Connoisseurs of Indian music

[Guest guest]

Connoisseurs of Indian music

"Kulkarni, you are a connoisseur of Hindustani music. How much do

you know about Carnatic music?"

"Not a whole lot. In the Matunga area, there are a few sabhas that

hold Carnatic concerts; but I do not attend those concerts," replies

Kulkarni.

Shankar prods on. "You should. Since you are in Chennai for a few

days, why don't you join me for one of the Carnatic music concerts?

Only if you listen to our Carnatic music you will understand how

complex and brilliant it is. I can explain some of its intricacies

to you if you like."

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Kulkarni responds, "Well, I prefer my music. But, I will go to the

concert with you. We can discuss both at the end of the concert."

The concert begins promptly and the musician starts with the Sahana

Varnam and follows the brisk Varnam with Gajananayudam in

Chakravaham. The cutchery was already off to a good start. After one

more kriti, he begins Anandhabhairavi raga alapana.

Shankar turns to Kulkarni, "Do you like a cup of coffee? We can stop

by the canteen and be back in a few minutes. Narasimhan, the cook,

is excellent and makes everything fresh and hot. And, besides, the

Anandhabhairavi alapana will go on for some time and then the

violinist gets his turn. We have time."

They get up and walk towards the canteen.

"Kulkarni, the dosa here is very good. Shall I order you a dosa?"

Kulkarni's eyes open wide at the mention of dosa and they order

dosas and coffee.

"Did you note the variety in our Carnatic music? Twenty minutes into

the concert and we are already on the fourth piece. The audience

likes that. I am sorry but your Hindustani music is a little too

slow for my taste. Your artistes take one Bhairav or a MalhAr and go

on for two hours. I think all that Muslim influence has made

Hindustani music lose its Indianness."

"Shankar; it shows how much you know about Hindustani music.

Hindustani music definitely has its influences; but it never lost

its basic identity. If anything, the Persian influence only enriched

its greatness. Don't forget that we took the fixed shadja from the

Iranians. On the other hand, you must accept that Carnatic music

lost some of its emotional charm with the advent of the

Venkatamukhi's 72-Melakarta scheme," retorts Kulkarni.

"The Melakarta scheme is a wonderful mathematical approach to coding

ragas. How could you say that it undermined the emotional charm?

Kulkarni replies, "The Melakarta scheme may be rational and precise.

But, the precision has restricted your musicians from elaborating

the ragas with ease. They are constrained from improvising a raga

with broader aesthetic and emotional appeal. Because your Carnatic

music places more emphasis on compositions of the great masters, it

tends to take away the importance of the raga and its improvisations

even further. In contrast, Hindustani musicians continue to give

more importance to raga elaboration and less to lyrics."

"May be," Shankar replies defensively, "but, since Vedic times,

Indian music has been intricately related to religion and morality.

The Muslim invaders did not know our religion or our languages and

consequently, Hindustani music moved away from its Sastrika

traditions. Unlike the compositions of the great composers of

Carnatic music, your compositions have lost their intellectual

content. The KhyAl style mostly emphasises romantic themes and has

virtually killed philosophical thought."

"You could be right. But, you must recognise that the KhyAl is very

rich in its traditions. Unlike Carnatic music, it is less rigid and

more appealing because it borrows from ghazal and folk music and

embellishes the content," replies Kulkarni.

Shankar shakes his head and tries to attack from another point,

"Hindustani music seems to only pay lip service to the thala systems

mentioned in the Sangitaratnakara. The Hindustani rhythmic patterns

are simple compared to the thala system in Carnatic music where, the

rhythm patterns are far more precise and mathematically complex. You

cannot deny we score big on the thala aspects," Shankar exclaims

with a check mate grin on his face.

Kulkarni would not be swayed that easily. "May be," accepts

Kulkarni, "but, rhythmic complexity comes at a cost; because of the

thala intricacies, your music compromises on the bhava aspects.

Expertise in thala is no excuse for over-shadowing the melodic

beauty and context of a composition."

Neither Kulkarni nor Shankar was ready to throw down the swords.

They carried on in vain over several more cups of coffee. As they

continued to discuss which music (and thus which Indian) was better,

Narasimhan, the cook, announces the kitchen is closing.

As Narasimhan is about to leave, he stops by the two music

connoisseurs and asks, "Shankar Sir! Do you need anything else? You

both are hotly discussing something; I did not want to interrupt but

I have to close the kitchen."

"Thanks Narasimhan. We were just discussing which of our music

system is better, Carnatic or Hindustani. What do you think

Narasimhan?"

Narasimhan replies humbly, "You are both experts in music; I am just

a cook. I cannot make such a judgment. The only thing I know is that

both Hindustani and Carnatic music are like a pair of eyes and both

are important to us as Indians. I am proud that our people can

create so much great music."

Humbled by Narasimhan's simple but profound comments, Shankar turns

to Kulkarni and says, "It is time we got back to the auditorium. The

artiste should have finished Anandhabhairavi by now."

His words were drowned by the sound of doors opening and the

Mangalam words, 'Neenama Rupa Mulaku', drifting from the auditorium.

Ram Sriram

Atlanta

sriramgsu

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Published on April 14th, 2006

http://www.chennaionline.com/columns/variety/2006/04indianmusic.asp