Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Achivements of SPIC MACAY, Uttarakhand 2011 -12


With the active support of the Chairperson, all members of the State Advisory Board  our well wishers and our volunteers, the  SPIC MACAY movement succeeded in conducting nearly 300 programs in various regions of Uttarakhand. These included programs of classical music and dance, folk art forms, Heritage walks, and screening of Heritage films.

It is with a great sense of pride and honor that we inform that the 19th Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award has been conferred on SPIC MACAY. The award was instituted by Indian National Congress to commemorate the ever lasting contribution made by the former Prime Minister, (Late) Shri Rajiv Gandhi to promote peace and communal harmony amongst youth.

The award which was presented by Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, to Dr. Kiran Seth in August 2011 carries a citation and a cash award of Rs 5 lacs. It is indeed a priviledge and a humbling experience to join such illustrious luminaries as Mother Teresa, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Lata Mangeshkar, and many others who have received the award in the past.

The report:-

1.  With the grant of Rs 50,000, kindly provided by H.E. the Governor of Uttarakhand, Mrs. Margaret Alva, a projector along with speakers and a laptop was bought.  This helped us in screening 55 heritage films  in various schools and colleges These included films made by famous directors like, Satyajit Ray, Charlie Chaplin, Akira Kurusawa and Shyam Benegal

2.  H.E. had emphasised on involving youth in the restoration of archaeological treasures.  Keeping that in mind, heritage walks were conducted for various schools with the help of the Archaeological Survey of India, at the,Jhanda Sahib,of Sri Guru RamRai Darbar Khalanga Park and the historical Nala Pani forest.

3.  With the kind support of Education Secretary Mrs. Manisha Panwar, 32 concerts were held in government schools of the State. Official letters from the Department of Education to these institutions were of great assistance in organizing these programs.

4.  Ms Beena Bhatt, Director Culture, helped in getting the grant of Rs.5 lakhs that was sent to the central office of SPIC MACAY at Delhi. The department of culture also sponsored the Folk group from Hanol that performed in institutions in and around Dehradun. We thank the department for its support and hope to spread the folk culture of Garhwal in urban Uttarakhand as well as in the rest of the country.

 5.  Chairman of Unison Education Society, Mr.Amit Agarwal’s unconditional patronage to the movement is worth mentioning.  With his support 15 programs were held in the society’s institutions.  He helped in sponsoring a SPIC MACAY event in the lawns of MAHAR Hospitality Academy which was attended by students from 16 institutions. We hope to make this into a regular event on the lines of Music in the Park series and get legendary artistes to perform for the students and citizens of the Doon Valley.

6.  Mr.Arun Dhand, Director, Petroleum University, prepared an approach note for creating a structured SPIC MACAY Chapter on the campus of each College/school of Uttarakhand.

7.  Prof Girijesh Pant, Vice Chancellor, Doon University, responded to the approach note by starting a SPIC MACAY Chapter, which conducted five concerts and a heritage film festival at the Doon University. The University also provided hospitality to the artistes.

8.  Mrs Ranjana Chopra, Joint Director, LBSNAA, continued her unstinted support to SPIC MACAY, and conducted 9 programs at the Academy. The academy paid for the fare and air travel of the artistes which was of immense help to the Dehradun Chapter.

9.  As the DM of Pauri , Mr Dilip Jawalkar, helped in the hospitality of artistes visiting Pauri by providing accommodation at the Circuit House. He coordinated with local schools as well as with the DM of Chamoli who assisted in increasing our reach in the region.

10.  Ms.Chhaya Khanna, head of CBSE schools sent a letter to all CBSE schools of Dehradun, directing them to have SPIC MACAY programs as a regular part of their school curriculum. 22 programs were held in CBSE schools in the region.

11.  Mr.David Hilton, head of ICSE schools sent a similar letter to all the council schools of Dehradun, He invited SPIC MACAY to give a presentation at the Principals' meeting held in Carman School, Premnagar in September. Following this, there was an increase in SPIC MACAY activities in the schools and a total of 79 programs were held in the council schools in Dehradun.

12.  Mr. J. M. Rawat, Asst. Commissioner Kendriya Vidyalaya  Sangathan, appointed a DO for all the Kendriya Vidyalaya’s of the district who helped in conducting concerts by 13 artistes in 18 Kendriya Vidyalayas in Uttarakhand. We were invited to do a presentation at the Regional Principals meet of the Kendriya Vidyalayas on 31st of July, which was attended by 53 Principals of the region.

13.  With the support of Dr.Chakravorty, Senior Professor from IIT Roorkee,  19 programs of 9 artistes were held at the IIT and  surrounding schools and colleges. 
14.  Mr. Satish Sharma, Editor and proprietor, Garhwal Post, gave generous support to the movement all the year round through his newspaper, Garhwal Post. He publicized and covered all the programs conducted by SPIC MACAY and provided stationary and complimentary space for posters.

15.  Mr Ajit Singh continued to support the artistes by providing instruments whenever required, displaying posters and at times sponsoring advertisements of SPIC MACAY events. Several artistes make it a point to pay their respects to Ajit ji and visit him at the Partap music house.

16.  Mrs. Priya Chaturvedi, Director, Department of Music, The Doon School, helped reinforce activities of SPIC MACAY in The Doon School.  

17.  Mr.Hemant Kochar, Director of Madhuban Group, provided hospitality and complimentary stay for some of the artists. He supported the Concert by Ustaad Shujaat Khan that was held at the Mahar Academy in November and was attended by over a thousand students from various colleges.

18.  We were happy to include the ITBP Training Academy as a part of SPIC MACAY program venues. With the help of DIG Sanjay Singhal 6 programs were held at the ITBP training centres at Dehradun, Mussoorie, Gauchar and Joshimath. Excellent accommodation and facilities were provided to the artistes.

19.  Training institutions like the ONGC Acedamy, Indian Military Academy, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy supported SPIC MACAY by having regular programs and providing artistes hospitality.

20.  In Kumaon, 29 programs were conducted in 12 institutions. Regions like Rudrapur, Almora, Ghorakhaal, Peorah, Majkhali and Ranikhet were covered.

21. 26 volunteers from Uttrakhand attended the SPIC MACAY National Convention at the Ravenshaw University, Cuttack and 6 students attended the Gurukul Scholarship under great Gurus in the field of Clasical music, dance and social work.

In the last year we have set up our own blog, facebook page. This has allowed us seemless communication among members, better accessibility and platforms for wide publicity.

This report is incomplete without a special mention of the volunteers. As you all are aware that SPIC MACAY is a voluntary organization, it would not have been possible for the Uttarakhand chapter to organize so many programs without the untiring efforts of our numerous volunteers.  

Travelling the length and breadth of the state, escorting great artists to the humblest of venues, keeping late hours and giving their most valuable commodity, their time - they are the backbone and support of the SPIC MACAY movement in our State.

These young and (not so young!)  men and women, labour not for self , but for an idea -  that a nation's  cultural heritage is worth saving,  and that the custodians of its heritage are its future guardians.