24th nationalconventionSandesh18 October 2009<strong>The</strong>re 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). <strong>The</strong>National 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: <strong>The</strong>re 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. <strong>The</strong> 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. <strong>The</strong> sight of centurionUst. Abdul Rashid Khan singing willalways inspire everyone and healways sings his heart out. <strong>The</strong> 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.<strong>The</strong> 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 meeting<strong>The</strong> 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: <strong>The</strong> 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: <strong>The</strong> 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 Spic<strong>macay</strong>cians 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. <strong>The</strong>y 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. <strong>The</strong>y 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 DECEMBER<strong>The</strong> 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.
Change language