Saraswati Sangeet Mahavidyalaya

Shyam Nagar is where we spend most of our time at A-23. The street is usually quiet in the mornings, which is nice because that is when we do the tuning for the instruments. We have a few harmoniums and some tablas sitting in the corner of the main room. The rug on the floor is a bit worn out from so many people sitting on it over the years, but it is comfortable enough. We don't have a big reception area or anything like that. You just walk in and take your shoes off by the door. Sometimes the neighborhood kids stop by just to peek in and see what the noise is about. Teaching music here is just what we do every day. It is not like those big fancy academies you see in the city center. We deal with broken strings and sticking keys on the harmonium quite often. The water cooler in the corner makes a loud gulping sound every few minutes, which we have all just gotten used to by now. On rainy days, the sound of the rain on the roof almost drowns out the singing, so we have to raise our voices a bit. It is a basic place, but it works for what we need. Most of the people who come here live just a few blocks away in Shyam Nagar and know us by name.