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Zjzzjzc&rftf c&z $?zi t zjzr\ -C vJ d. a^rt^) dc^e; XaZiszd ^d;Ad. ^x^rt-QcOrt xJodjsed^ s*^ ero^d: 4 3c)OSOE’^ d^rt^rjw rjccaj o d Xj O^Z CL?, ft d . J ^ g m From the Editor General The possibility of a whole new language There have been in the past couple of years several seminars, festi vals, workshops exploring the work of various choreographers whose aim is to step beyond tradition. But surprisingly little has been said about the earliest Indian “Modern Dance” which can be traced to the cultural renaissance in the 1930s. Whereas the majority of choreogra- phers today are working in terms of altering the context, presentation land external ethos of a style, leaving the form in tact or at most placing two styles side by side, the earlier attempts were quite different. Most of the radical experiments were conducted by Rabindranath Tagore. If Uday Shankar was the first to apply practically the idea of form fusion Rabindranath Tagore was probably the first thinker in mod- ern India to conceptualise an aesthetic basis for future dancers. Tagol'e made dance a respectable activity, encouraging such pioneers as Gowri Devi, Nandita Kripalani, Mrinalini Sarabhai and Shantidev Ghosh. Al- though he took part in the movement to revive classical dances along with Vallothol and Rukmanidevi Arundale, his own temperament was ! never quite satisfied with these forms, however pure they might be. Clas- sical dance is a vehicle for a given esoteric message or mood, necessar- ily representative of a certain cultural ethos. Rabindranath Tagore placed emphasis more on the expression of an individual in response to the surroundings. This important shift parallels that implied by modernisation, “enlightenment” in art — form collective rigidity to disparate flexibility. “Learn many things with discipline”, the poet would say. “but dance your own dance”. Tagore’s idea was to create by a process of absorp- tion, integration and imaginative expansion, the possibility of a whole new language. It is vital to mention the role played by the singers and musicians who work closely with dancers to produce the sonic back-up that strikes a fine balance between the songs selected and the needs of the perform- ers. Many musicians have been pivotal in the evolution of pure music as applied to various dance-dramas, ballets etc. Some of the gifted and bril- liant musicians have been instrumental in the use of rhythmic variations within a song moulding the modes to the requirements of dance. Karnataka Kala Sri Dr.M.Surya Prasad. 5 || GUNAGRAHI/ JULY— 2003 A Committed Soul: Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay After the death of Kasturba Gandhi there has been no one in the country one could legitimately call the First Lady in the unconventional sense of the term as one did call Eleanor Roosevelt in the United States long after President Roosevelt was dead. Sarojini Naidu merited the title as long as she lived. After her the title has rightfully belonged to Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay though she has neither claimed it nor would she wish anyone to consider her in that light. And that has been her special greatness. Power she has never sought, so one can- not say that it eluded her. And one can see why, reading her unorthodox memoirs. She left the Congress voluntarily, following inde- pendence and did not join the government though invited to in several capacities. She belongs to that rare breed — a breed, indeed, long extinguished that believed that one does not need to have political power to ex- ecute powerful ideas. She has done more in her long life- time than perhaps anyone else as much in the social as in the political field. Early in her life she “ became commander-in-charge of the Congress party’s Women’s Volunteer Corps: she was a member of the A ICC and for some time of its Working Committee. She courted imprisonment and spent five years in jail -a record that not many women leaders in this country can boast of. She was where she was most wanted, whether at the Wadala salt pans during the famous salt, satyagraha of