Article for Chembur Fine
Arts Carnatic Music Festival Souvenier - 2016
Bring Back music in
your homes
Every musician acknowledges the role of the Rasika and many a reader of
this article would be a Rasika of some degree.
Is developing Rasikatvam an individual initiative / responsibility or
does collective development play an important role in building overall
Rasikatvam? So are those individuals who
are regular concert goers doing it because they independently felt the urge
overnight or were there some conducive
factors in their childhood, youth and adulthood building their love for Carnatic music?
How is “Rasikatvam” developed? The connoisseurs of the past five decades
– what led to their knowledge and love for music and what could it take today
to make present & future connoisseurs in our urban context?
The temptation to reside in history is huge while answering the above
questions – however, I would like focus on things in our control which can
build Rasikatvam in our own urban settings.
Be aware of the
Rasika within you
Is connoisseur the only word that can define a Rasika? This
description puts a great responsibility on the shoulder of such a Rasika. This
brings us to the different degrees of Rasikatvam that need to be
understood:
-
Raskia Immersion Level 1 : The sprightly first timer(could be
old, middle-aged or young) in a concert audience – wanting to see “explicit
impact” – high voice quality, good pace, energy in a concert and so on. He /she
may be exposed to multiple forms of entertainment and hence this is just one of
the many types of concerts attended by him /her. The range of things occupying
his/her mind could be from Jazz, to story-telling sessions interspersed with
classical music.
-
Rasika Immersion Level 2: A
reasonably regular concert goer – looking for common ragas (known to him), songs familiar to
him / her (how the artiste can assess and judge these for a larger audience and
cross-generational audience beats my imagination). May actually develop strong
likes / dislikes based on styles he might have heard so far!
-
Rasika Immersion Level 3: The experienced Rasika – Familiar with a range of kritis,
composers, ragas, has heard 100’s of concerts over decades and so on. He can guess the raga and the date and time
when the same song was rendered in the 1970’s and by whom and so on.
The idea of indicating different immersion levels is to appreciate
different audience groups / segments and see how “I” as a Rasika can graduate
to next levels of immersion. Besides these there could be academically oriented
people in the audience – that being a limited number, I don’t see a challenge
with these intermingling with the most experienced form of Rasika.
The positive intermingling between all the above and more types of
rasikas would be necessary in generating sustained interest. Sharing
knowledge of ragas, building sense of judgment on the styles, bias towards slow
or fast paced rendition is essential for the category 1 & 2 Rasikas to
progress to the next level of immersion into music.
Immersion of the Rasika
Any field needs immersion – which is being in the frontal space of action of that
field. For a cricket lover, watching innumerable matches builds his sense
of judgement of the fitness of the player, the tricks of pitch reading and
bowling. And mind you, there are many matches to watch which “exercise the
cricket lover’s mind.”
The only open secret is listening to concerts over a period of time. With
technology, geographical distances being covered faster, music interest should
have spread faster across the country and the world than it probably has. The
next section focuses specifically on how we can become the harbingers of music
in our own homes & families and evolve to being a Level 3 Rasika.
Nature of Social
Engagement
a)
Technology & Temple music can
both build “Rasikatvam”
Economy and social interaction thrive around temples and that the temples
became a nurturing ground for culture is much repeated historical fact. Today, our social engagements and cultural
affiliations are being built differently. Temples continue to form a part,
however several other platforms for culture have arisen – and no
one platform that has emerged so far is strong enough to bind us
together as it was in the temple-culture driven days a few centuries ago.
Family as a platform to build interest also needs to be examined.
The famous Suprabhatam has disappeared in most family morning schedules. Is
it difficult to develop a “music menu” for a week or a fortnight and play that
– it could be a mix of shlokas, concert excerpts, a lec-dem, a mix of variety
of songs? Some of the cultural TV channels are playing this role, however, they
need to be viewedin light of enhancing knowledge around music as much as the
spiritual or entertainment value (as the case may be) they provide.
Can we increase common time within families where music is heard (even if
it means being played in the background) say while cooking, having a meal and
so on or at least on weekly holidays.
Important point is collective hearing and the “more informative family
member” supports others – sharing the names of ragas etc. It is a
simple,occasional conversation that can bring music back in our daily lives.
Invariably the elders in the family would love to do this. They are
handicapped with lack of knowledge on the various devices which often confuse
the end-user - with innumerable wires and USB port settings etc. Taking a one-time help from a tech-savvy
person to connect your I-Pod / Mp3 player to the speaker can go a long way.
Become the family Carnatic MJ (Music Jockey!). If the youngsters have the
inclination towards music, but no time, pull in the elders who can support this
goal.
