Soul curry, culture and solitude

The venue was pretty "" a pine forest in Uttaranchal, and the audience, a motley bunch. Ahead of me, sprawled on the grass, were a couple of NSD actors, a shaggy, long-haired techie wearing a lungi, a mother with her two-year-old and a village boy whose cow was grazing in the meadow nearby.

The performers, disciples of the noted classical singer Shanti Sharma, were clearly enjoying not only their performance but also the relaxed attitudes of their audience. The child whimpered, I offered some peppermint as a peace offering. The vocalist grinned and gestured. He wanted one too. So did the other four musicians.

As we smiled knowing smiles all around, I realised that in this intimate gathering in the middle of nowhere, the artistes could look at and react to their audience just as the audience could, to them. If concerts were a one-way transmission from the singer to the listener, this was more like an ongoing conversation.

"This is exactly the objective of these festivals!" says Ram Badrinathan, co-founder of Soulitudes, the Mumbai-based company that had co-organised the event, "for one can truly appreciate an artiste's performance when you understand where the artiste is coming from."

So Soulitudes (run by Badrinathan and his wife Shobhana) organises festivals in offbeat places like Himalayan Village at Sonapani, Uttaranchal, and Anantvan in Bandhavgarh, where guests and artistes interact not only during the performance, but if they choose, also at breakfast, lunch or the evening bonfire

Take a look at some past Soulitudes events: noted dhrupad exponent Uday Bhawalkar performed in the Himalayan Village in a series of concerts "" some candlelit; some at dawn, with the 180 degree view of the Himalayan peaks adding to the experience.

The retreat in Bandhavgarh with Shyam Benegal gave participants insight into the great filmmaker's sensibilities. "On the cards is a workshop retreat at the rural tourism initiative in Hodka (Bhuj) with noted musician Prasanna, an accomplished jazz guitarist-composer who is integrating classical Carnatic music with classical Western, jazz, rock, and blues," says Badrinathan.

Initially, when Ram & Co set up Soulitudes in 2004, they found it tough getting people interested. But today, their client's enthusiasm tells another story. The three-day festival at Himalayan Village, Sonapani had visitors raving not just about the music they'd heard "" but about the post-breakfast conversations with celebrated folk singer Prahlad Singh Tipaniya and avante garde NSD actor Ajay Kumar (who recently played Puck in the seven-language Indian adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream). "In concerts, the artiste seems so distant. But at Sonapani, we could chat around the bonfire with them!" says Mahima, a Soulitudes guest who can't wait to repeat the experience.

The rave reviews are not just from clients. Filmmaker Shyam Benegal describes his experience of conducting Soulitudes workshops in Churhat Kothi, Bandhavgarh: "The sessions everyday in some ways are also a confessional...a kind of catharsis." Bhawalkar says that performing in two Soulitudes festivals was an unforgettable experience for him.

"To perform so close to nature inspired me so greatly, I heard notes in my music that I'd never heard before," says he. The informal, laidback atmosphere allowed him to perform when he wanted to. "This was such a change, because normally my performances are determined by the time of the concert, not my mood!"

For Badrinathan, Soulitudes marks a turnaround in his life. "I spent the first 25 years of my life trying to leave India for greener pastures," says he. Even today, his other avatar listens to Jethro Tull and John Coltrane, and tracks the Asian travel industry for US firm PhoCusWright.

"Somewhere along the line I got interested in Indian classical music," says he. His interest turned into a passion, and he began thinking of ways to engineer intimate interactions between artistes and listeners.

When between festivals, Shobhana and Ram also design holidays for mostly foreign tourists who want to take back more from India than just photographs. "This winter, one group went to Gangtok, where a noted floriculturist took them to the Hidden Forest," says Badrinathan.

Another group visited a Jodhpur village with folk musician Sadiq Khan Langa who says, "This was much more meaningful than having dinner in a restaurant with a musician in the background."

Future plans include a strategic partnership with a US-based travel company to organise high-end inbound tours. Badrinathan is optimistic that his big idea will eventually become more commercially viable than it is now.

It's likely to be tough going, surrounded as he is by people aspiring for European vacations, Mediterranean cruises and cheap Asian beach sojourns. But one thing's for sure. This man's journey is enabling a few discerning travellers to experience Indian culture in ways no package holiday can manage.