the thir- ties or in the United States lecturing on India’s struggle for independence. When the sub-con- tinent was partitioned she was right there at the border, organising women refugees who were pouring into India. How much the exist- ence of Faridabad township owes to her de- voted services only an older generation can tell. It was at her initiative that the Central Cottage IndusUies Emporium was set up. For many years she was chairman of the All India Handicrafts Board. She was Founder presi- dent of the National Theatre Centre. A mere enumeration of all her manifold activities would fill several pages. Even in her old age she was active and concerned with human affairs. Meeting this frail and unassumming lady one wouldn’t know that she has been a recipient of the Magsaysay Award and the Watumull Foundation Award, not to mention a D.Litt from Benaras Hindu University and several other honours besides. They lie lightly on her shoulders. Throughout her life Kamaladevi had been a committed person: committed to so- cial reform, enhancement of women’s role in society, education of children, emancipation of the downtrodden whether they be women or artisans and she was afraid neither of soci- etal pressures nor malicious gossip. And she was willing to stand up to anyone she consid- ered to be in the wrong, from Mahatma Gandhi downward. Motilal Nehru would point out to her and say: ‘She is a dangerous woman. She threatens to have me mobbed by a crowd of old women unless I take in- (Continued on Page 11) Mercurial movements: The students of Guru Lalitha Srinivasan of Nupura dazzled in their Bharatanatya performance held at the Dr.H.N. Kalakshetra, Jayanagar under the joint aus- pices of the Bangalore Lalitha Kala Parishath. The dance programme was held in con- nection with the yearlong cel- ebration of the silver jubilee year of the school. That Guru Lalitha Srinivasan is a hard taskmaster was proved once again when Ajay Vishwanath, Antara Panda, Nivedila Gupta. Archana, Chandrika Narayana and Natasha stole the show with their mercurial move- ments and expressive abhinaya. Excellently backed up by Guru Lalitha Srinivasan (nattuvanga), Mythili Ranga rajan (vocal), Madhusudan (violin), Ashwathanarayana (flute) and Narayanaswamy (mridanga), the dancers gave a creditable account of them- selves individually and while dancing together. The opening salutation to Lord Soorya on the basis of Muthuswamy GUNAGRAHI/ JULY-2003 , <1 EVIEW s> Dikshitar’s Navagraha krithi on Ravi “Sooryamoorthe” (Sowrashtra) pleased the eyes. It was a confluence of Bharatanatya and Yoga. The demonstration of Soorya namaskara was appropriate and adequate. The depiction • of a few episodes of Mahabharatha with the lyrical support drawn from a Kanakadasa pada “Gombeyaatavanu aadiside” was marked by demanding jathis, taut nritta interspersed here and there and fine freezes. The Ashta nayikas were portrayed in a neat dis- position. The eight kanda padyas which were used for the delineation had powerful and communicative lyrics. Thus the eight heroines like Proshitbhartika, Vasavasajjika, Vipralabdha, Virahothkhanthita, Khanditha, Kalahaantaritha, Abhisarika and Swadheena patita came to life. The programme con- cluded with a ragamalika tillana addressed to Sri Krishna. Madhusudan’s ensemble: Seasoned violinist C. Madhusudan led and di- rected a five-member violin concert comprising B.S. Madhusudan, Vasuki 7 Parimala, Savithri Srinivas and Jyothsna Manjunath at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan un- der H.N.Dwarakanath memo- rial endowment programme. Madhusudan who belongs to the heritage of T.Chowdaiah had chosen to render only Chowdaiah’s krithis. The members of the ensemble played with practiced preci- sion. As it was a very short recital the manodharm exer- cises were kept to their mini- mum. But still, the presenta- tions vouched for the artistes’ musical abilities. ‘Prasanna Ganapathe’ (Bahudari, with commendable swaras), ‘Bhuvaneshwari’( a Telugu krithi in Kalyani raga with short alapana and swaras), ‘NandaNandini’ (on Lakshmi, Kharaharapriya) and a tillana registered well with the audi- ence. R.Ramseh (mridanga) and Krishna prasad (ghata) were the accompanists Kanyakumari dazzles Late S.V.Narayana swamy Rao memorial national award was presented to the veteran seven-stringed violinist R.R. Keshavamurthy under the aus- pices of Sri Rama Seva Mandali, Chamarajpet at the specially erected pandal in the premises of Govt. Fort High School. A 25-violin ensemble led by the noted violinist || GUNAGRAHI/ JULY— 2003 Kanyakumari regaled the au- dience at the same venue dur- ing the month-long Sri Ramanavami concert series. Filled with an amplifying gad- get, Kanyakumari not only di- rected the presentations but also led the show. The concert betrayed the good effects of rehearsals. There was har- mony in the renditions. Though there were some rough edges here and there and in the vio- lin played by a few members of the ensemble, thanks to the talent and expertise of Kanyakumari the entire show clicked. One was delighted to hear to ‘Aadisidaleshoda’ and ‘Ksheera sagara shayana’ (Devagandhari) taking shape in its real beauty and splendour. Raga Kadana kutoohala and the most famil- iar ‘Raghuvamsha sudha ambudhi’ krithi came forth on the predictable lines. This is an instrumentalist’s favourite. The sancharas of the krithi easily enable the instrumental- ist to explore his medium and mode. That is what exactly happened. Kanyakumari and her members of the multi-vio- lin ensemble utilized the oppor- tunity to the best impact. They left no phrase to go out of their survey. And hence the ebb and flow of the raga was com- plete and compact. The climax of the con- cert was reached in the de- tailed delineation of the raga Chandrakauns. The system- atic elaboration alapana was followed by an artistic tana. The pallavi was both scholarly and artistic. It was a cascade of melody when one heard 50 different ragas while render- ing pallavi. Anuradha and Rajasckhar shine Anuradha Madhu sudan and M.R.Rajasekhar’s veena and sitar jugalbandhi recital yielded mixed results. More rehearsals could have fetched the maximum results. However, Anuradha on her veena praiseworthy profi- ciency while Rajasekhar’s skill was noteworthy. The jugalbandhi began with Kalyanavasantha for Thyagaraja’s *Nada loludai’ and Nata ‘MahaganapathinT. Some of the select ragas which have similar entity and existence in both Karnatak and Hindustani music were neatly rendered. The major item of the jugalbandhi was the elaboration of Kalyani ( Yaman in Hindusthani music). Anuradha and Raja sekhar developed the raga in their own styles individually first and later 8 combined together in sketch- ing a comprehensive swaroopa of the raga. The tana by Anuradha and nom-tom by Rajasekhar was scholarly. Both the instrumentalists were at home in demonstrating even mastery over their instru- ments. The tone and timbre of the stringed instruments matched with each other and one like the incessant flow of music. Experienced and expert mridangist C.Cheluvaraj pro- vided a powerful rhythmic sup- port. Vishwanath Nakod on tabla vied equally for honours. Fitting finale: It was a fitting rhyth- mic finale to the recently con- cluded 22 nd annual five-day Tala vaadyotsava-2003 held urder the aegis of the Percus- sive Arts Center. It is worth noting that the Center's con- tribution in the propagation and popularisation of various as- pects pertaining to the laya in music has been unique, im- mense and varied. Illustrated and endowment talks, publica- tion of books on laya, arrang- ing interesting programmes highlighting rhythm are some of the significant activities of the Percussive Arts Centre. The birth centenaries of C.S. Sankara sivam, B.K. Padmanabharao and D. GUNAGRAHI/ JULY— 2003 Subbaramaiah and the 125 birth anniversary of Bangalore Nagarathnamma and the great composer Dr.L.Muthaiah Bhagavatar were also cel- ebrated. Singer Tiruinale Srinivas (H.Puttachar memo- rial award), khanjira artiste B.S. Purushottam (CMANA (USA) prize) and Veteran vo- calist Madurai T.N.Sesha gopalan (Palani Subramanya Pillai award donated by wellknown connoisseurs of music Dr.A.H.Rama Rao and Sudha Rao) received different awards and titles during the five day Taala