At 4.30 pm every day, 10-year-old Krishna Chitur is on the phone from Washington DC (US time 6 am) to India, ready to learn the Vedas from Ramasubramaniam Sarma, who is the principal of South Indian Education Society?s (SIES) Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati Veda Vidya Pitha, Nerul, Maharashtra. This has been a daily practice for over a year now. Chitur wakes up at 5.30 am, has a bath and is all ears for his daily lessons. ?I want my son to be in touch with his roots,? says his mother Lakshmi. ?I don?t know how the study of the Vedas will help me,? says the 10-year-old but is confident that since his parents want him to learn it, ?it will be useful?.
Formal schooling complemented with the learning of ancient texts in the guru-shishya parampara is being followed in select schools in India. The students, some quite young, are not yet able to discern the different way of life that they lead. However, for the grown-ups following the tradition, is a decision they are ?glad? about, for it is a ?rare? opportunity to come by, they aver.
Brahmin boys with shaven heads and pig tails, dressed in dhotis and donning the sacred thread around their bare torsos sit in small groups on the floor and recite the Vedas in tandem with their guru at the Veda School in Nerul. In existence for six years now, the school at present has 36 students. Students are admitted at an early age of five and the school takes them for a 12-year period through the 10+2+3 education system as well as a complete study of the Vedas. Where a rigorous timetable is followed. Students wake up at 4.30 am and begin Vedic chants, followed by yoga and poojas. After attending the formal school, they again start Vedic recitals from 2.30 pm till 5.30 pm and revise the mantras later in the day before sleeping at 9.30 pm.
The 75-year-old SIES Trust spends Rs 25,000 per student every year. Money also comes via donations from individuals who want to promote Vedic studies. All the needs of the children are taken care of by the Trust. The Trust plans to give the students Rs one lakh each on completion of the 12-year study of the Vedas. Ten-year-old Shikhar Mukesh Tyagi who joined the school in 2006 as ?my grandfather wanted me to learn it? is now used to this way of life. ?When I go home during the one-month annual vacation I recite the Sandhya Vandana and the Vedas at home too,? he hastens to add.
Continuity and change
Flipping through the pages of our scriptures, the most popular sloka that surfaces is Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu, Gurur Devo Mahesh Varah, Guru Sakshat Param Brahma, Tasmai Shri Guruve Namah. It epitomises reverence for the guru, who inculcates knowledge. This tradition has been in practice since the Vedic ages when pupils were sent to the Ashram (abode) of the guru for at least 12 years. Though the British-introduced system of education has done away completely with the guru-shishya parampara, some nich? schools have made an attempt to follow this tradition, especially in the pursuit of classical art forms and Vedic studies.
A concept that has found favour with many foreigners who have chosen to live in India, imbibe the learning and the way of life of a gurukul. This is ?more so when it comes to learning art? says Aala, from Germany learning Kuchipudi at Natya Tarangini, a dance school run by Radha and Raja Reddy. Aala, also a ballet dancer, succumbed to the temptation of learning Kuchipudi, for which she decided to settle in India. ?It is not a matter of knowledge sharing alone, but imbibing the way of life of the guru. This can be done only when there is complete surrender, that is why ?Guru Pranam? in the very beginning and end of the course is necessary,? says Aala.
Raja and Radha Reddy build Natya Tarangini 33 years ago. The Reddys now have bought land in Pushp Vihar, Delhi where they will build a full-time Ashram soon. Money would come through donations and performances, besides which the Reddys pump in their own earnings. The estimated cost for the gurukul is Rs 4 crore. The students are taught by Raja Reddy along with his wives Radha and Kaushalya. Says Radha Reddy, ?It is not the learning of Kuchipudi only but also the continuation of our typical style created by Raja Reddy.? The teachers have gone through the rigour of the system themselves. Kaushalya who stayed with the Reddy family from the age of four. ?Even after marriage, the equation with my husband has not changed for I consider him my guru first. I still don?t have the courage to argue with him,? she maintains.
Unlike a conventional gurukul, students at Natya Tarangini learn dance in the afternoon and go back to their homes in the evening. In the upcoming gurukul, Kaushalya Reddy wants to teach yoga and classical music, besides dance. ?Students have to do their own make-up, know how to present themselves, face the crowd and also master stage craft. All this is possible only when they spend more time in the abode of the guru.?
