Music. Beats. Rhythm. Dance. Our go-to friend and happy place, music is an important part of our lives. Be it plugging in the earphones while travelling or partying with friends and dancing our hearts out. Music takes you away to a special place where you are in a groovy equilibrium.
With the waves of different genres of music coming along, many such forms have been fading away for a significant time now. Indian Classical music as an art form has been on the wane because of the shift towards digital music that doesn’t need traditional instruments. It’s a heritage built over centuries that tells a lot of tales about our roots, evolution and culture. Elements like mysticism and spirituality are unique to it that transcends the listener to a higher dimension. And it employs people from different strata of society. We know the personal struggles of the artists and performers in our circle who are struggling during these unforeseen times. Among the troubled groups, some have fallen from bad to worse owing to their vulnerability.
The craftsmen and artisans who make instruments like Tabla, Sitar, and Harmonium are generally working in small workshops located in far off cities and villages. Even during normal times, they remain on the sidelines since they’re not directly involved near the stage and concerts. Their meagre income is not sufficient to sustain their lives. Apart from the gradual decline in livelihood, lately, they’ve been facing the brunt of the lockdown, unemployment and natural disasters like floods and cyclones.
SMIPAC and ulaunch have come together to support these artisans and their families in the most needed time. These craftsmen are living in West Bengal, Delhi and Maharashtra among other locations. Till now SMIPAC has been able to help 8 such families. Among them is a harmonium player who is unable to hear and not able to find work for the last few months. We are aiming to continue helping all of them while reaching out to more such artisans. Your contributions go a long way in supporting them and their families. You can support them at https://pages.razorpay.com/smipactrust