Vaadyotsava. After receiving the prestigious K. Putturao Memo- rial Palghat Mani Iyer Award instituted by the renowned pa- tron of Carnatic music K.K.Murthy. the builder of the world famous Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, the ghata-wiz- ard T.H. Vinayakaram sent the audience at the Chowdaiah t Memorial Hall into raptures % with his ensemble of percus- sionists. He was conferred the title of “Ghata Kala Shiromani”. Vinayakaram took up the cause ghata seriously and strove successfully in ac- cording the ghata (the mud- pot musical instrument) inter- national status and recognition. He has been triumphant both as a performer and as a teacher. He has countless dis- ciples among whom Karnataka’s Sukanya Ramgopal has won worldwide acclaim- as the brilliant woman-ghata-player. I was very happy to see her seated next to her Guru Vinayakaram on the stage and rising to the occasion in exhibiting her ex- traordinary skill. As usual she drew the attention of the rasikas with her powerful and precise strokes. It was a special type of concert. Vikku, as Vinayakaram is popularly known, led the laya-oriented group presentation sponsored by V.Krishnan of Sri Parthasarathyswamy Sabha. Though we hear some shlokas, Tirruppugazhs etc, rendered with a few jathis (rhythmic syllables) to the accompani- ment of tavil during the ashtavadhana rituals in temples, Vinayakaram has ex- clusively created demanding and new pattern jathis to quite a good number of shlokas in Sanskrit and Tamil. Vinayakaram and his disciples comprising Sukanya Ramgopal, V.Umashankar. D.V.Venkatasubramaniam(all ghatas), N.Rajaraman (ghata and gettuvadya), A.Ganeshan (morsing) and Umamahesh 9 Vinayakaram (vocal) began the concert with ghatas tuned in the order of sa ri ga ma pa. It was also pleasing to sec those ghatas fitted with im- ported sound amplifying con- tact mikes. And it was but natural that the sound pro- duced was vibrant and viva- cious. Umamahesh sang a shloka in praise of the late Paramacharya of Sri Kanchi “Arindu terindu” set to khanda chapu tala. The percussionists translated the intricate jathis (like takita taangta) composed by Vikky on their respective in- struments. The highlight of the concert was the rendition of a raga, tana and pallavi in Keeravani set to adi tala cli- maxing in a rich and resonant laya vinyasa. During this ses- sion, the artistes, Sukanya, Vikku and Umashankar in par- ticular explored fully well in producing varieties of sound out of the entire body (the neck, centre and the bottom of the outer surface) and mouth (in changing positions like hori- zontal, vertical, pressed against the stomach, mouth facing the audience etc) of the ghata. The ghana and naya sounds were astonishing. The two hands, wrists, ten fingers and nails were used in differ- ent ways to demonstrate the various possibilities of the priately trained under an en- Bhowli piece Srtman ghata play. Towards the end thusiastic Guru Nagabhu narayana was meaning! ul. of the laya vinyasa the ghata shana, Mithila was at home in However, one wished she had was thrown up in the air and meeting the demands of the proloundity in it. caught successively in conso- nritta, nrithya and abhinaya. K.Dandayudhapani nance w ith the rhythm to ren- The Pushpanjali followed by a PiHai s popular Poorvikalyani der the muktaya karvais. And eulogy of ‘Mooshika vahana” varna was rendered with ease, that won the artistes the roar (Nata, aditala) saw her grow- Though subtle misses in rhythm of applause from the audience. j n g i n confidence. She anc ^ some imbalance in The programme concluded sketched the traits of the God- ardhamandali on a couple of with a song on Sri Chandra d ess of Learning on the basis occasion raised one s eyebrow, sekharendra Swamiji. of a Kanakadasa pada Mithila did full justice to the Dedicated Mithila Holla ‘NammammaSharade’ presentation. Nagabhushan led Lean and lissome Mithila (Hamsa dhwani). In the de- the orc,ieslra wilh llis ins P ir ‘ Harikrishna Holla impressed lineation of a Bilahari in S natluvan S a - Ra i u Dalar the lovers of dance with her jathiswara her hold over (vocal). Madhusudan (violin) dedicated display of rhy thm came to the fore. Her and Tulasiram (mridanga) Bharatanatya artistry at the abhinaya for Annamacharya’s were the other members ot the ADA Rangamandira. Appro- musical ensemble. ^ ANKURA-2003, an annual festival of dance hosted by the Karnataka Nrithya Kala Parishath featuring young dancers was successfully held for five days at the Khimcha auditorium ol Bharatiya Vidya Bhavana. K. Niveditha from Mysore (trained by Sheela Sridhar), Shwetha Lakshman (Guru Padmini Rao), Veena Basavarajaiah (Shubha Dhananjaya), Sitara S.Vaidya (T.S.Bhat), J. Chandraprabha (Manjula Paramesh), Kavyasri Jayaram and Akshatha Karanth (KRV Pulikeshi), Vandana Bharadwaj (Poornima Ashok), L.S.Prakrithi (Revathi Narasimhan), Snehasri Srinivas and T.S.Sagar (Guru K.M.Raman of Tumkur) gave a creditable account of themselves. Parishath’s efforts in keeping the flag of dance aloft are laudable indeed. ^ Bhowli piece ‘Sriman narayana’ was meaningful. However, one wished she had profoundity in it. K.Dandayudhapani Pillai’s popular Poorvikalyani varna was rendered with ease. Though subtle misses in rhythm and some imbalance in ardhamandali on a couple of occasion raised one’s eyebrow, Mithila did full justice to the presentation. Nagabhushan led the orchestra with his inspir- ing nattuvanga. Raju Datar (vocal). Madhusudan (violin) and Tulasiram (mridanga) were the other members of the musical ensemble. A Sri Keshavananda Bharathi Swamiji felicitated Sri Keshavananda Bharathi Swamiji of Sri Edneer Math is a well known artiste and a great patron of art. He has already carved a niche for himself as classical and light classical singer, an exponent of Harikatha and an expert Bhagavatha of Yakshagana. He has brought out a large number of audiocassettes in all the above art forms. Yakshagana and Taala maddale will always be an integral part Sri Swamiji’s religious activities. Bharathi Kala Sadana founded by him at Edneer hosts one or the other cultural programme at regular intervals.On the completion of his 60 years the Swamiji was felicitated in a grand programme held at Udupi under the Presidentship of Paryaaya Swamiji of Sri Phalimaru Math. Needless to say, the grand function was marked by a seven day Yakshagana sapthaha. Incidentally, he will be observing this year’s Chaturmaasya at Bangalore Branch of Sri Edneer Math situated in Koramangala from 1 3th July 2003 to 1 0th Sept. 2003. A , n GUNAGRAHI/JULY— 2003 (Continued from Page 6) structions from heron how to conduct myself in the Legislature, especially how to cast my vote!” Told in jest, but Kamaladevi was quite capable and more than willing, to carry out the imaginary threat. The threat had indeed been made, sufficiently strongly for Motilal to thunder at her: “ Are you trying to instinct me how to vote, you slip of a girl?” Kamaladevi then had stood her ground. Much to the amusement of Motilal Nehru who later soft- ened towards her. She had stood up even to Mahatma Gandhi and when the latter sought to cut down Subhas Chandra Bose after the Tripura Con- gress she was most upset. In her memoirs she writes: “I watched the piquant scene with ut- ter dismay. Gandhiji seemed invisible. I wished I could meet him, repeat what 1 had said when he condemned me, that the young expect of the seniors deep sympathetic understanding, large-heartedness, not short temper, carping criticism and severe punishment. But that was not to be”. In the past she had been Gandhiji’s loyal soldier, ever willing to lake on any task, even at the cost of her life. Those who had seen Attenborough’s Gandhi would remem- ber the scene of the salt satyagraha at Dharasana. Here is Kamaladevi’s graphic de- scription of what happened at Wadala: “The police who had looked on at this advancing avalanche of law-breakers seemed almost stu- pefied and had to shake themselves up as from a trance... (They) found it hard to break through the circle, so deep was it that they charged with their batons. The human wall was still unyielding. In the meantime police on horse back charged at the general crowd. . .. I could hear the dull thud as the blows fell, faint moans as the wounded