Three Interlinked Thoughts

I need to make an announcement. I have a list of the my favourite renditions of Hindustani Music, and recently, Bhimsen Joshi's Yaman was taken off from the top position. The recording that replaced it is Umrao Khan's Gaud Sarang (available here - http://sarangi.info/sarangi/vocal/umrao_gaursarang.wma)

He sings a "luscious" Khayal, sundara nAra, karata singAra... (it describes a woman doing her make-up) The khayal makes ample use of the loopy swabhav of the Raga, and the effect is just delicious. I remember humming this song early in the morning after putting a night-out, and it was one of those few times in my life that I thought the existence of sexuality is actually a good thing.

There is something about Muslim musicians that makes their music exceedingly sensuous. (this is a generalization, but it seems to be largely true) For example, I underwent a 5-day long workshop under Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan of the Gwalior Gharana, and I found the same sensuality in his music too. Their music has none of that sterility that you can find in some of the other musicians. I wonder whether it is because of the religion, or the culture. I asked Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan, but his answer wasn't too helpful - he said hardwork is the key.

I had once written disparagingly about music in Pakistan (here), but I must now withdraw that statement with apologies to anyone who read it. I have no alternative, when the person whose music I place at the top position was one who willingly chose Pakistan over India. While Hindustani Music in Pakistan is not as popular today as in pre-independence days, Dr. Hassan Azad (who works with All Pakistan Music Conference and Rauf Ansari Foundation) writes to me saying that things are improving. I am thrilled to hear such positive news. I hope a day will come when both Indian and Pakistanis will get to listen to another Umrao Khan.

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I am yet to decide how this new discovery fits in with my political positions on India vs Pakistan, as well as the question of Musims in India. (it ought not to be a question, but it still is)

I have now realized that I do not know as many Muslims as I think I do. Much of what I believe is influenced by the media, which is by itself influenced by what people believe.

It is most probably true that certain kinds of terrorism are typically perpetrated by Islamic fundamentalists, but then we also have state terrorism (such as the imprisonment of Binayak Sen for no legitimate reason) and the terrorism by the sections which hold economic power. Somehow we seem to be overly focussed on one set of people, and everyone in this set is branded a terrorist.

I will no longer claim to understand Muslims as a group. I hardly know any muslims. I do not know whether they have a greater predisposition to violence or not. I do know that Umrao Khan couldn't have been a very violent man.

And I am pretty sure that most people who attribute all violence in the world to Muslims don't know much about them either. The people who blame the recent happenings in Gaza on Palestine's desire to destroy Israel probably have no clue what most Palestinians want.

It is easy to find out what states want, but it is very hard to find out how people want. It is, for example, very clear that the Israeli state has consistently supported an expansionist and destructive policy (if Chomsky is to be believed). But it is not clear what the Israelis want.

We live in a world where our governments don't really represent us. We can't afford to let their interactions rule our perception of each other, especially if we want to know the truth. The key is to interact with as many people as we can, and to understand the truth for ourselves.

The internet is an amazing place to hold these conversations - free of governmental interference. Dr. Azad, for example, provides a framework for studying the history of Hindustani Music that involves transnational flow of information. (here)

As I wrote this section, I was asking myself whether it needs to be written at all. When we find a Christian to be good at Bharatanatyam, do we find it something worth commenting? But then, we live in a world where Muslims are looked at with suspicion. That is the reality. We need to deal with it, without brushing it under the carpet. If political correctness prevents a problem from being solved, to hell with political correctness!

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This brings me to the statement that Dr. Kiran Seth likes to make frequently: "All religions are true"

I do not care to go into the metaphysics of the statement. The implication on temporal affairs is that all religions are equally good. I certainly do not agree with this assertion. Jainism promotes non-violence but Sikhism promotes and eye-for-eye approach. How can they be equal? This is not to justify sectarian violence - it is just a statement of fact. Most people have some preference on the question of violence - and they will certainly rate one over the other.

But even if religions were to be equal, what use is it to say this to someone? Will they a rioter suddenly give up his weapons just because someone made this statement? Morover, will it appear credible to anybody (in light of my previous argument)?

In fact, I have a feeling that this statement is aimed at ending debate and discussion, because there is a fear that debate will prompt for conflict. I am certain that this is not true. Debate has never widened chasms, especially when there has been so much of ignorance on both sides.

