There are buildings and there are some landmark buildings. The sprawling red and white building of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan — at the intersection of Central Delhi’s Kasturba Gandhi Marg and Copernicus Marg — is nothing in terms of today’s design and style paradigm. But then, some buildings are the bricks of society. And this is where BVB carves out its unique space. A living edifice, a reminder of a freshly freed India envisioning the hopes and aspirations of millions.
In the last 52 years, so much of Delhi has changed, and, let’s admit it, an addiction to modernity has metamorphosed our generations in the name of adjusting to the new age. Time then, to accord a tribute to BVB for remaining steadfast in what it does best — synthesising modern knowledge with the ancient, along the ideals of its founder, the thinker-philosopher K.M. Munshi. The occasion is also appropriate as the institute celebrates its founder’s day this Saturday. The curtains went up on the first BVB in Mumbai’s Chowpatty 71 years ago, on November 7, 1938.
Though the founder’s day has been a big occasion for all the branches of the institute that has now spread to different countries, the Delhi Kendra this year is holding a festival of classical music and dance. Spanning three days from November 6, the festival, Sangeet Samaroh, says BVB director J. Veeraraghavan, “will be an annual affair from now on every founder’s day.” From Hindustani to Carnatic, sitar to shehnai, Odissi to Bharatanatyam, the samaroh gathers a posy of eminent names like Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, C.Sukanya, Debu Choudhuri, Partho Das, Daya Shankar, Madhavi Mudgal and Leela Samson.
“We will also pay tribute to three great musicians who passed away this year — Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Gangubai Hangal and D.K. Pattamal. We are releasing a souvenir too on the occasion. It has less advertisements and more articles,” says the director.
But why suddenly the idea of a festival? The landmark occasion of the Kendra’s 50th anniversary passed silently two years ago. Veeraraghavan says, “Classical music and heritage has always been at the core of our existence. We have always tried to promote and preserve our cultural values. In our schools too, a lot of importance is given to learning music and dance. We have been organising cultural functions in one Kendra or the other for so many years.” So the festival is an extension of that.
Gandhian values
But being low key is BVB’s typical style. In Delhi alone, it runs dozens of immensely popular courses that provide an edge in the job market. Based on Gandhian values, it continues to amalgamate modern learning without forgetting what is typically Indian. The director comments, “We have a management institute and at the same time a course on astrology. Our foreign language institute is very popular but we also have a purohita programme which teaches the 16 sanskaras of a Hindu from birth to death. Interestingly, there are some girls doing the purohita course. The idea is, to march ahead we need to understand our tradition first.”
But with the society going more and more western, he admits, “The challenge before us is big simply because the culture is evolving.” He recalls a recent conversation he had with a friend. “He said we should not be a photocopy, we should be original. I couldn’t agree more. Munshi’s dream was synthesis of modern and ancient knowledge. Western education is fine but we have to fit it to our cultural mores accordingly.” He sums up the conversation quoting Sri Aurobindo in “The Foundations of Indian Culture” the essence of which is: though we have to choose the good from the bad, we have to remember that both good and bad come together.
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FOUNDER’S DAY FEST
Venue: FICCI Auditorium
November 6 (Friday)
Sitar recital by Partho Das
Shehnai recital by Daya Shankar and party
Odissi recital by Madhavi Mudgal
November 7 (Saturday)
Sitar recital by Pandit Debu Choudhuri
Hindustani vocal recital by Pandit Rajan and Sajan Mishra
November 8 (Sunday)
Carnatic vocal recital by C. Sukanya
Bharatanatyam recital by Leela Samson
Hindustani vocal recital by Ashwini Bhide Deshpande
Timings: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
For more information, contact Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan at 011-23382470
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The days that were…
BHAVAN’S ALUMNI
Madhumita Raut
Odissi exponent
I consider myself very lucky to have studied in BVB. It was an extension of the cultural atmosphere that I had at home. I wanted to be a journalist but because of BVB I couldn’t deviate from the arts. It instilled in me a great respect for our culture and heritage. It had one of the best music and dance departments. Artistes like Partho Das were in the faculty I would particularly like to mention our then principal M.P. Chaya. He taught us to respect all religions. We used to have a sarva dharma prayer in the morning.
Those students who didn’t have enough space or atmosphere to study at home were allowed to do their homework at school in the evening. There would be two chaprasis specially on duty for that. The school taught us to be compassionate. We were once blindfolded and asked to move around with an escort to feel how is it to be visually impaired.
Ashish Khokar
Art historian and commentator
What I am today is entirely because of BVB. My initial interest in dance and art history developed there. I am particularly grateful to it for teaching us to have modern thoughts rooted in Indianness. There was no pressure on students to do well in every subject like today. I was lucky to have got M.P. Chaya as our principal. He was a great educationist, a major influence in my life.
Also, I would like to express my gratitude to the present principal Dr. G.S. Negi, he was our geography teacher then and instilled in us a love for the subject.
Ambika Panicker
Odissi exponent
I think I was lucky to be at BVB. One of my favourite memories is of the time when the dance-drama “Krishnavatar” was staged. I was in the 7th standard and we all felt we were doing something really spectacular!
BVB helped in many other ways. It took away stage fright at an young age. Ours was the first batch of the 10+2 system. The syllabus was tough but none had to take extra tuition, our teachers were that good!