struck the ground. Still not a cry not an angry snarl. Men and women, young and old, were all facing the attack with unbe- lievable composure. The blows now rained like a blinding shower. They were directed either at the head or the legs. I felt sick as I caught a youngster near me with a cracked skull. A rough boot pushed me aside and I came down with my arm right on the burning coals...” That about describes what the free- dom struggle meant. Scenes like that were to be seen in almost every city and town. And like all volunteers, Kamaladevi obeyed. She was simply freedom’s soldier. When she was not leading Congress volunteers or spending her time in jail, she was travelling, lecturing, organising conferences, attending meetings, whether of the Interna- tional Alliance of Women in Berlin, the New Education Movement Conference in Copenhagen, the International league of Peace and Freedom in Prague, the League Against Imperialism in Frankfurt or the Republican Party Congress in San Francisco. Everywhere she met distinguished leaders whose names would make an International Who’s Who. Everywhere she was received with affection, warmth as did the Pope who told her:...”I welcome and greet you as a representative of your great country where your leader lived a true Christian life . . .” In pre-independence days the British hounded her wherever she went, whether it ^ was Vancouver in Canada, Hongkong and || GUNAGRAHI/ JULY— 2003 Colombo in (then) Ceylon, as if she were a dangerous criminal. But true fighters treated her with extra respect. In Eritrea which she visited during the war, she was held up in one place by rebels who had been condemned as bandits. When the men learnt that she was from India they said they would see that no harm would come to her. One of the men pulled a comb from his pocket and offered it to her as a gift! She would remember that bandits too are human”. Her early friends were Maharshi Karve, Pandita Ramab, Dr James and Mar- garet Cousin. Later her circle grew until it in- cluded anybody who was anybody in India. She was one of the earliest Indian women to stay abroad; she was among the first to take part in plays and at least on one occasion she acted a minor role in a film directed by Bhavnani. She records for the first time that S Satyamurthy, the famous freedom fighter had first won fame as a stage actor as Duryodhana in Veni Samhara and Maitreyi in Mrichchakatika before he became famous on the political stage. She speaks teaming up with ‘poet- musician Harindranath’, whom she married but the one amazing thing about this autobi- ography is “ Kamaladevi’s total reticence about her marriage and her divorce. She speaks about her father and mother and her grandmother, but no names are mentioned and no dates. She draws their characters vividly hut they are not recognised in terms of names and no family pedigree is mentioned. But she speaks of politicians and her friends freely and especially of the many women who had been her comrades in the glorious pursuit of free- dom, whether it be Madame Cama, Jayaprakash’s wife Prabhavati, the socialist rebel Satyavati (“when she passed out of my life, it were as though I had lost some part of me...”)orSarojini Naidu. There is nothing it seems that she did not venture into, none of any note that she did not know. Even at eighty-plus Kamaladevi remained serene, the artist in her surfacing with amazing sureness. In her closing chapter she writes: “ As I lean back and close my eyes to relax and let my memories run back the long aisles of time, to know what are the things I wanted most and discover the same yearn- ings remain most poignant in me still. It is the little tilings of life — an unhurried life of leisure to dream, to suck in the slow notes of music, to savour of the gifts of nature, the play of light and shadow so reminiscent of life with its joys and sorrows. For I am very human to want the trifles that we usually brush or throw away. In the ultimate an individual is a lonely soul away and apart holding on only those, little things of life while all else had faded away”. But as one comes to the end of her marvelous