Mark
Twain said: "India is, the cradle of the human race, the
birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother
of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable
and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured
up in India only" and yet we as Indians, especially, the younger
generation have not realised the greatness of our country and our
cultural heritage and still hanker after western music and western
culture.
Freedom is essential I agree. Let each one choose what he wants,
but at the same time one should not lose sight of one's roots. Our
country has been the pioneer in promoting values, culture, music,
dance sculptures right from the Harappan Indus Valley Civilization
five thousand years ago. The fact that Carnatic music, Bharatanatyam
and other classical forms of dance and music and folk arts have
survived with its pristine purity inspite of several invasions speaks
volumes of our great basic culture.
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Though many youngsters have come forward to learn Carnatric music
and classical dance, the audience who
come to these shows, even when there is free entrance, are only
middle aged Rasikas and elder citizens. I do wish many more youngsters
would cultivate the habit of attending classical music and dance
wherever it takes place.
In
Bharat Kalachar, we give scholarships to young aspiring students
and we give free passes to atleast hundred of our students per show
during the December Festival. Bharat Kalachar has been started with
the following aims and objectives.
a) to promote and create a cultural
awareness and appreciation of our own classical fine arts and traditional
folk arts especially among youth.
b) to provide Art Education and Value
Education through performing arts.
c) to promote National integration
and International Understanding and good will among the youth through
cultural exchange.
d) to give scholarship and awards to
young students in recognition of their talent in the field of fine
arts.
e) to conduct seminars, workshops,
lecture-demonstrations, conferences in the field of Fine Arts by
eminent and artistes to make them know about our different art forms.
Theatre is also part our programmes and we hope to introduce Theatre
in Education by June 2000 with the help
of the Association of British Scholars, Tamil Nadu. We are going
to train our teachers and we are confident that learning through
theatre will become an established and enjoyable methodology for
the children in school in the years to come.
We hope to continue this good work and inculcate our cultural heritage
by exposing youngsters to our arts, through a process of osmosis.
So parents of PSBB, please encourage your children to attend the
free concerts at 9:30 AM and 1:30 P.M. and if they are learning
music or dance, they may approach us for Free passes for some of
the
evening performances .
Huh Shih former Ambassador of China to the USA said: India conquered
and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having
to send a single soldier across her border.
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