Kathak maestro Birju Maharaj, who set up Kalashram, believes the guru-shishya parampara is fundamental as India?s art heritage can be nourished only through it. Austerity has to be maintained in the selection of students, he says. At Kalashram, students from the age of three and above are admitted. Bhakti bhav and a sense of lai and taal are the only criterion for admission. The curriculum includes not only dance but also study and practice of classical music, musical instruments, art of stage craft, lighting and make-up. ?I want talented and hardworking students to be introduced to the traditions and learn the style of the Lucknow Kalka-Binadin gharana that I follow and later impart it to the world. We need government support to start a full-time residential gurukul besides, space and money.?
Midas touch
Some maestros have been able to bring their dreams to fruition like renowned flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia with his Vrindaban Gurukul in Mumbai. He believes, ?Only in a gurukul are you fully involved in music, where you can master the art completely.? The Gurukul is a non-profit organisation established in 1996 by Chaurasia and Dr Shyamala Rajender. ?The focus is to impart music to gifted and talented children and youth, especially underprivileged and needy children. To learn music in a gurukul, you need bhakti in your mind and soul. You have to love music and learn only music and no other subject.?
Started eight years ago, the building was built by Ratan Tata Trust. The Gurukul has 15 students who live and study here, though around 30 students are learning under Pandit Chaurasia. Their expenses are borne through donations and performances.
The students who live at the gurukul practice music, read and write about music, listen to others performances, record their own, learn to face the microphone and also practice yoga. Students can join the gurukul at any age, for this is not a ?formal? school, emphasises Pandit Chaurasia. ?I am not mass marketing a product.? Students at Vrindaban also speak with reverence about their guru. As Tal Coleman, a musician from Israel, currently living in Oslo, comes ?as often as possible? to learn at Vrindaban. She has studied with Panditji both in India and the Rotterdam conservatory of music and also performed with him. I have been coming to study under Hariji for the last 16 years but not on a regular basis. He is the best teacher and I am lucky to have found this opportunity,? she says in a voice spilling over with awe and gratitude.
?It is a lifetime opportunity,? says a student who has been with Vrindaban for a couple of years. ?I don?t care about carving a name for myself. What could be more blessed than live with a guru such as Panditji and be guided by him? I will not leave the gurukul ever,? he says. These students play at concerts and also with Pandit Chaurasia. The senior students teach new students at the gurukul. ?I would like to take more students,? says Chaurasia, ?but there are no finances for it.?
A gurukul is also the dream of Mamata Shankar, daughter of dance maestro Uday Shankar and Amala Shankar. ?To inculcate the traditions of the guru, students have to spend time with the guru.? Udayan in Kolkata will provide accommodation to students who come from abroad as accommodation is a problem for them, says Shankar. The estimated cost will be more than Rs 4 crore, Shankar feels, ?loans may have to be taken at a later stage?. As of now, students follow a course spanning 12 years with a monthly fee of Rs 300. However, they are following a dual course ? one that of formal school and the other at the ashram of Shankar.
In the league of Shankar is leading Sufi singer, Zila Khan, daughter of late sitar maestro, Ustad Vilayat Khan, whose dream, ZHK-Ustadgah in Mumbai, is estimated for Rs 12 crore, the abode of the guru, aims ?to give talented individuals a platform to present their skill?. Khan has pledged to find talent from the remote corners of India and abroad, train them even if they cannot manage to bear the costs. Money for it will come through performances and donations. ?50% of the money from donations would be tax free,? says Khan.
Abreast with times
Modern times call for modern methods that tweak the old to stay with the times. Kalakshetra dance school in Chennai ?strikes a balance? between the gurukul system offering one-to-one relationship of the guru-shishya parampara and the graduate courses of the university system. Explains Leela Samson, renowned danseuse and director, Kalakshetra, ?the relationship in either situation can be strong and is up to the teacher and the number of students he/she takes on at one time. Kalakshetra has the advantage of all-day interaction with teachers in subjects related to the art form, such as theory, music for a dance student, Vedic heritage, temple architecture, languages like Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil, fine arts of painting, pottery and weaving etc which you do not get to learn in a weekly class with a teacher.? Only matriculates enroll at Kalakshetra and study for 4 and 7 years depending upon whether they do a post-graduation and the fees is Rs 1,000 per month.
These gurukuls and institutions have one mission ? to preserve the age-old gurukul tradition and give students the support and courage they need to follow a classical art form. In the words of Raja Reddy, ?Taking up dance as a career was a difficult decision during my time as it would yield no money.? Since then, times have changed. There is respect and a following across the country and abroad for a classical art form that has to be learnt and honed under the guidance of a guru and which cannot be mass produced. However, one thing remains constant ? paucity of government aid and the trickle of funds from private bodies and individuals.