Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today appealed to the artists’ community to utilize the potential of India’s soft power to expand its global outreach. He also urged the artists to fully explore and exploit the opportunities in the virtual medium to reach out to their audiences.
Inaugurating ‘Yours Truly Margazhi’ festival through the virtual mode from Hyderabad, the Vice President highlighted the glorious traditions of music and dance in India and emphasized the importance of reviving them in current stressful times. ‘Yours Truly Margazhi’ is an initiative to keep alive Chennai’s famed tradition of December music and dance festival through the online medium.
Speaking on the occasion, the Vice President underlined the unobtrusive nature of soft power in shaping global thought. Through our dance and music, we can spread ideals like non-violence, peace, and harmony around the world, in line with India’s philosophy of ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’, he noted.
Observing the limitations of the government in this process, the Vice President called upon the practitioners, patrons, and organizers to showcase the Indian culture, thought, and way of life.
VP Naidu observed that the artists’ community has also suffered during the pandemic and with innovative virtual initiatives like ‘Yours Truly’, they will be able to find new audiences across the world. In the future, real and virtual mediums are likely to co-exist and artists should fully tap the potential of the virtual medium, he added.
The Vice President emphasized that our cultural treasure of dance, drama, and music is India’s greatest gift to the world and every effort should be made to preserve and propagate them.
He also noted the tremendous interest across the world for our classical art forms.