Category
Music
Artists
Mandar & Dakshayani
Date
February, 23rd 2024
Unheard Kabir
Mandar and Dakshayani
Mandar and Dakshayani discovered saint poetry through traditional and ritual music. Even before the words revealed their meaning they were singing them with great joy. This immersion naturally became expression and Mandar started composing the many unusual works he encountered. Till date
he has more than 40 composed poems from saints like Kabir, Raidas, Sahajobai, Tukaram, Dyaneshwar, Dadu Dayal, Yari Sahab, Muktabai, Meerabai and many more. Mandar also went on to write a book, The Kabir Way which speaks about harnessing the insights shared by Kabir and applying them to work situations. Their NGO Baithak Foundation anchors the Pune Kabir Festival which was the natural extension of this deep engagement with Kabir in particular and Indian Seekers in general.
Mandar and Dakshayani sing their original compositions of the many unheard works of Kabir, sharing their personal stories of discovery and enchantment. They hope that their singing enables a joyous coming together of community to think about the deeper questions which loose centre-stage in the rush of our daily lives.
Dakshayani Athalye – Musician, Founder & CEO, Baithak Foundation
Dakshayani is deeply impacted by the transformational power of Indian Traditional Arts. Her education of Law from ILS Law College, a Masters degree from Tata Institute Of Social Sciences in Mumbai with multiple years of experience of working with NGOs broadened her perspective on challenges, solutions and approaches to thinking about change. She is the founder and CEO of Baithak Foundation, a Pune based NGO working that is revolutionising Traditional Music and Dance immersion and education. Dakshayani is also a trained Kirtankar (a traditional performative form of musical storytelling.) Currently training under the able guidance of Pandit Vivek Joshi.
Mandar Karanjkar – Musician, Co-Founder, Baithak Foundation
Mandar is a passionate believer in the power of music as a tool for human development. He is a performer, composer and tutor along with being a communication consultant. Mandar draws from rich corporate work experience and conducts corporate training and talks. He studied engineering at COEP, Pune. He is a published author with three books. Mandar continues to be a student of Indian Khayal Music and has been fortunate to learn from late Pandit. Purushottam Kaslikar and late Pandit. Vijay Sardeshmukh. He is currently receiving taleem from Pandit. Vivek Joshi. Mandar is also a co-founder of Baithak Foundation that currently works with a network of more than 100 traditional musicians, 40 Govt. schools and reaches 3000+ children through its various initiatives.
Pushkar Mahajan – Percussionist and Educator
Learning from a very tender age Pushkar has been fortunate to receive training from greats like Shri Rambhau Sugvekar, Pandit. Aravind Mulgaonkar and currently seeks taleem under Pandit. Vivek Joshi. He is also a passionate teacher of tabla who continues to pass on the tradition.