Women in Varanasi , who have learnt classical music, are making an effort to create awareness among the young about their culture, as they believe that the western culture is misguiding them.
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The city of Varanasi is known for its deep-rooted ties to ancient and classical music.
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With an aim to reinstate Indian values and principles among the youth, women in Varanasi aim to promote classical Indian music.
They feel that western influence has made an impct on Bollywood cinema as well. Item numbers and use of profane language in movies have become common occurrences in India with sex appeal playing a large role in most advertisements today.
The music teacher at a gathering of women, Sucharit Gupta said that the group wans to promote classical music.
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"We have been trying since two years and classical music is being promoted as the women learn it with a lot of dedication and they are teaching their children as well. Whenever they get time whether it 2 to 4 or 4 to 6, they come here and learn," said Gupta.
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Women of all ages in Varanasi are studying ancient and classical Indian music to get in touch with the roots of their culture.
The women learning classical music believe that if children in a household are introduced to classical music from a young age then they will never be violent and will have proper moral value and code of ethics.
A woman learning music, Veena Annihotri said that this music helped the youth get in touch with their rich culture.
"Today, we are seeing that a lot of our girls and students are getting misguided by the western culture. They are not able to understand the foundation of our culture. We want that with the help of music, they get to know about our basic principles and values, and there should be awareness. We want that this message should spread in the society and people should be able to take advantage of it," said Annihotri.
These women gather together everyday during their free time and learn classical music.
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Mothers, grandmothers, daughters- in- law come together as they learn classical music.
These women are inspired by music from Pandit Ravishankar and practice classical music as well.
Currently, due to the summer vacation, the women have sufficient time to learn classical music. The women will attend their class till July.
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The women learn music and go home and teach their children and thus in their own way promote this ancient and culturally rich form of music.