Roy, the eminentsocial activist. She spoke passionatelyimploring the youth to fight for theirrights and due empowerment asprovided by the constitution. She spokeabout her struggle to establishwomen's rightful place in the society,social reforms, RTI, employmentschemes and shared her experiencesin Rajasthan through her movementMKSS.Later in the day famous filmdirector Sh. Adoor Gopalakrishnanpresented his award winning Film “EliPathayam” (Rat Trap) followed by aninteractive session when studentsasked him about his passion forchoosing art films instead ofcommercial cinema. He said thatentertainment is amisunderstood aspect offilms. While commercialfilms give superficial andm o m e n t a r yentertainment, real filmsprovide a blissful form of'entertainment' that islong lasting. He asked allthose present to thinkwhether what theyperceive in films haveany real life value.In the evening Pt.Rajshekar Mansur gave avocal concert followed by Carnaticflute by Vidwan Dr. N. Ramani.27th May: Smt. Anjolie ElaMenon gave a talk on Indian artistesand there was an interactive sessionthereafter. In her talk Smt Menonmentioned about the Buddhistinfluence in Indian art forms. This wasfollowed by the screening of AkiraKurosawa film “Throne of Blood”.In the evening, Ust. ShahidParvez gave a sitar recital followed bya Dhrupad recital by Ust. FahimuddinDagar. He fluently recited SanskritShlokas to prove the point that musicis above everything else and the trueaim of music is MOKSHA .28th May: There was a paneldiscussion about the relevance of ourclassical art forms in the 21st centuryand all the Gurus who conducted theIntensive Workshops spoke on thesubject. This was followed by a demoperformance by the Sishyas who hadbeen attached to the various Gurusduring the last five days of theConvention.No National Convention iscomplete without the OvernightConcert. The much awaited eventbegan with a Kathak performance byPt. Birju Maharaj followed by aCarnatic concert by Guru TVShankaranarayanan, Rudra Veena byUst. Asad Ali Khan, flute by Pt. RonuMajumdar and vocal by Ust. AbdulRashid Khan.Pt. Ronu Majumdar got theBrahma Muhoorta slot and played avery soothing Ahir Bhairav that stillreverberates. The sight of centurionUst. Abdul Rashid Khan singing willalways inspire everyone and healways sings his heart out. The Bhajanat the end of the concert never fails tobring tears or Anand Anubhuti.One came home from theConvention highly inspired and withgratitude to the organisers who hadgone several miles beyond to overcomemany challenges to make theConvention a great success.The Hindu paper (TrivandrumEdition/28th May) called it 'Discoveryof India'.A final year B.Com studentShraddha Mohan from Chennai said:“It was an extraordinary experienceto be under such venerable Gurus andmy whole life has changed now”SPIC MACAY NationalConvention aims to bring together alarge community of students from allover India and make them gear up topromote an awareness of the rich andheterogeneous cultural tapestry ofIndia amongst youth.

Sandesh19 October 2009N.E. MeetingLandmark decisions at the NE meetingThe National Executive (NE) body ofSPIC MACAY met on 25th-26th July2009 at IIT Delhi and discussed atlength many important issues relatingto the functioning of the movement..One of the landmark decisionsthat the NE took was to declare DrKiran Seth as the Chairperson of SPICMACAY FOR LIFE! It was also decidedto suitably amend the rule book in thisregard.When the topic of the election of aChairperson came up, Dr. Seth suggestednames of some young, activeand dedicated members who couldtake forward the spirit of the movement.Several names that were suggested,included Vikas Nagrare fromHyderabad, Dr. Rajshree fromFirozabad and Kasturi Paigude orPriyadarshan from Pune.It was, however, strongly expressedby many NE members that Dr.Seth remain the chairperson of themovement to guide the volunteers.However, for official modalities, a ViceChairperson could be elected from outsideDelhi - who is young, credible andhas spent considerable time as a volunteerat the grassroot level. It wasalso desired that such a person shouldbe guided to take the reins of the movementin the future. Out of the namessuggested by Dr. Seth, the NE finallyvoted for Vikas Nagrare of Hyderabadas the Vice Chairperson for a term oftwo years.OTHER DECISIONSAll important decisions regardingfunctioning of the movement to beratified by the NE.Virasat series: Chapters mustincrease number of less expensivemodules like talks and films. Organizemore intensives in schools, especiallyclassical music and dance for studentsof Class I-V and organize week-longseries, covering all modules.National Conventions: Aim tomake conventions completely self–sufficient, a conceptual session mustbe organized for all delegates andattempt should be made to increase thetime of intensives.Weekly meetings: Everychapter coordinator must ensure thatweekly meetings are held withregularity. It was stressed that thesuccess of a chapter depended on thesemeetings.Heritage Mission: Need for amission for promoting Indian