At a time when Indian music is all about loud, boisterous chartbusters and Raftaar and Honey Singh songs, it is difficult to imagine a child getting interested in classical music. Pratyush Gupta, an Indian classical music student and an infographic artist by profession is keen on changing this for the good.
Swarpeti is Gupta’s unique initiative to attract children to classical music: a music box/ book which educates readers via an interactive story format. Children are invited to join Kaaga the crow, who, desiring to be as great as the famed singer Tansen, sets about learning different ragas and swars.
Gupta explains that “some pages ask you to listen to sounds around you and divide them into noises you like and those you don’t; others make you create visuals and try to play them on a swar seeti to see what they sound like.”
Indeed, as the children turn the pages of the book, they will find plenty to delight and instruct. A quick look and you’ll dicover that the swars are personified as different personalities, and there are pop-ups which, if illuminated with torchlight, will reveal the colour of swars.
This musical book is aimed at children aged 8 years and above and is a fun and creative way for young – and older – learners to learn more about classical music.
To learn more, visit Gupta’s profile on Behance or you can follow Swarpeti’s Facebook page as well.
Featured image source: Pratyush Gupta on Behance
Written by Shikha Pandey
