AHMEDABAD: Saptak, India’s longest classical music festival, was to be held in a hybrid format from January 1, 2022.
Then the leaden thumping of the Omicron threat gave organizers pause. The original plan was to allow 400 people in for the live performance and reach out to a larger audience by streaming the concerts, said Sandeep Joshi, the Saptak secretary.
“That is the attendance limit currently imposed by the government,” Joshi said.
“The notification is likely to be renewed on December 10. So by December 11, we will take a call, keeping the government’s fresh advice and the Omicron situation in mind.”
Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, the Mohan Veena legend, told TOI: “I hope the live event takes place in some form.” He added: “Both artists and rasikas relish the interactions, being present in the moment for an unfolding raga, and the buzz of a shared experience.”
For the first time, Saptak had gone completely online in its previous edition. “The online experiment was all right,” Pandit Bhatt said. “But we play not for cameras and computers but for people.”
Rasikas in Ahmedabad will be hoping that at least a few of them will be able to delight in the spikes of “wahs” in person.
