Kiran Seth

Kiran Seth
Seth in March 2014
Born (1949-04-27) 27 April 1949 (age 75)
NationalityIndian
EducationBTech (1970)IIT Kharagpur, PhD (1974) Columbia University
Alma materIIT Kharagpur, Columbia University
OccupationProfessor Emeritus
EmployerIIT Delhi
Known forSPIC MACAY
Parents

Kiran Seth (born 1949) is Ex Professor and Professor Emeritus at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi who has done teaching and research in the field of Operations Research there since 1976. He is most known as the founder of SPIC MACAY (1977), a non-profit organisation which promotes Indian classical music, Indian classical dance, folk forms, yoga and meditation, traditional handlooms and handicrafts, cinema classics, and other aspects of Indian culture, amongst youth the world over; doing about 5000 events yearly in about 500 towns in India and about 50 abroad through conventions, baithaks, lecture demonstrations and musical fests.[1][2][3][4]

In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.[5]

Early life and education

His father, Bhojraj Seth, was a mathematician and the first professor at the IIT Kharagpur, established in 1951, while his mother Bhagawati Seth was a homemaker.[1]

Career

Seth started his career working as a Member of the Technical Staff (MTS) at Bell Laboratories, New Jersey in 1974, a job he gave up to return to India in 1976 as an Assistant Professor to teach at IIT Delhi, where he has worked ever since. It was at IIT Delhi that he founded SPIC MACAY in 1977.[6][7]

He served as Vice-Chairman of the Governing Council of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune from 2012 to 2014.[8]

SPIC MACAY

Today the movement conducts concerts, lec-dems, talks, yoga workshops, classic film shows, theatre shows and craft workshops in schools and colleges so that young people might be inspired.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ a b Quraishi, Humra (12 December 2007). "Kiran Seth: Without playing a note, he makes music touch the lives of many". Mint.
  2. ^ "Keeping our virasat alive". The Tribune. 7 December 2003. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014.
  3. ^ Kumar, Mala (30 October 2003). "From rap to raga". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 5 April 2004.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ "Discovery of India". The Hindu. 28 May 2009. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012.
  5. ^ Datta, Sravasti (10 October 2014). "An artistic endeavour". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  6. ^ Bajoria, Jayshree (4 June 2004). "Young converts to Indian classics". BBC News.
  7. ^ Ramchandra Guha (5 December 2004). "The education of a Philistine:SPIC MACAY". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 April 2005.
  8. ^ URL=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Mirza-aims-at-centre-of-excellence-status-for-FTII/articleshow/8094611.cms
  9. ^ Kumar, Ranee (23 October 2003). "Catch 'em young: Kiran Seth, the founder of Spicmacay, has a focused agenda of shaping young minds". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 13 April 2004.
  10. ^ Chaudhuri, Shatarupa (5 March 2010). "Stay connected with culture". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015.