Ravi Gandikote

Ravi Gandikote built NeeRav Arts Village around a simple observation: artists create better when they arrive calm.

It started about three years ago with just a stage and one green room, meant for musicians coming out of the city for audio-video production. They kept saying the same thing in Bengaluru you fight traffic to reach a venue and then get ready in the middle of chaos. Here, once you turn off the main road, it is nature the whole way, and there is silence to prepare in.

The travel back and forth was the next problem, so cottages followed. With them came residential retreats in Carnatic and Hindustani music, run in the spirit of a gurukul, with people joining from other states and other countries. Ravi keeps the groups small so everyone gets real attention. Alongside the retreats, he offers the venue free to classical dancers preparing for their Rangapravesha.

He also curates practices from two older traditions. Sound healing, as ancient medicine working with vibration to settle the body and the mind. And Mudgar, the ancient Indian club workout, which builds strength through the shoulders and the whole frame in a way no machine does. Both run as introductory sessions, open to men and women alike, for people meeting these practices for the first time.

He does all of this while working as a solution architect, and whatever the retreats earn goes back into the place , microphones, speakers, cottages. He also shoots much of NeeRav’s photography and video himself, and writes and directs Kannada short films on the side.

The invitation he extends is an unusual one: come, do nothing, be in the nature. The creativity comes back on its own.