Delhi Way

The students of Sri Venkateswara College have not only given recognition to their passion for vintage charms by setting up an Indian Music Society, but are also working towards making it popular in DU

The Indian melodies and ragas strung together, in a composition, known as classical music, is the legacy left behind by our gifted ancestors. The ragas have always had a spiritual connection in India, but who would ever imagine hearing "Indian Music" or classical music in this evolved twenty first century, without an ounce of "milawat"! Students, it is heart warming to know, still identify with our traditional music and make the effort to learn this art. ’Allap’, the Indian Music Society of Sri Venkateshwara College, is one society that stands out in the University for its uniqueness. The society has 12 members and has recruited 3 more through the ECA trials. The auditions of IMS (Indian Music Society) has two categories—Semi classical and Classical. The auditions, of course include both vocal and instrumental categories. One has to register for the society and then the first round involves students singing songs of their own choice and an interaction of the student with the society members. After being short listed in the first round, the student is then asked to come on stage and sing with the instruments. "While performing in competitions we generally sing two songs, one semi classical, like folk songs or kawali, and one classical song. Although we do not compose songs of our own, we definitely add our individual style to it and make it more vibrant" says Anubhuti Sharma, Ex-President of ’Allap’ The society, has earned a place for itself in DU for its unique singing style. They sing classical songs, but with a different tinge of semi classical to it, since not all ears are well adapted or acquainted with pure classical music. "We do not believe in the "copy-paste" method of singing songs. We put in our own ’sargam’ and ’allaps’ to our songs, which make us different from all other IMS societies in the University" explains Anubhuti. Last year has been really eventful for ’Allap’. They won the hearts of the audience and got awards and accolades wherever whenever they performed. Most recently they won at AIIMS, at IIT Delhi (in group category) and at BITS (Pilani) in solo performance. However behind the success of ’Allap’ lies the whole hearted support of the college authorities. From funding the society to allotting them extra time to practice, the college authority is always ready to help these young talented students. "Our college plays an important role in our success. It not just gives us sufficient funds but also understands our need of long hours of practice as we have no professional trainer teaching us. We get full cooperation from the college," states Anubhuti. Indeed it has been great going so far for ’Allap’. Let’s hope it witnesses another successful year and continues to be one of the best known music societies in the DU.