Some enterprising performing artistes are taking the classical art forms such as Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam to its connoisseurs, irrespective of the latter’s affordability.
Renowned vocalists R.K. Padmanabha and P. Ramaa are known for their large-hearted free classes for the poor.
Dancer Padmaja Suresh adopts underprivileged children from government schools to familiarise them with classical arts, while the Bangalore School of Music has special outreach programmes catering to the deserving.
The progressive difference brought about by violinist Bindu Subramaniam in the lives of 25 students of the Lakshmamma Orphanage in Kodigehalli by teaching them Carnatic music and bhajans, needs special mention. At the Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts (SaPa) at R.T. Nagar, where Bindu, academy dean and daughter of violinist L. Subramaniam teaches, the children of the orphanage seem relaxed. “Madam, why not a film song today?” they request.
It was Bindu’s dream to teach the deprived, as otherwise “these lovely children would have never dreamt of melody becoming an intrinsic part of their everyday lives.” The children study at the government schools, says Bindu who is surprised to see them take to music seemingly well. “Today, after one year, they are much a part of our fabric at SaPa,” she says, talking of her specially devised curriculum and bringing in baby tamburas for the three-year-olds.
The children, as observers at SaPa’s Indian and Global music workshops, have got exposure to cross-cultural interactions. “I remember how they were excited to see Lionel Garcin from France playing on his Saxophone, when they shouted: ‘Hey Tuthoori!’ and had the foreigners refer continuously to it as ‘Tuthoori’ at the workshop!” recalls Bindu.
