Young fans flock to Sawai to catch music greats at work

“The reason behind the increase in the number of youngsters attending the festival could be the reduced rate of tickets for students. For instance,a pass that normally costs Rs 350 would cost only Rs 150 if the students flash their college identity cards at four centres in the city where the passes are sold. And that has made the difference. This year we have sold over 600 tickets only to students,” said Shrikant Deshpande,executive secretary,Sawai Gadharva Sangeet Mahotsav.

“To promote Indian classical music,we have approached various city-based colleges and volunteers from some of these colleges are working with us for the festival. The feeling that they get to interact with veteran musicians is a booster that in turn encourages them to bring their friends along for the festival,” Deshpande said.

Besides the performances,there are number of reasons why youngsters flock to Sawai. “The ambience at Sawai is mesmerising. Not only the performances but the food stalls,music stalls,exhibition and the feeling that we are getting to witness the maestros pull me and my friends to Sawai,” said Raghav Joshi.

Music stalls displaying some of the rare collections of musical maestros is another feature of the Sawai Gandharva festival and this year even the number of music stalls has increased to over seven. “This is the second time we are showcasing our collection of records. We have over 36 titles of musical maestro Pandit Keshav Ginde,” said Ajay Ginde of Meera Music.

“People from across the country come to Sawai and this is the best place to display classical music collection. We have 10 titles each of veteran artists from the field of Indian classical music,” said Pranay Padale who has put up a stall for the first time at Sawai.