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.
