SPIC MACAY, the Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth, is a voluntary youth movement that was established by IIT Delhi professor and Padma Shri awardee Dr. Kiran Seth in 1977 at IIT Delhi, with the aim of spreading awareness about Indian culture and heritage throughout the country. It is with the aim of furthering this cause that the 2nd International SPIC MACAY Convention will be held this summer here at IIT Madras, from the 8th to the 14th of June, 2014.
The convention will feature performances and workshops by more than 50 renowned artistes from different parts of the country. It will also comprise weeklong programs on classical music, classical dance, folks, theatre, yoga and talks by eminent people. Some of the artists who will perform are Dr M. Balamuralikrishna, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, Prof T. N. Krishnan, Smt Girija Devi, Vidwan T. V. Sankaranarayanan, Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, Pandit Venkatesh Kumar, Vidwan Ravikiran and Mandolin Srinivas.
As a prelude to the convention, a concert by flute maestro and Padma Vibhushan Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, accompanied by Pandit Vijay Ghate on the tabla, was held on March 6th 2014 to an appreciative OAT audience. On the 4th of March, 2014, Dr. Seth himself visited IIT Madras, delivering a lecture titled ‘Save the Tiger but also save the Rudra Veena’.
The following are excerpts from an interview with him:
What is the central idea behind SPIC MACAY?
The central idea is to bring into the lives of young people the different aspects of education, which are not there yet — things that are abstract, subtle, inspiring and mystical.
What spurred you to start this organisation?
Fluke! It was chance. I was interested in Western music in my student days in IIT Kharagpur. There was a person who used to conduct one whole night of classical music called “Green Amateurs’ Night”. But my friends and I weren’t interested in this “aa-aa business”! We used to go there to see who had come and who had not, and then we’d sit at the back and play cards. But I think that was the starting point; the seeds were planted there. A small plant came out of the ground when I went to see a performance of Ustad Nasir Aminuddin Dagar and Ustad Fariduddin Dagar in New York. That tree is still growing.
The SPIC MACAY website mentions that SPIC MACAY is an affirmation of ‘the effectiveness of voluntary work in inculcating a spirit of service.’ Could you elaborate more on this aspect?
Today, everything has become a transaction. You give me this much, I will give you that much. With globalization, life has also become a transaction. I think that the concept of giving without expectation has been pushed into the background. We are trying to reaffirm the concept of Nishkaam Seva.
The third law of motion says that to every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. The law of Nishkaam Seva says that to every action, there’s a reaction that far exceeds the action. It multiplies, multiplies, and so on. But if you expect it, then it fails. So, work has to be done without expectation. When you do that, you will get back something much more. It may not be quantifiable — it may be something that you get from the inside and which cannot be counted. We are trying to reaffirm this concept. In our programs, we don’t charge anything. There’s going to be a big SPIC MACAY convention in IIT Madras in June. We are not going to charge anything for registration, food or anything else.
An article written in 2007 mentioned that ‘SPIC MACAY, which relies on Seth as torchbearer, has not found its next line of leaders. Without them, it will be hard to make the movement outlast its people. And yet, the new leaders must not hammer the concept into an organized hierarchical structure.’ Could you speak about this aspect? Your ideas about leadership?
I believe that leaders are coming up, but a process like this takes time. I feel that leadership should be something which evolves; it shouldn’t be too structured. I will give you a small example. Every year Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated. Ganesh statues are made, worshipped and then immersed into river in the end. But does anybody ever think, ‘this statue is so beautiful I want to keep it in my drawing room’? Next year, another Ganesh idol will be made and immersed. The concept of truth is something similar to this. There are much higher forces at play. I believe that something of value and great depth doesn’t die down. There will be forces which will bring it up. They will bring up the leader.
In my opinion, real leadership comes with inspiration. Leadership without inspiration usually becomes self-directed. If that happens, then ‘swaarth’ (selfishness) comes in. I feel that if leadership has to come, it will come. If it doesn’t have to, it won’t. The more important thing is that the purity and passion of the purpose remains intact.
Why do you think culture and art appreciation is so important for the youth?
Art and science are the same roads to the same goal. One can complement the other. Truth is reached not only through physics, or only through art; there are many roads. While we are taking one road, we should also be able to benefit from and appreciate the other roads.
What is your view about the current state of art appreciation in the world?
Sadly, everything has become like a transaction. It is like an increase in entropy. I don’t know how the process can be reversed. Do you know that Higgs couldn’t be traced when he was announced to be the Physics Nobel Prize winner, as he doesn’t keep a cell phone? He said in an interview that the Nobel Prize has only brought him anguish; his peace has been disturbed. When Ustad Rahimuddin Dagar got Padma Bhushan, one person congratulated him on the road. He said ‘thank you’ and walked away! I am sure that what these people got through their work is much more than what any Nobel Prize or Padma Bhushan could give them.
I get many calls from people requesting me to recommend them for some award. Actually, what should happen is that the person getting an award should be honouring the award. But today, the award is honouring the person.
You are referring to commercialization in the art world?
Yes. Commercialization, and also the inability to see beyond what you can see. It’s there in physics, mathematics, music, everywhere. We shouldn’t be satisfied with an award. When we are able to see beyond what we can ‘see’, everything else becomes irrelevant.
‘Ability to see beyond what you can see’ — that is what art is all about …
Not just art! Physics and mathematics too! 50 years ago, with pen and paper, Higgs postulated about the Higgs boson. Today, it has been proved to exist. Imagine the power of the mind. Higgs could ‘see’ much beyond.
What is your message to IIT Madras students?
You are much brighter and sharper than we were as students in IIT. But there are two things which you are lacking: a little bit of patience and a little bit of faith. The basic premises on which most of the great thought processes are developed have been these two. The problem with Twitter, Facebook and 2-minute Maggi noodles is that we want all answers quickly. But this won’t work in the path to truth. My suggestion to the students is to take up one form of yoga. It can be classical music, classical dance, hatha yoga or something else, but it should become something that you do every day.