Simplify your gadgets at home and use the least common denominator of
technology which both the old and the young and operate with ease – which can
flex between both “individual listening and collective listening”.
What is played and heard within families is one thing that is in our
control – we must recognize this fact. Are we exercising that choice?
b) Building and sharing your depth: AIR, Hyderabad would
have music sessions explaining ragas on the radio a few years ago. I have been
a beneficiary of these knowledge sharing sessions sitting right here in Mumbai.
I could listen to this even while playing or having my morning breakfast. And I
was not a full-fledged student of music at that point in time. I probably
became a student of music alongside these additional inputs. With the Radio fading
out, and channels led by TRP ratings, there is a vacuum in this space of “communicating
about music.”
I made an attempt to
start a “ whatsapp culture-channel” which covers all our family members across
geographies – with one song / one raga being explained. I am sure this will,
even in a limited way, serve some purpose. As a Rasika, what is that one
initiative you can take through which you can share your “Anubhava /
Experiences” with others – you may have a creative answer.
However, depending on
Whatsapp & Facebook messages will not help build in deep content – messages
and videos will come and get deleted once your phone /device space is full. How
many of the songs you heard on your phone messenger, do you recollect and
repeatedly save and hear for months? How many of these have collective access
to other members of your family? The aim is not to be the lone Rasika but the
harbringer of music appreciation amongst your circle of family and friends.
c)
While in a concert – Connect with
another Rasika
Silence is the golden
rule for deep music lovers. However, sometimes, sharing the name of the raga or
speciality of the song with a stranger sitting right next to you will only
build collective knowledge. How many times, do you catch wise glances –saying,:
“Hmm… Brindavan Saranga Pallavi, Taalam – Khanda Triputa in Mishra Gati”. The
level 1 Rasika at this stage is completely bowled over. One could feel
intimidated or one can inquisitively ask someone. Let there be no stranger to
music in any concert hall! Let the new entrant (irrespective of age) find a
good music companion in you!
No harm in asking or sharing
the name of the raga, song, tala briefly and showing the tala if need be. Can this be a responsibility that we as Rasikas
fulfill?
To extend this approach
further, music enthusiasts, can occasionally, take one new person to a concert
or chamber concert – take the pains to explain the background of the music, the
raga background, background of the song – the composer what the words could
broadly mean and so on.
2. “What to listen to” is an
essential decision that the Rasika makes
First time listeners to
an Alapana find it abstract and get distracted very fast as compared to fast
paced songs. Moving from “Explicit melody” to intrinsic-melody” is really the
journey of a Rasika. In this journey, as you hear songs and Alapanas – you will
be able to reel out names of kritis such as Chakkani Raja, Niravadhi.
My father would recognize
every song of Tyagaraja in every lesser known raga, be it
Vararagalaya-Chenchukamboji, Nirvadhisukhada-Ravichandrika, Anathudanu-Jingala,
Nannu Kanna Talli-Kesari, Bangala and of course the other major ragas. This was
not a book-based, syllabus driven knowledge. It was through sharing from
co-rasikas over years. No time was wasted in criticizing styles, but in
appreciating the best that every musician can offer –Nedunuri- Janaki Ramana
(Kapi), Vararagalaya (GNB) and so on.
My aim in life was to
out-do his list of rare ragas and identify ones he could not, which I can say,
I have managed to some extent. What was an unsaid inner thought at that time,
has led to a deeper interest later in life.
Ample “listening time”
with “inquisitiveness” and “average memory” can build this Rasika repertoire.
Can you bring “listening
excellence” in yourself and in others? Why
can’t Kellvi Gynaanam play a role even today –can it be scaled up further? You
could be a Kellvi Gyaanam Ambassador in your own circle.
Individual music listening
devices deprives the entire family / social unit from sharing a common
interest. Build your fortnightly music-menu with powerful yester-year singers
like GNB with Chowdiah, Madurai Somu-Lalgudi, M L Vasanthakumari and
intersperse them with contemporary artistes who have a distinct advantage of
better recording quality. Throw in a variety of ragas and kritis in your menu. Refresh your fortnightly “family music menu
with new artistes, songs, alpanas and so on”.
Can we ensure that
atleast 70% of our family members recognize Kalyani, Todi, Shankarabharaman,
Kapi, Mohanam and a few songs in each of these ragas? Is this an achievable
goal that we Rasika’s can have for ourselves?
Can you bring back music
in your homes? In summary, the Rasika
can become the Music Jockey within his family.
Kanchana Manyam
Carnatic Music student
& performer based out of Mumbai
6th
February 2016
