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SANSKRITI
KENDRA - Preserving
Heritage for posterity
"Sometimes a third mind is created and something new
and exciting is born"
 Culture
is such a vast, amorphous concept with so much potential
for exploitation and propaganda that one hesitates to
define it. However, O.P Jain - the driving force
behind the Sanskriti Prathishthan - describes a country's
culture as a flowing river that collects silt and water
from tributaries on its way to the vast ocean that is
the universal culture of Man - even while it fertilizes
the land through which it flows. His metaphor is so complete
that it cannot be improved upon - for it is this process
of collection and enrichment that creates an inner life
which is the soul of a country.
Sanskriti Kendra, the beautiful estate that is the manifestation
of Jain's philosophy "of looking at seemingly different
facets as parts of a larger whole"- has internalised this
concept of culture and has become a retreat and a workshop
for artists, writers, sculptors, singers - anyone from
any part of the world with something to contribute to
the culture of man. And in the process of contributing,
they collect and enrich their own inner lives as well.
For, as Jain says, sometimes, when two minds meet - a
third mind is created and something new and exciting is
born.
 At
the same time the artistic heritage of the people has
also been preserved in the many lovely buildings on this
estate. For it is important to know the beginnings of
things as well. Thus Ayyanar terracotta figures, Madhubani
murals from Bihar, everyday utensils made of brass
and copper and exquisite zardosi from Uttar Pradesh
all co-exist in exquisite harmony - preserved for future
generations to view and marvel at - since so much of our
everyday heritage has been destroyed by ourselves: zari
sarees melted down for their gold content; exquisite brass
utensils sold to the kabariwala to make place for stainless
steel.
As part of its on-going efforts to promote and encourage
excellence in society, Sanskriti established the Sanskriti
Awards in 1979 - which seek to discover, inspire
and honour young talent in the fields of literature, the
plastic arts, the performing arts, journalism and social
achievement in the country. The literal meaning of the
wor d
'sanskriti' is 'the process of cultivation'. Centuries
ago, to agrarian people whose lives depended upon their
crops which in turn depended on an orderly progression
of the seasons (spring to summer to the rainy season to
winter), the process of cultivation was their entire existence
as their survival depended upon it.
Today, sanskriti has come to mean much more through a
process of natural progression from simple survival through
a gradual enrichment as societies became more affluent
and began to accumulate property; as villages grew into
towns and towns grew into cities. However, the basic concept
of sanskriti - the process of cultivation remains the
same, whether of crops or of minds.
- Shanta Bhalla |
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9:24:05 PM 
