Lending context to India’s advantages and disadvantages as a platform for creative thinkers, Abhijit Sengupta, former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, observes that our inability to tolerate cultures has led to intolerance. “The size, heterogeneity and centuries of wisdom of our country have created an enormous pool of cultural expressions. But its vastness in time and space has itself led to certain erosion in creative thinking. To build on the richness of our creative cultural expressions requires ‘eternal vigil’ on the part of Government and citizens to remain alive to the plurality of our country, to create a ‘cultured’ world around us,” he says.
Tailor madeIn pursuit of this ‘eternal vigil’, Bangalore-based Abhijit was approached to chair a High Powered Commission (HPC) to study the Constitution and the working of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the Sahitya Akademi and the Lalit Kala Akademi, as also other institutions such as the NGMA, CCRT, IGNCA and NSD. “I suppose the Government wanted someone who had administrative experience but also interest in and some appreciation of the arts. The HPC itself was set up in deference to the recommendations of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, in the 201st report of the Committee,” he says, adding, “The intention is to develop synergy between these organisations but avoid duplication in responsibilities as far as possible. Also, issues of better management, strategy, coordination et al will be looked into by this HPC.”
Towards framing the review, the aspect of sustainability is of vital significance. “There will have to be structural and systemic changes in the organisation and management of the Akademis. Our recommendations must be actionable. To avoid the possibility of our recommendations merely gathering dust, we would try to attach a set of action-oriented steps for the Ministry to follow. And an assessment of the interaction between the Ministry and the Akademis would enable us to take a holistic view,” explains Abhijit.
Insider’s perspectiveAbhijit’s background as a bureaucrat, his personal relation to the stage as a well known theatre director and current role as a member of Governing Body of Kalakshetra, Chennai, gives him an insider’s perspective of the functioning of the Akademies.
“I have some understanding of inherent weaknesses. The bureaucracy is at times maligned without the complexities of a situation being understood. But a section of the bureaucracy is often crass, and does not have any sense of artistic expression and ‘culture’. As a person involved with theatre, I have some understanding of the difficulties that the ‘other side’, the problems creative people face. The need to find a right balance between the accountable use of public funds and the freedom of expression is essential; a balance, as far as is possible, is what we would seek.”
Abhijit feels that one of India’s continuing problems is the hiatus between classical and folk/tribal forms. “There is a need to see how best to find a balance between appreciation of our greatest performing and visual artists, and encouragement to the younger generation. There is also a great difference between arts and crafts, but crafts hardly come within the purview of the Ministry of Culture. There are gaps in the forms of expression that are actively encouraged; an example is photography in the visual arts,” he says.
As creative expressions find new contexts, accessibility to the Akadamies and allied institutions over the years, has perhaps been rife with bureaucracy and or the art of knowing the right person at the helm. “Bureaucratic control is only one area of concern,” points out Abhijit, adding, “The impression that the problems of the Akademis stem only out of some form of nepotism may not be entirely correct. These institutions themselves are bodies of affiliates, and constituents can create groupism and cronyism. It is the way these organisations are structured, and their processes and systems may need change. Our aim is to look at these issues and it is too early to define a way.”
Towards defining this path, Abhijit draws context from his own inspirations and aspirations for creative expressions. “Recalling lines from Tagore’s Indian Prayer – ‘Where the mind is without fear.…’ We need to strive for a world that ‘has not been broken up into fragments/by narrow domestic walls…’ But also, we need our cultural institutions to build a world ‘where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection’. That would show their honesty of purpose,” he professes.
