Welcome
It is my great pleasure to introduce our cultural Association Saptak India and myself.
My name is Mr Nihar Mehta. I had been learning and performing tabla for the last 20 years. I was motivated to start this association to promote, develop and preserve Indian Classical Music, a nearly 5000 year old classical music tradition in Europe and share India 's rich cultural heritage here where art and music have always been a very important part of our respective cultures and societies. France has been the most forthcoming country in the world in welcoming, promoting & preserving different cultural heritages, traditions and art forms. I am very lucky to be living in a country like France where I can materialise my dream to bring, promote and develop the rich musical heritage of my native country, India . It is a mater of a great privilege for me to share our music, art and culture. It is also a matter of pride that Indian classical music today is more alive than ever before in India, a challenging, committed and talented young generation is getting ready to take forward this great musical heritage and spread it all across the globe. This association will feel very fortunate and privileged if it succeeds in contributing something for the Indian classical music with your help, support and encouragement.
Activities
We intend to do following activities to achieve our objectives:
1).Organising concerts to promote and popularise Indian Music by inviting great musicians and to encourage new upcoming and challenging artists of the new generation. We also wish to organise events to encourage western musicians & students who devoted many years in learning Indian music so that they can express their achievements, dedication and love for Indian Music & dance.
2).Organising workshops to provide an opportunity, support and facility to those who wish to learn ICM & D (Indian Classical Music & Dance) in the traditional way of Guru-Disciple system by “contact learning”. We intend to share the knowledge, tradition and the heritage of ICM & D. Advanced workshops will be organised calling upon respected musicians and teachers from India's some of the authentic & reputed institutes of Music & Dance.
3).Our objective is also to guide, help, facilitate students from Europe and other part of the world who wish to go in India for learning in traditional ways at some of the authentic and reputed music & dance institutes and also to attend important music festivals to develop a better concept which can help them in their effort to learn music. We intend to help, guide and facilitate all those who wish to begin or continue to learn Indian music & dance
4).We wish to organise seminars, lectures & demonstrations to communicate musically & practically to help understand better ICM & D. These interactions will help in gathering knowledge, interpretations, research, encouraging different views and thinking, better awareness, building better concept on many interesting aspects of music, theory, discipline, history & tradition.
5).We would like to help for better development of ICM & D here. We believe it can be done through providing good and regular teaching facility through an established structure on regularly basis. We wish to convince and encourage the conservatories, music academies and schools to start a regular ICM & D courses for many dedicated students who are in constant search of a facility. According to us the absence of a proper facility and a disciplined and regular teaching system are the primary causes of unawareness, misconception and poor education of ICM & D. In some cases we have also found discontinuity and ling intervals during the learning process. We intend to spread & promote Indian classical music as a “CLASSICAL” Music of India and not just as often mentioned as traditional music, spiritual music or referring it as little similar to Jazz music. It is very important to recognise it as a form of Classical Music to maintain it sanctity and preserve its true form. However, in many western countries ICM & D has found a respectful place at the conservatries, music academies & schools but there is much more to be done specially in France & Italy .
Challenges and difficulties
1).Primary challenge and difficulty in the promotion & development of ICM & D here is to have moral, cultural, financial support and encouragement from various levels of the government and government organisation. We urge all of them to support our effort in the preservation, development and propagation of ICM & D by giving us the opportunities to present it on different occasions.
2).As in many regions ICM & D is not so know and due to lack of awareness it is sometimes very difficult to convince the concerned authorities.
3).To get the support of the Media & Press is very important in spreading and popularising and It would certainly very helpful if ICM & D gets a media coverage.
4).To find private sponsors & partners to have their most valued support for organising concerts & events and even workshops.
