Gayathri Krishna, Managing Trustee of Bhoomija Trust, always wanted to name the trust’s signature music festival for children ‘Jackfruit’. She recalls broaching this to Jayanthi Kumaresh, one of the first directors of the festival, who loved the idea. “She said that it was a great name for the festival because we are talking about the pursuit of music here, which (like a jackfruit) is very thorny and unwieldy when you begin,” she says.
If you decide to buy this thorny, unwieldy fruit, it is “sticky and you can’t do anything with it.” Persist long enough, however, and you get to “one of the best fruits that you have eaten in your life.”
The name has clearly struck a chord. The Jackfruit Festival, organised in association with the Indian Music Experience Museum and the Prestige Centre for Performing Arts, and supported by Arundhati Moorti Philanthropies, is now all geared up for its seventh edition. The festival, which has renowned Indian classical vocalist and composer Shubha Mudgal as Festival Director, will feature two concerts by children below 16, and five workshops conducted by maestros including Begum Parween Sultana, B Jayashri, Ranjit Barot, Sudhir Nayak and Sriranjani Santhanagopalan.
“In the process of curating for Jackfruit, I also realised that while we are able to identify very gifted children each year, it is also necessary to create an audience and an environment for them that is conducive to their progress in the future,” says Shubha.
For her, such an environment would provide the featured artistes with the time and opportunities to mingle with each other, learn about each other’s music, work as a team, be respectful of each other and of the artistes and specialists working with them, and enjoy each other’s music and talent.
“A young artiste featured in Jackfruit will therefore learn about other forms and styles of music, even as they come prepared to share the music they are studying,” she says. Also, in her opinion, music education is a crucial aspect of the initiative. “Therefore, our workshops are open not just to children but to adults too.”
Two concerts
Raghav Krishna
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
The first concert, the Jackfruit 2025 Songsters, conceptualised, curated, and directed by Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan, will feature 150 school students under the age of 16, drawn from across the country and offer a diverse musical experience.
These will include popular melodies, theatre songs, regional tunes, and Carnatic classics, selected in collaboration with musicians such as Bombay Jayashri, Varijashree Venugopal, MD Pallavi, Priya Saraiya, Shantanu Herlekar, and Shatavisha Mukherjee.
“Shubha’s idea, this time, was to have a show with children from schools that have a music programme in their curriculum,” says Gayathri. “The beauty is that these children are not learning music in a formal classical way, but from their teachers at school, and are singing, literally, for the joy of it.”
Shubha feels that by featuring different forms of music, the diversity of Indian music becomes apparent to the artistes and listeners. According to her, it also fosters exchange of knowledge and skills, and offers new ways of communication. “Abstract art, per se, is an equaliser and has no space for hierarchies, and therefore we welcome all artistes coming from different backgrounds and circumstances with equal fervour.”
Shubha Mudgal
| Photo Credit:
Nitin Joshi
The second concert, Musicking Into the Future, on the other hand, features some young talent of Indian classical music, including Aishani Paul (Hindustani vocal), Arnav Mokashi (Sitar), Raghav Krishna (Mandolin), Rakshitha Ramji (Carnatic vocal), accompanied by Abhinav Kandala (Carnatic Violin), Pradyumna Karpur (Tabla), Siddhanth Anand (Mridangam), and Shreeraksha Shanbhog (Harmonium).
“In the last two years, we presented a concert series titled Singing into the Future, featuring young vocalists learning different styles and traditions,” explains Shubha, adding that this year, instrumentalists have been included in this format. “I am happy that we are able to include instrumentalists this year, because in the past, we were only able to feature instrumentalists as accompanying artists.”
As someone who has been curating this music festival for three years now, Shubha firmly believes that this process of identifying and selecting young artistes for this festival opens one’s eyes to the abundance of talent and the many gurus and mentors across the country who are nurturing the talent of young artists with quiet dedication.
“With Jackfruit, we try to provide a space to share talent, but with due care to acknowledge that these are young artistes under training, and for this reason, we do not include any child without consulting their respective guardians, gurus and institutions,” says Shubha. “I think it is important to maintain this perspective and acknowledge the contribution of the gurus and guardians who have nurtured the talent of our young featured artistes. “
The detailed schedule of the festival is available on Bhoomija’s social media pages, and tickets are available on BookMyShow. For more details, contact@bhoomija.org/ 9743734630.
Published – September 13, 2025 06:38 am IST
