“True Education should mean an all-round development of the best in the child – body, mind and spirit”

VIEW PRESENTATION

The Guru-Shishya (Master-Disciple) relation is a revered and hallowed tradition. Honoring this noble part of Indian culture is becoming more and more difficult, as its strongest opponent – 21st century, surmounts a formidable battle.

Violin Vasu is the 6th generation in the Guru Shishya Pratha. The baton started when one of the three masters of Carnatic Music – the Great Tyagaraja Swami, passed this divine art form to his disciples. Under the Guru Shishya Pratha, five generations later, this baton reached the legendary violinist Dr. Annavarapu Ramaswamy, who handed it to his students, one of them being – DVK Vasudevan (Violin Vasu).

With a focus to retain the best of this tradition and carry the legacy forward into the 21st century, Violin Vasu started Gurukulam in 2004. It is an academy where learners with unquenched thirst and patience thrive.

While the academy is learner oriented, it has little room for a transactional relationship. Gurukulam believes, students who excel in their musical journey are those who place trust in their teacher, ask genuine questions and earnestly learn with dedication and discipline. It is really important for Gurukulam, to have students who are keen to bypass today’s standard of just seeking information. A learner at Gurukulam not only seeks to learn an art form, but also through it, is at-least open to holistic transformation.

The academy has been teaching countless learners Carnatic Vocals and Violin with students coming from across India, USA, Kuwait, England, Denmark, Australia, Brunei, Bahamas and Canada. Today the academy runs classes in Kuchupudi dance also and plans to add many more art disciplines in the near future.

Teaching always takes place in an intimate one to one or small group setting. Student’s benefit from a well developed curriculum, structured reviews, periodic recitals and exclusive online resources, to supplement in person learning.

Besides teaching, Violin Vasu performs frequently and apportions a significant part of his time and resources, in music research and curriculum development. A part of the developed curriculum has now been converted into video tutorials, garnering over 600,000 views on Youtube.

A listener is introduced to the importance of tolerance, national integration, humility, truth and non-violence. It also gives the foundation immense joy and pride to share, that till date, the Sabarmathi Sangeet Project through music workshops and seminars, has provided its mission services to more than 100,000 children in government schools and juvenile homes.. One of our open eyes dreams is to host a World Peace Concert, with 10,000 children together, singing these Bhajans on stage.

Unlike most music festivals which offer the stage to eminent artists only, HTAMF brings together eminent and upcoming musicians together. With hundreds of artists and thousands of attendees, HTAMF for the past few years has been providing much needed spotlight and scale to Carnatic Music within the twin cities. A unique feature of this festival has also been the thought of rendering Pancharatna Kritis along with recording them through authentic singing and publishing a book which explains the meaning and bhava (emotion/mood) of the composition. The Foundation through HTAMF considered this exercise to be extremely important as it ensures safe and easy access of these gems in their original grandeur.

Sanskrithi Foundation supports self-reliance and self-sufficiency. With consumption becoming integral to all spheres of modern day life, Cheneta is a Sanskrithi Project, which promotes locally sourced hand woven clothes, home furnishings and Indian handicraft goods.