recounting of her life, a nagging thought persists: how come she quote so many conversations so freely? Surely, she could not have recorded those conversations word by word in daily diaries? ^ 2 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ H| GUN AGRAHI / JULY-2003 ■■■■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ The journey of the Gharana By Bindu Chawla (Part II) WE now come to gayakis. Gayakis are time polished formations based on the natu- ral musical experiences of a culture. All true music echoes with the innermost experiences of its people. Whether they are landscape patterns or patterns of thought, each com- munity exudes psychic patterns that are re- lated to its patterns of music. That is why a musician and his listeners can come together in the first place. Right from its specific method of elaborating a raga to its specific taan types, a gayaki is the utterance of what in our an- cient texts has been termed as musical ‘sanskars’ — sanskars which can roughly be understood as the collective memory of a people. Thus one gayaki can be born from a close association with the dhrupad or quawwali forms, another from the borrowing of certain instrument techniques to cultivate interesting vocalisms. Sometimes nuances in emotional altitude, highlighting some or other aspect of a gayaki, go a long way to give us differently sounding musicians within a single gayaki or gharana itself. This is also one rea- son why certain groups of ragas only — which best enhance a certain musical temperament -came to be sung by musicians of particular gharanas till recent times. However, gayakis have been known to be marked by several characteristics. In his well known work Indian Musical tradi- tions first published in Marathi in 1961, Vamanrao Deshpande observed that gharana gayakis were based on voice-types: like the nasal and sharp, the elastic and full throated, the husky almost grating, to give a few ex- amples. A valid, though not very comprehen- sive theory, this view has provoked reactions from several quarters. “Gharanas are based on musical ideas and aesthetic principles and not on voice-types”, declared some teacher- musicians addressing a packed hall in Mumbay. The speakers strongly refuted sev- eral of Deshpande’s perceptions that have held ground even before his work had first appeared in 1961. On the extreme other end we have Pandit Ravi Shankar who has ex- pressed the view that gayakis are “born of individuality”. Most reactions to gharana gayakis can be placed close to either of the above two opinions. And so, from gayaki to gharana: the question arises, what is the role of personality in gharana-making and gharana-breaking? Does the musical logic of a gharana itself lead to another gharana in course of time? In a rare lecture-demonstration de- livered few years ago at the Sriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra in Delhi, Kishori Amonkar de- clared, “I am not an innovator! “. Amonkar was discus- sing the creative process func- tioning within tradition and had smiled while looking intently at the faces in the audience, mostly those of young students of music and dance. Understandably, she was trying todis- ■ ■■■■■■■■II GUN AGRAHI/ JULY —2003 ■■■■■■■■■■ cem if her statement had made its impact, for So the use of sargam has played an im- she had cut at the other root of several mis- portant role in the evolution of many gharanas conceptions — cultivated by musicians them- selves — about evolution in classical music being the result of ‘’originality” over and above the gharana system. Personality, rather than originality, she was trying to suggest, was the perfect creation of tradition. In fact when we sociologically exam- ine the experiments in sargam of the two sim- ply Ustads mentioned at the beginning of this article, they do not reveal themselves as ‘origi- nal’ achievements at all. Musical Ideas The musical ideas that had spurred the experiments were in many ways “the natural outcome of the age, bom at the same time in different minds.” For none other than the years and decades that followed proved that work- ing with sargam was an important