I greatly prefer an approach that consists of making people who disagree to sit together and talk without making any prior statements about the equality or inequality of their religions. It might not bring them to the conclusion that their religions are equal, but it will most definitely make them lose their hatred for each other. That is the beauty of human interaction - we have an innate capability for empathy with other human beings. It is a pity that we do not use this gift oftener.

SPICMACAY - Promotion of What Culture?

Summary: SPICMACAY delivers zilch on its promise to be a vehicle for much-needed value education. Instead, it tries to convert kids into sycophantic and blind followers of ideas that seriously need revisitation. SPICMACAY is in dire need of structural reforms.

SPICMACAY (Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth) is not really known for its emphasis on thinking and creativity. It is, for all practical purposes, an organization that conducts cultural programs in schools and colleges. However, it claims to be playing a greater role by imparting value education to children. As a volunteer, I wish to inform the general public about the shallowness of this claim by narrating a recent incident.
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I had to write an article about Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer for SPICMACAY's newsletter 'Sandesh'. I referred to internet sources and listened to existing recordings of Semmangudi and then wrote an article of my own. Here is a link to the original article submitted by me.

Now, the editor, for reasons of his own, decided that my article needs to be added to. But he knew nothing about Semmangudi, so he simply copied a few paragraphs from a webpage that is the 6th result for a Google Search on Semmangudi, and added these paragraphs to my article. Neither was my consent sought, nor was it given.

The result can be seen here (I uploaded the relevant pages for all to see). The paragraph that follows is very similar to the last few lines of the website I mentioned (here).

"For many, he was a living library with extraordinary memory. For
younger generation, he was an icon. His very presence in the concerts
was tonic enough for many to elevate their performance. He stood like
a banyan tree. In an era of modernization and technological
advancement, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer provided the re-assuring link
and proved a civilizing influence for musicians and listeners of all
hues."

There are so many things wrong with such tampering that one shouldn't even have to bother enumerating them. First, I am being misrepresented; not only did I not say the words the editor attributes to me, I also didn't indulge in plagiarism. Second, the author of the sify.com article is being seriously wronged. And all of this for what? At the end of all the tampering, the article is neither coherent nor grammatical. It makes no new point, and the style of the parts that were added is so decidedly different from mine that the overall effect is completely ruined.

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On a related note, I was amused to see this part of the Conceptual
Note in the same edition of Sandesh, that was signed by the Founder of the movement, Dr. Kiran Seth.

Lord Macaulay in his address (sic) to the British
Parliament on 2'nd February 1835 said:

"I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have
not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief, such wealth I
have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such
caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country unless
we break the very back-bone of this nation, which is her spiritual and
cultural heritage and therefore I propose that we replace her old
and ancient education system, her culture, for if Indians think that
all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own,
they will lose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will
become what we want them, a truly dominated nation."

The note then goes on to say that we must refrain from contributing to the work begun by Macaulay.

Unfortunately, (for Dr. Seth, at least) Lord Macaulay never said these
words. Here's the full version of Macaulay's speech to the British
Parliament on the 2nd February 1835.

http://www.geocities.com/bororissa/mac.html

Nope. Macaulay didn't speak a single word of that quote. But the claim that Macaulay said these words has been floating around on the internet for sometime now, and I guess whoever wrote the note fell for the prank. (I am told that the note is ghost-written by someone else; Dr. Seth is too busy to write to his 'followers'.)

These were just two instances of editorial error. If you get hold of the newsletter, you will find many more instances of plagiarism (some of the text has actually been lifted from Wikipedia). I also need to add that the newsletter management is not the only problem. Most volunteers will say that SPICMACAY has some really big problems that are not being addressed.

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I wrote about these faults in the newsletter to the SPICMACAY egroup, expecting a reply from both the editor and the founder. Many people did express shock, but most quickly moved on and started playing the game of getting the editor to resign. There has been relatively little discussion on my idea of an editorial policy. Some people have even called the edition the best they have seen.

Most importantly, neither the founder (whose ghost-writers have done him great disservice), nor the editor have replied to my concerns.

In all probability, some days from now, Dr. Seth will write to the egroup praising the previous editor for the wonderful job he has done, and introducing the new editor. There will be little discussion on developing mechanisms to avoid such goof-ups in the future, and no apology will be made to anyone who was wronged by the previous editor. The matter will be brought to rest.

For an organization that seeks to promote culture and impart value-education, SPICMACAY has been remarkably silent on this subject.

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I must confess that I am fatigued by the amount of politicking going on in SPICMACAY. For each mistake I point out, there are many vultures who would take great pleasure in tearing the object of criticism to pieces. But there seems to be no forward movement.

