Sanjeev Bhargava has been impressing audiences last many decades, with his dedication to India’s hallowed traditions in art and culture. This invocation was one more, this time in the European Parliament.
As somebody has said “There is no distress in life which one hour’ of divine music cannot mitigate”. As the world goes through turmoil and makes us all somewhat restless and anguished, the sound of Indian classical notes and the words of Kabir Tulsidas and Bhakti saints bring a sense of relief and inner peace. What yoga does to our body and brings “sthirta” to our being, the sound of Vedic mantras bring inner peace to our mind, particularly in times of anxiety and distress.
Indeed, India’s soft power, its music, classic dance, our handicrafts and hand-woven textiles, and of course our diverse cinema, acts to bind people coming from diverse backgrounds, with varied schools of thought. While there are many things that divide humans, it is these soft power initiatives that act as a balm and binds us in one thread of ‘Unity in Diversity.’ Music certainly is one such language that makes us dissolve our differences and stand as one.
These vehicles of soft power of India have over time immemorial also acted as symbols of Cultural tourism. Having served on National Tourism Advisory Council (NTAC) of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, I have personally worked for decades on advising how heritage and Culture can serve to propel tourism throughout our nation. Through Seher, my organisation, we have established several destination festivals such as the annual and very popular Udaipur World Music Festival in the lake city of Udaipur which attracts lacs of international and domestic tourists interested in Music festival tourism circuit. In 2019 this festival was featured in CNN International for their show ‘Travel Trends India’ highlighting the Udaipur World Music Festival as one of the most sought-after destination festivals in India. The film is being featured across 354 million full-time households and hotel rooms in more than 200 countries.
For the last three decades Seher has had a tradition of taking music dance and visual art into numerous innovative venues across the world. From establishing historical Purana Qila and Qutub Minar as regular venues of presentation of Classical dance and music to Trafalgar Square and Regent Street in London to Villa Borghese in Rome, Seher has been presenting numerous cultural initiatives including Italian Operas to Manipuri Dance and innovatively presented Jazz concerts and of course the richness of world cultural heritage across the world. Seher has had the privilege of organising both the official cultural banquets for visiting dignitaries such as President Obama in the precinct of the Rashtrapati Bhawan in Delhi in 2010 and 2015 during the VIP visit to India.
The aim of organizing a concert of Indian devotional music, signifying inner peace, at the European Parliament in Brussels in October was to showcase the richness of Indian civilization and heritage before the Members of European Parliament and Ambassadors of 27 member states, bringing India’s rich soft power to centre stage. It was for the first time that notes of Indian Classical music were resounding in the hallowed precinct of the European Parliament. The evening was attended by members of parliament of all European nations as well as ambassadors and diplomats of various countries residing in Brussels. It was also attended by some of the top people of Indian origin living in Belgium. The entire curation and the selection of music was to underline the symbolizing of ‘inner peace’ and the equilibrium, the Indian devotional music can bring through its very essence. The presented tracks included an invocatory song that welcomes the dawn of a blessed day, few compositions descending from the Nirguna stream that approaches the divine sans form and attributes, and Sufi Qalam celebrating love and oneness between the lover and the beloved. With a selected audience of 200 in attendance, the event’s timing and the prestigious venue highlighted the significance of this unique presentation of India’s spiritual and cultural heritage.
When the world is celebrating the centenary of legendary Pt Kumar Gandharva, his grandson Bhuvanesh Komkali presented various Bhakti saints of Indian tradition including Tulsidas and Kabir in front of the august gathering in first of its kind recital. Concluding the one-hour mesmerising rendition with the much needed “Shanti Mantra” from the Upanishads, while the audience immersed themselves into raagas and compositions they were given textual context as translation which helped them understand what the essence of each track was meant to convey in these turbulent times.
The evening was organised by Embassy of India in Belgium and EU-India Association conceptualised and curated by Seher, it started with a special address by Ambassador Saurabh Kumar and Excellency Sandro Gozi, MEP Renew Europe, and President of the EU-India Association.
As told by Sanjeev Bhargava, Founder Director, Seher, one of India’s premier cultural organisation and can be contacted at sanjeev@seher.in.