heritagein the policies of the government. DrSeth briefed all about his meetingswith Rahul Gandhi who has agreed toarrange a meeting with Sonia Gandhito discuss this idea further.Sandesh: The editorial group wasexpanded with the inclusion ofAnshuman Jain. It was decided thatout of four members, one be electedchief editor. Editor must take theconsent of other members beforesending issue for print. No need tohighlight names & personalizecolumns as the movement is aboutdownplaying individual contributionsand promoting self-less service.Artiste Directory: AkshayMadan of Delhi volunteered to take upthe job of update with the help of otherstudents and assured to bring out theupdated directory by the next NE.E-groups: The only authorizedgroup for communication in SPICMACAY shall be the on onyahoogroups. Moderators decided inthe last NE meeting shall continuewith the job. It was also agreed thatthe Spicmacaycians on googlegroupwill be closed down within a week ofthe meeting.Scholarship scheme: Sucheta jiof Nagpur, Harsh Narayan andDivyendu Shekhar of Delhi willcoordinate the scheme for the nextyear. They shall be helped byPancham and Ricky.Better administration: Forbetter organization and atmospherewithin the movement, Dr Sethrequested everybody to solve theirpersonal issues through one to oneinteractions. Mass mails will nolonger be tolerated.Appa Jalgaonkaris no moreHarmonium maestro PanditAppa Jalgaonkar breathed his last inPune in the early hours of 16’th September,2009. He was 87.Appaji, suffering paralysis forlast 10 years, passed away in his sleep.His wife Leela had left the earth to livewith angels 11 years ago. He is survivedby his disciples Shri Hanumantand Shri Suresh Phadtare. AppaJalgaonkar was born in a farmer’s familyin Jalgaon, Maharashtra on January1, 1922. His real name wasSakharam Prabhakar Jalgaonkar, buthe was fondly called Appa by the musiclovers.DOORDARSHAN TO SHOWSPIC MACAY CONCERTSIT is a matter of great pride and honorthat National BroadcasterDoordarshan (DD) has decided todevote a 1-hr slot from 10.00 to 11.00pm every Friday, Saturday andSunday to our ongoing Virasat series2009. They will record all ourprograms across India and air themon a regular basis.To make this possible and ensurethat this happens on a regular basis,central advisors are requested to sendtheir programme schedule toDoordarshan on a regular basis.DD needs 10 days notice to be able toput together a team to cover theprogrammes.NEXT N.E. MEET IN DECEMBERThe next NASCOM/NationalExecutive meeting is tentativelyscheduled for December 5-6 at IITDelhi. Proposed agenda for the nextmeeting are: State ConventionsReview, Upcoming State Conventions/National School Intensive, Review ofAd Board Meeting, Updating Artistes’List-adding new names, findingmechanism to take dates from artistes,categorization and facilities to begiven to artistes, recognise states witha need to revive dormant chapters andsuggestions for making new websitemore effective.

Editor’s NoteSandesh20 October 2009It has been a very long and enlighteningexperience for me to work for a communiquélike Sandesh for many years. Personal reasonsforced me to discontinue working for the last fewyears but it feels good to be back and be able tocontribute to this inspiring document again.In my new tenure, our team’s priority will be totake the idea of SPIC MACAY through Sandesh tothe youth in even smaller towns. I envisage to grabthe attention of our young volunteers in the metrosas well, through its new look. We will also ensurethat the look, design as well as content of thenewsletter becomes engaging again and we do notsway away from our core path.Since June 2009, it has been a busy time for SPICMACAY with the national convention, stateconventions and Virasat series taking off all overIndia. We are also expanding overseas and havenow opened chapters in Nepal and Singapore whilestrengthening relations with Norway’sRikskonsertene. At the same time it has also been ahuge challenge to grab the youth’s attention andinvolve them in our activities. Due to constant pullsand pressures from other distractions, the youth nowhas many more avenues to explore or things to do.Our approach and the overall effort will be aimedat retaining the depth in the content which canconnect the youth, volunteers and well-wishers toour heritage.—Anshuman JainThe SandeshEditor : Anshuman JainAsst. Editor: Shobhana MandalCompiled by: Manish Narang, Vikas NagrareLayout & Design: Rituraj SharmaSend your views, contributions and queries to:Editor, The Sandesh c/o SPIC MACAY41/42, Lucknow Road, Delhi-110054 orE-mail: sandesh@spicmacay.comwebsite: www.spicmacay.comegroup: spicmacayites@yahoogroups.comMallingTo:Address:PRINTEDMATTERMR/Mrs .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................City: ......................................... Pin code: .................If undelivered please return to:SPIC MACAY41/42, Lucknow Road, Delhi-110054ANNOUNCEMENTThe 25thNationalConventionwill be heldfromJune 1-6, 2010atIIT, KANPURFor Queries callMr. S.P. Singh : 09415048107