For a movement that aspires to have an international presence, SPICMACAY has no structure. There is some sort of a constitution, which is rarely put to practice. Even though the constitution requires regular elections for every chapter, these elections are almost never held. Most of the decisions are made by the Founder, Dr. Kiran Seth.

More importantly, the constitution does not provide for institutions that can enforce the constitution or provide redress for grievances. Though SPICMACAY claims to be a participatory movement, it is structured in such a manner that its descent to dictatorship is inevitable.

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All of this has a direct effect on the quality of SPICMACAY's output. Since SPICMACAY is run in such an arbitrary manner, there is no encouragement given to debate and dialogue. Instead, propoganda about the greatness of Indian culture (the Macaulay quote being a classic example) is fed to gullible schoolkids. Instead of engaging with kids in a manner that might foster thought, SPICMACAY deals with kids in a highly condescending manner.

The net effect is that it delivers zilch on its promise to be a vehicle for much-needed value education. Instead, it tries to convert kids into sycophantic and blind followers of ideas that seriously need revisitation.

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SPICMACAY needs urgent reform, or it needs to be dumped for an organization better suited for the requirements. I despair when it comes to reform brought about from the inside, though reform forced upon SPICMACAY by its sponsors might be possible. If neither happens, then the youth of the country need to channelize their energy into building a new organization that can come up with fresh ways of dealing with the question of value education.

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Update:

Weeks after I wrote to the egroup, it finally received an email from Dr. Seth. It has been decided that a 6-member board will oversee the working of the newsletter, the egroup, and the website. There is currently some discussion happening about an editorial policy, and I believe I am privy to this discussion.

This is a heartening development. Clearly my antics have worked to some extent. It remains to be seen whether this movement away from arbitrariness is sustained or whether SPICMACAY lapses into its old ways.

Vidyadhar Vyas @Bhavan's Cultural Centre, Andheri(W)

It is rare to find a musician who is truly at ease with himself and the world around him. But when you do find one, you find that his supreme indifference to those around him makes his music all the more enjoyable.

Pt. Vidyadhar Vyas is one such person. He sang the same raga and the same bada khayal that Sandipan had sung yesterday, and what a big difference there was!

Vidyadharji's alaap progressed at a slow pace. First he elaborated on the mandra saptak and the lower part of the madhya saptak. Each note was treated with with kid gloves, as Vidyadharji took his time to get a grasp over the note, to get accustomed to the shape and feel of that note. Only then did he approach the next note.

His voice was initially a little shaky and feeble. But it kept improving minute by minute. Very soon, he was indulging his audience with gamak-laden bol-alaaps, natural and sweet-sounding tihais and sargam that displayed some rare combinations of notes. Even when he jogged up and down the scale during the taankari, he sounded completely effortless. I don't think there was a single note in the latter part of Pooriya Kalyan that sounded forced or stretched. An extended vilambit was followed by a quick drut khayal.

To wrap up things, Panditji sang a Bhajan in Bhairavi. This was pure unadulterated Sindhu Bhairavi, and Pt. Vyas felt no need to invite foreign notes (other than the shuddh rishabh, of course) into the piece.

There can be nothing better than music that takes no apparent effort to produce and no effort to listen to. Yesterday's experience was, in that respect, unmatched.

Purbayan Chatterjee @Bhavan's Cultural Centre, Andheri(W)

I went yesterday in time for yesterday's Sitar concert fully expecting some more ding-dong pseudo-Hindustani Music that I have come to expect from people like Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash.

I found that being proven wrong in such a pleasant manner can also be very satisfying.

Purbayan Chatterjee's resume included customary mention of Pandit Nikhil Bannerjee, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Ustad Allauddin Khan and the Senia-Maihar Gharana. But having listened to umpteen instrumentalists with similar lineage destroy their heritage by dishing out noisy music, I was quite cynical.

The alaap in Kedar was sufficient to prove me wrong. Meendkari is a dying art, but Purbayan's handling of Kedar's rishabh - the graceful glide from above - was really mind-blowing. The fact that he played an alaap that was more than a perfunctory sketch of the raga was in itself remarkable; nowadays, instrumentalists move on to the jod so soon that I wonder why they call it alaap-jod-jhala.

After a leisurely alaap, Purbayan gave a taste of what a tasteful jod ought to sound like - that it should be more than a flurry of notes. The thing about jod is that when you sandwich a meend by cleverly composed swara sequences on both sides, the effect of the meend is heightened. But for that, the meends have to be there.

