Saluni Fadia is  the President & CEO of Abacus Software Group Inc., IT Consulting Company based in Burlington, MA established since 1982 by her late husband Prashant H. Fadia. She is  also the Director of The Prashant H Fadia Foundation since 2001. She takes her role as a custodian of the Foundation very seriously. It was established before her husband passed away and now it has been a tool for her to continue his work and his legacy. She is committed to supporting health, technology, arts and the environment through the foundation. Lately the focus has been to support the Arts.

She talked to Lokvani about the foundation and its focus on the arts. To learn more about the Fadia Foundation check out their website at http://www.abacussoftware.com/about_affiliation.htm
 
How did you develop such a passion for Indian Fine Art?
 
Indian Fine Arts has been a passion for me since childhood, especially since I grew up seeing my mother paint. She had been an artist for almost a decade. We would be attending all her art shows in Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Calcutta and Mumbai. She is the one who inspired me. I took part in a lot of art camps as I was growing up. I was drawn to patterns and colors and found I had a keen sense of aesthetics. While going to the temple with her during childhood I remember being fascinated with all the deities and their varied formats, clothes, colors they were presented in and their decorations. I would always go home and read about them through the art history books we had at home. So I would say it was both nature and nurture which drew me to the arts.
 
Did Prashant get influenced by your interest in the arts or was it the other way around?
 
I think Prashant and I both influenced each other. We both loved to spend time traveling, visiting museums, art galleries and soaking in the varied beauty each city and place had to offer. We traveled a lot through Europe, Asia, US and the Middle East. Whenever we traveled we always had the arts and history on our mind. It was a common subject between us among other things.
 
Are there special kinds of art that you feel passionate about?
 
Through history and the great civilizations what has really been left behind is The Arts. I feel drawn to Ancient India Arts and also the Contemporary movement of arts in India. They tell different stories and fascinating tales of an era which is gone and will never come back. Not all that one sees at a museum or the art gallery can be brought home and put on walls. Some I would say needs to be admired where it is and understood and appreciated. Appreciating the arts is a sublime feeling. I believe in passion with detachment. It is the idea of experiencing something which draws from all the senses and still one remains a mere spectator. In some ways it the karma theory of what Lord Krishna tells Arjun to hold close to his heart when he is at the battlefield of Kurukshetra. He says you do something because it is your karma and so do it passionately because that is the calling - but then experience the fruits of it in complete detachment since that is not in one's control.   
 
What is the mission of the Fadia Foundation?
 
The mission of The Prashant H Fadia Foundation is to support the arts, technology, environment and health. We have lately taken a keen focus on the arts and all talents relating to it.
 
Why do you think it is so important to support museums like PEM and MFA?
 
In India one hasn’t grow up on the museum culture as we have seen in the western world - where museums have been custodians of the arts and art history is a way of life. We grew up on the oral traditions of storytelling and that meant all stories we heard from our family members and close friends. But museums play a major role in preserving and telling stories of the past and creating a context for us in the modern world to admire beauty of art objects along with the literary background it shares. It is wise to keep telling stories in this format as we become a smaller world. We want to ensure for posterity - we leave a world where there are fascinating stories. The work The Peabody Essex Museum and The Museum of Fine Arts are doing is wonderful. We should applaud their efforts and work closely with them to support Indian Arts in all forms.
 
Why did the foundation choose to fund the writing of the books including the recent one by Dr. Vanita Shastry?
 
Writing of books is a powerful tool to tell stories amongst other mediums. Books create a multiplier which enables folks to read the same stories across the world. It is also an important art form - a literary art form, which is also a viable tool for enhancing knowledge.  
 
What is your vision for the Fadia Foundation?
 
The vision keeps getting fine-tuned as I go along into this journey to explore all art forms. I still find myself a radiant voyager.

Thanks so much for your time.

Thank you.

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