This Saturday, while you visit your neighbourhood garden for a morning walk or exercise, your experience is likely to be improved by some classical music. The Tender Roots Academy of Performing Arts, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to encourage classical talent, will launch the Mumbai Green Raga (MGR) on Saturday. To this end, music concerts will be held at 17 select civic-run gardens across Mumbai, between 7 am and 8.30 am.
"The main idea behind this exercise was to promote young classical musicians and bring about awareness regarding classical music, while also getting people to visit gardens. We want the gardens to be well-maintained places where people go to have a good experience in the morning. And classical music is very soothing; it enhances meditation, yoga and exercise. There will be vocal and instrumental music both," said Mahesh Babu, founder of the Banyan Tree and Tender Roots Academy of Performing Arts.
The event would take place simultaneously at 18 different locations, and would involve 35 main artistes and 60 accompanying artistes. "Young artistes would be visiting from various places, including Pune," Babu added.
The organisers said that they want to ensure an experience of a walk surrounded by greenery and live music, as people might have watched in movies. The initiative would also help bring people closer to music and nature, they said.
"Not many Mumbaikars know, but there are so many gardens in the city which have amphitheatres. We have chosen 17 from these. By using these, we want to inspire the citizens to pursue music in a bigger way. We also want them to continue going for walks and exercises in the mornings despite the presence of so many other distractions," said Babu.
Dr Kishore Kshirsagar, deputy municipal commissioner and in-charge of gardens, wasn't available for comment.