Jods without meends are like vada pavs without vadas.

The jhala was a good mix of gamak and plain notes. Overall, the pace was built up in such a manner that it did not sound jerky or sudden. Some portions were played in a particularly techno-esque fashion that reminded me of Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma.

The usual madhya-laya jhap-taal composition was played first. I must have heard the same composition umpteen number of times, but in this particular instance, I thought that the artist had taken special efforts to unlock the musical content locked in the composition. Some of the improvisations were very ingenuous, in my opinion.

Himanshu, a student of the late Pt. Kishan Maharaj, was amazing on the Tabla. At the start of the gat, he promptly got into the vajrasana. Between the madhya-laya and drut gats, Himanshu was given four opportunities to showcase his talent, and he didn't disappoint in any of them. He has a good taste for rhythm, and wasn't unnecessarily loud or too flashy. Instead, he came up with patterns that were nice and soothing to listen to.

The movements in the drut gat were quite impressive, as the patterns were reasonably complicated. Purbayan left no listener in doubt when it came to his technical prowess, especially in the kingdom of laya.

The second and final piece was a composition in Mishra Pilu. Purbayan sang most of the composition, just to give the listeners a sense of the mood that the song was trying to evoke. On the sitar, however, Purbayan was playing the song more like a drut classical gat than a semi-classical piece.

Throughout the concert, Purbayan's demeanour was very restrained. Purbayan was able to entertain without giving in too much to the crass demands of the public.

Sandipan Samajpati @Bhavan's Cultural Centre, Andheri(W)

Sometimes, when an initial gut feeling is vindicated by future events, that can be very satisfying.

When Sandipan produced a Sur Mandal and then plunged into the gandhaar of Puriya Kalyan without establishing the shadja, I was feeling very uneasy. The style sounded like Kirana, but a Merukhand alaap without establishing the shadja?

Initially, I thought I was being too fussy. He was keeping sur, and his pace was quite leisurely. 'Aaj so bana' was coming out well, and I was beginning to reconcile myself to the possibility of a good concert. The atmosphere was quite good - there was a lake just behind the stage, and it is a very quiet place. A few meend-laden phrases, and I was feeling really good.

Things, however, went quite downhill from there. The sam wasn't falling in the right place. The sargams were unimaginative and at places unnecessarily loud. Taans were going off-pitch. In the middle of all this, the sight of that odious sur mandal being plucked was quite irritating.

The chota khayal meant more taans, which were progressing further and further away from the pitch. The entire exercise of singing taans and sargams was beginning to sound pointless. Unless the point was to establish that Sandipan could sing taans at a reasonable pace, though I am sure everyone was willing to grant that much.

Durga, chosen to celebrate the recently concluded puja, was sung in more or less the same spirit. An exquisite khayal was chosen, and subsequently adorned with more mediocre taans.

Though Sandipan had already overshot into the next artist's time, he decided that he had to sing a Thumri. Only, instead of rendering it at a leisurely pace and trying to build on the lyrics, Sandipan was sounding like he was quickly repeating some crammed up phrases he had learnt the previous night so that he could finish in time.

In the last few minutes, our man realized that he hadn't indulged in sufficient theatrics, so he broke into a loud and very un-thrumri-like tihai. The last word landed somewhere in vague proximity to the sam. Everyone was suitably impressed.

I think I was relieved that the concert was over.

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I'd like to clarify that this is just a review of one concert of Sandipan. No comments on the general quality of his singing. It is possible that he was just having a bad day.

Actually, I feel a close kinship to him. I too share a weakness for needlessly ho-hum music. And a propensity to make mistakes with taal (probably more often than him, but they are the same errors)

One has a right to expect more from such public concerts though, I feel.

As an afterthought, I must add that it is also possible that bad sound feedback led to disaster, though I don't think this is very likely.

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Pandit Buddhadeb Dasgupta's performance on the Sarod was remarkable for its no-frills no-nonsense approach. Four or five gats were presented, first in Nayaki Kanada and then in Shahana Kanada. Pandit Nayan Ghosh provided very good accompaniment on the Tabla.

A popular teen-taal bandish in Zilla that doesn't sound like teen taal followed. After the organizers pleaded for more, Panditji signed off with a collection of the mukhdas of a number of bandishes in Bhairavi organized such that the sam falls on each consecutive note of the saptak.

I felt like absolute gems were being wasted on an ignoramus like me.