Bengaluru chapter had got a week’s dates from Dr. Anwesa Mahanta for a circuit of Sattriya dance. We booked their tickets, but one of her accompanying artists had to drop out, leading to ticket changes. Then some of the institutions started cancelling confirmed programmes as Janmashtami celebrations had been shifted from the September 2 (Sunday) to September 3 (Monday).

 The year was 1986. Time - a warm day in September. Occasion - Smt. Leela Samson's Bharatanatyam Lecture-Demonstration on an open stage at Vivekananda College (University of Delhi). In a largely student-dominated audience watching Smt. Leela Samson painstakingly explain the nuances of Abhinaya, I was one of the very few teachers present.

“So, who’s getting the banners?” “Who’s picking up the artists?” “Who’s arranging the sound and lights?” “Which concert are you coordinating today?” “Most importantly, who is getting ‘the eye’?”…… this is about all we, in SPIC MACAY Pune, were talking about for the two weeks of the Heritage-2010 Series. Like always, SPIC MACAY does not need any major event manager to run the show. We, as a bunch of enthusiastic young college goers (or wait, we did miss a few days of college during that time!) managed to conduct 70 events in 15 days at over 25 institutes in and around Pune.

My tryst with this noble movement was quite accidental. It started with a peep into the auditorium of Azad Hind College, Mumbai in 1995 -96 where Smt. Kishori Amonkar was at the peak of her performance. I had gone there not to listen to any classical music, but to volunteer at the shoe counter outside. For many of us, to volunteer for SPIC MACAY programs in neighboring institutions, was a good excuse to skip classes ‘officially’. Till that day, classical music just did not make any sense to me. But that curious 'peep' into the auditorium captivated me forever.