change that wastaking place in Hindustani music in gen- eral, a change in outlook that has been sum- marised in one of the most profound state- ments to have been made on the state of our music since the turn this century: that “we have come now to approach music more through musical intelligence rather than musical imagi- nation “ — this was made by S.N.Ratanjankar, eminent educationist and musicologist of a generation ago. Quite honestly, at one time some of the grand old masters did keep their students away from sources of “musical intelligence” such as the sargam, as they felt them to be short-cuts which on the long run hampered imagination. Our age, however, has felt that musical intelligence should be employed as an aid to musical imagination, though not as a substitute for it. in the last generation. And whether or not his direct disciples followed up the sargam element in Ustad Abdul Karim Khan Saheb’s gayaki, the fact remains that musical ideas appear in the envi- ronment long before they climax into a gharana style. And though the gharanas are the official homes of various gayakis, they have broader bases than those which meet our eye-bases that converge on their outer circles. However, gharana nuclei remain. Gharana rebels think otherwise, though. A sizeable number, they have — un- fortunately-been known to rebel against the concept for the wrong reasons. For though the seve regementation of the gharan is cer- tainly worth questioning, the problem lies not so much in the redundancy of the gharana it- self, as it does in its music being sung without its creative silences. For it is perhaps easier to simply breathe life into notes and raga scales, but to infuse age-old structure-types with an inner glow involves a level of an anguished effort that can be termed as truly a dialectical inter- action with tradition. Few can survive the life- long holocaust that this entails — and the easy way out is to pursue elements of style at the level of simple melody on the one hand and blinding virtuosity on another. No wonder Pakistan’s Ghulam Ali echoed the words of many master musicians when he said in a lively A.I.R. interview recorded in Punjabi: ‘To be able to sing is one thing, to know music is yet another”. (To be continued in the next issue). 14 PHOTO QUIZ S.K.Lakshminarayana (Babu) page QUIZ OF FINE ARTS.. 10 SOLUTION TO QUIZ...10 SOLUTION TO PHOTO QUIZ Name these legendary vocalists? I .What is absolute dance? 2. It is same as 3. What is a Fundamental raga? 4. What are Frets? 5. What are they made of? 6. What do you know about veena frets 7. What do you know about si tar frets? X. What are Anga taalas? 9. Mention the opposite to them? 10. What is Anunasika? •nmniijs in sioojop oip jo Olio Sj OllOl | VISIT II I? 1 1 1 ! AN SlljollS IDtlOJ |USU[Sj ()| •ooii | cl n piijj siunoo-ioS -in | mo.ioi|A\ supn ipn|ons et o siipij s() I xy sunun luoninsuoo .noip Xq poiunoo siipij 'S uiois oi|i uioiuopn oiiissnd inr> jo soiiuis jo soiijjds oj||i:ioui ,\q uiois oi|t oi po.moos ojii pun odui|s Uj |iioudi|o o.w Aoijj ■/_ "OopO| A X 11 AN oip no poxy oju Aoyj nuom jo s.mq punoj -j|iii| cun Aoi|j_ c; joa|(s jo o/uojc] ‘ssii.ifl ninddots joojjoo in dpi| pun oaiipo oip in soiou oip jo suoipsod oip jo snunips njiiA\s oip omoi|Hii a'oi| \ smoiunjisui jnpiuis pun jups -nuooA oip jo p.iuoq-.iOo -in | oip sso.ion poou|d pijom jo sdijjsiiup oqj p •uaiu uAimf jo OAiinAi.iop oip oi posoddo sn iioUJ nsjniinl' jo nuiojuppyi V Y •unuN Z *oo imp o.i nd sn A|dui;s pouuojod pun posoduioo ooimp v I Zm . Wi-'-fte ■ ; yfe .S •< \ v ..... .. t. ToprUstad BadeGhulam Ali of Patiala gharana. Bottom: Ustad Amir Khan of Indore. | GUN AGRAHI / JULY-2003 Gunagrahi Monthly Journal RNI Regn No. 09149/9X Regn. No. CPMG/kA/BGS-9 2/200 _v 05 WITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROM : Book-Post 3EADV ?^\nz No. 2907. 3rd Main Road, Vanivilasa Mohalla. Mysore - 570 002. Phone : 516803,513414 Fax : 0821-516803 Owned, Published, Edited and Printed by Dr. M. Surya Prasad at ' Munikotr, No.8, 2nd Cross, Opp. Srinivasa Mandiram, Balepet, Bangalore - 560 053. Phone : 225JV/5. Editor General : Dr. M. Surya Prasad