Carnatic Music and Social Service-Unnati/SGBS

Miscellaneous topics on Carnatic music
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kssr
Posts: 1596
Joined: 30 Nov 2009, 15:28

Carnatic Music and Social Service-Unnati/SGBS

Post by kssr »

CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT & SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Image
CLICK TO ENLARGE
(Caution: The grey haired man in the second row is Not one of the students. It is...........me :) )

As most of you are aware, Indian classical music owes its sustenance to the many cultural not-for-profit organisations commonly called “Music Sabhas” . These sabhas are involved in the development of Indian Heritage, especially music by conducting music concerts, encouraging youth talent, develop music at grass root level by training courses, workshops and lecture-demonstrations.

On the other hand there are many social welfare organisations working towards child welfare, health care, skill development and so on.

To the best of my knowledge, these do commendable service in their own spheres with hardly any overlap between culture and social service. To the best of my knowledge there is only one organisation, which has successfully integrated a full fledged sabha and an extremely valuable social service –Unnati aka SGBS Trust (Sree Guruvayurappan Bhajana Samaj) , Bangalore.

Here is just a synopsis of Unnati’s range of service:
It started many decades back as a regular sabha with emphasis on conducting classical music concerts in Bangalore. ( I have been attending concerts here for more than 25 years, especially during their Gokulashtami series, which normally runs for a month, during which the who-is-who among Carnatic artists perform). They continue the series as well as their monthly programmes to this day. All these programmes are free and there are no tickets. I attended the concert by Sri.Sikkil Gurucharan on 1st August 2017.

SGBS ,about a decade back, have started the new social service initiative named Unnati. Through this initiative, believe me, they have pulled more than 16,000 families out of poverty. They take in educated unemployed youth (considered unemployable) and give a 50 days training course focusing on life skills, English, communication skills, basic computer knowledge and specific skill training. The course is completely free for the youth including accommodation and three square meals everyday. At the end of the 50 days training all the students are picked up by standard corporates as full time employees. They guarantee 100% placement. In many situations, companies wait for the next batch to come out, because they get high quality candidates from Unnati. INTERESTINGLY MOST OF THE REQUIRED FUNDS ARE GENERATED BY VOLUNTARY DONATIONS RECEIVED FROM THE MUSIC RASIKAS !!! There is also a limited amount of corporate support.

I had the opportunity to interact with several of the boys and girls (they are almost 50% each. They are an amazing lot. All of them intelligent, hard working and burning to make their lives successful.

The carnatic music fraternity can strengthen this unique effort by Unnati in creating a bridge between cultural activities and social responsibilities.
a. Request boys and girls who are economically and socially underprivileged to join the Unnati course thereby getting employed and help their families come out of poverty.
b. Create awareness in corporate sectors about the service being done by Unnati and invite them to interview the candidates coming out of the course and possibly employ them.
c. Visit Unnati centre , interact with the students, evaluate their expectations and needs and try to support them.
d. As a visiting lecturer, we can go and take one or more classes on life skills, communication, and if possible teach a specific skill set- eg: teaching excel shortcuts (This was one thing they would like to learn , I was told) and many other things which are apparently minor for us but may be invaluable to them.
e. Most surely, help them collect more funds to continue their work. We can contribute ourselves or get donations from other individuals and companies. (During the concert it was announced that under their Anna Dhana programme, we can sponsor one time meal for all students for Rs.3000 only. It can of course be multiples thereof)

A few contact points at Unnati:
Email of Sri Ramesh Swami himself who is the author of the whole initiative and head of the organisation : reachvalli@yahoo.co.in
Telephone of some responsible officials +91 9740987401 or +91 7829564669, during office hours
In case of any urgent requirement, the number of Sri.Ramesh Swamy (very very busy line!!) +91 9844085864

Let us lend a helping hand in poverty alleviation in our own tiny form. Thank you all, in case you have been kind enough to read the whole write-up !!!

Nick H
Posts: 9379
Joined: 03 Feb 2010, 02:03

Re: Carnatic Music and Social Service-Unnati/SGBS

Post by Nick H »

Great. Wonderful work :)

hnbhagavan
Posts: 1655
Joined: 21 Jun 2008, 22:06

Re: Carnatic Music and Social Service-Unnati/SGBS

Post by hnbhagavan »

Additionally the Carnatic music concerts are free.I request our Rasikas to donate liberally to UNNATI.

vgovindan
Posts: 1865
Joined: 07 Nov 2010, 20:01

Re: Carnatic Music and Social Service-Unnati/SGBS

Post by vgovindan »

A noble effort.

kssr
Posts: 1596
Joined: 30 Nov 2009, 15:28

Re: Carnatic Music and Social Service-Unnati/SGBS

Post by kssr »

I have made a mistake in the email id of Ramesh Swamy. The correct one is reachvalli@yahoo.co.uk. I am unable to edit the main text. If admin can make the correction it would be nice. Regret inconvenience caused.

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