In all the discussions that we have had in this country about volunteering and voluntarism, the least space has been accorded to cultural volunteering, which should be a natural and voluntary act, since culture belongs to the people and everyone is touch by its golden brush.
Yet, protagonists of our culture—our dancers, musicians, instrumentalists, and theatre artists—are seen as being stratospheric entities, who are somehow different from ordinary people. The popular misunderstanding is that they are all privileged enough not to need any volunteer assistance. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The arts in India have survived not through moneyed patronage or systems of support, but through the passion and grit of the individual artists. Yes, the raja-maharajas of yore did, and the systems of state patronage today offer some oxygen. But in the main, the arts have survived through sheer dint and grit of the artists themselves, despite the dire economics that dogs their every step.