At a press meet on the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies Centre (SAIACS) in Bengaluru, the air buzzed with extra than simply media chatter. It carried echoes of swaras, tales, and one thing deeply private.
“We never knew this day would come so fast,” stated Shankar Mahadevan, eyes crinkling with pleasure, reflecting on the 15-year journey of the Shankar Mahadevan Academy (SMA) — a dream that began with 15 college students, most of them his nieces and nephews, and is at this time a world musical motion spanning 94 international locations. “It felt like a reunion of purpose,” stated the Palakkad-based singer and composer.
The Shankar Mahadevan Academy, based in 2011 by Shankar and know-how entrepreneur Sridhar Ranganathan, was a pioneer of kinds, trying to do one thing distinctive on the time: providing on-line music schooling. “People laughed. Music? Online? Will it even work?” Shankar recalled. It didn’t simply work, it soared.
Today, over 50,000 college students have discovered by means of the academy’s distinctive digital platform, with greater than half 1,000,000 reside courses taught. Numbers inform solely a part of the story. To have fun its fifteenth 12 months, the academy is launching programs that go far past conventional syllabi, together with Garbh Sangeet, a course for anticipating moms that makes use of classical ragas to create emotional and non secular connections earlier than delivery.
“Inside the academy, we call it ‘minus one to infinity, ’” smiled Ranganathan. The poetic phrase captures a strong perception — that music isn’t just for studying or performing, however for dwelling, therapeutic, and bonding. Another providing, the Playback Singing Series, is equally formidable — a rigorous, multi-year coaching program that fuses classical fundamentals with movie music, making ready aspirants for the nuanced world of playback singing.
Over the years, SMA has expanded into different avenues, together with Sangam, a student-teacher music pageant, and Prayag, an elite stage for devoted learners. “These are not just students. They are sadhakas,” stated Shankar. “This is not just education — it’s an emotional legacy.”
From youngsters barely sufficiently old to stroll, to 70-year-olds who’ve by no means sung earlier than, SMA has bridged generations. “When I see a grandfather in Toronto learning alongside his granddaughter in Bengaluru… It’s magical,” Mahadevan shared.
The academy has additionally given again, launching initiatives together with SMA Nirvana — reside musical performances streamed to sufferers in hospitals and hospices, SMA Muskara, a pension program for aged or injured musicians, and Joyful Choir, an inclusive initiative for youngsters on the autism spectrum.
Their nonprofit wing has helped carry music schooling to youngsters in Dharavi, Goa, and now, by means of their latest initiative — Reach Out India — to college students in distant villages through internet-powered lecture rooms.
“One teacher in Ahmedabad is teaching kids in Kumbakonam — and they all performed for me,” stated Shankar , admitting that the journey has given him a deeper sense of fulfilment. “I’ve always known music entertains. But through this academy, I learnt that music can transform.”
