A salute to Saptak: A cultural nucleus & icon

It seems like yesterday, that one got off the train in Ahmedabad and took an early morning rickshaw to go to SPIPA for training as an IAS probationer. The city had a distinct character but didn’t particularly impress me then.

However, living next door to Ahmedabad for several years, one now identifies with many traits of Amdavad and Amdavadis.

Over the years, one has also come to relish so many institutions, places, eateries, events, culture and people that define ‘Amdavad’.

One such special institution is ‘Saptak’, a cultural nucleus and icon of Amdavad today.  

In a city whose life breath was industry, business and trading, it would have been a really difficult task to sow the seeds of ‘Saptak’, the school of music and its Annual Music Festival. 

This was a cherished dream of Pandit Nandan Mehta, a renowned exponent of tabla, Vidushi Manju Mehta, a great Sitarist and Rupande Shah a multi-faceted artist straddling dance, theatre and Hindustani vocal - the founders of Saptak. A brilliant cultural nucleus, Saptak has consistently cultivated a taste for music and culture in what, perhaps, may have been a culturally parched city, before the 1980s.  

As the maestro, Pandit Ravi Shankar exclaimed, the only music that Amdavadis liked was the ‘Rupiya ki Jhankar’ or the tinkling of coins.

But, he added that Saptak could be credited with changing this. Thanks to the efforts and effect of the seed, which has resulted in the living, breathing, nucleus of Saptak, hosting the 38th Annual Music Festival, this year.  

The city can, today, proudly boast of housing a very large number of appreciative lovers of classical music, including an increasing number of young people. A recent survey of young collegiate students has recorded that a overwhelming 95.6 per cent students would like activities such as music and sports to be included in their curriculum.  

A special feature this year is the session titled ‘Ustadon ki Duniya’ or ‘The World of Maestros’. This happens in the evenings and seeks to create greater awareness and appreciation for the nuances of art and the great artistes. Other special features this year include the Kashmiri traditions of Sufi and folk, Kuchipudi and Carnatik Music by Smt Aruna Sairam, a leading exponent of this style.  

As I write this, I can’t help gushing over the splendid treat for the eyes, ears, mind, heart and soul that we witnessed, on the day before yesterday, late in the night, into the wee hours of morning. Vishal Krishna, the grand-nephew of Sitara Devi and of the great Gopi Krishna, performed Kathak, with innovative elements of circular jumps, acrobatic splits, seamlessly woven into his narration.

With a divine face, and locks of hair curls, his fluid face and body exquisitely expressed the emotions of baby Ram and his mother, Kausalya, just as sensitively as the nuanced emotions, footwork and movements of Radha and Krishna.   

As we sit there, year after year, we can see and reflect on the movement that Saptak has come to be, completely driven by committed volunteers and a community that is dedicated to this cause. Students of the Saptak School specially drive this effort and also get a special platform to express their art. 

The festival was meant primarily to educate them, inspire them in the art and soul of music. The festival gives them a taste of excellence in classical traditions of music by the top living legends of this genre.

Locating this festival in the campus of a University also encourages more and more young people to taste, understand and relish our great heritage.

With the festival on for another week, lets hope more and more of us experience Saptak, breathe in the cadences and make music our very own life-breath.

The author is a Harvard-educated civil servant & writer, and has worked in the education sector