Tunes for Breaking News

http://www.livemint.com/2007/10/13024000/Tunes-for-breaking-news.html

Last month, out of the blue, the media came up with a pleasant surprise for classical musicians. Outlook (Issue dated September 25, 2006) featured “Heir Gloom”, a cover story on Indian classical music, a subject shunned by most Indian publications on the grounds that readers no longer find it of any interest. We are informed that the escapades of a Rakhi Sawant, Mallika Sherawat or Mikka find favor with readers who no longer wish to receive information about Indian Classical Music. Consequently, it comes as a pleasant surprise when a national weekly carries a story on classical music, and instead of the pinup girls or blood-and-gore images that find pride of place between its covers, the issue carries photographs of the great pandits and ustads of classical music. The downer though, is that the story, authored by one Arindam Mukherjee, declares in no uncertain terms that the future of Indian classical music is in jeopardy as there are no worthy successors to inherit the mantle of the great goliaths of Indian Classical Music, many of whom are now in their seventies and eighties. We (and I include myself in this milieu) are therefore a pack of unworthy mediocres who can never hope to reach the pinnacles of mastery and wisdom that our elders have attained. I am not aware of Mr. Mukherjee’s interest in or knowledge of Indian music as it is the first time I have found him writing on Indian music, (his other pieces for Outlook are on subjects as diverse as BSNL tenders, Microsoft’s crusade against software piracy, hip schools aiming at holistic education, rain in Surat etc) so he can be forgiven for his buffoonery, and his irresponsible, badly researched piece. But I am baffled by the endorsements his views receive from stalwarts such as Girija Devi and other greats. For a brief moment I hoped that at least one of them would issue a denial clarifying that their views had been distorted by yet another irresponsible journalist. No such clarification has been forthcoming, and I am left therefore, with no choice but to respond to some of the statements made in Mukherjee’s article. It is a conscious decision on my part to place this response in the public sphere by blogging it as opposed to sending it to Outlook for favor of publication in a “Letters to the Editor” segment. I hope other music lovers, students and musicians (many of whom were outraged by Mukherjee’s feature and called me to discuss the possibility of sending a joint response) will add their views and comments.

Is there really any need to discuss “successors” and “inheritors of the mantle” ? There is almost a touch of the feudal in these terms that leads one to wonder what we are discussing here -  the future of Indian classical music or dynastic rule? Haven’t we seen time and again that genius and even brilliance can hardly ever be replicated in any sphere or discipline. This is why you won’t find successors for a Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, or a Subhash Chandra Bose, or a Raja Ramanna, or a Khushwant Singh, Mahadevi Verma or Premchand. Why then do we expect to find successors for Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahab, Vilayat Khan Sahab, Siddheshwari Devi and Begum Akhtar? Originality and genius have never been available at a well stocked super market, where objects are kept in stock and replaced efficiently at regular intervals. Originality comes and goes of its own free will, and therefore in due course of time mavericks will appear again in Indian classical music, some that will take inspiration from previous masters, and others who may reinvent, rejuvenate or create afresh.

Besides, no system of music can ever be held up on the shoulders of individuals alone, even if they happen to be maestros such as those mentioned by Mukherjee, who has not bothered to look beyond the all too obvious line of star musicians. The contribution of a Firoz Dastur cannot be ignored simply because he does not enjoy the cult status of a Bhimsen Joshi. The contribution of a Padmavati Shaligram cannot be undermined just because she did not achieve the diva like public stature of a Kesarbai Kerkar or Mogubai Kurdikar. If indeed Mukherjee wanted to write about the future of Indian classical music, he could have tried to find out a little more about the hordes of unsung, unrecognized people who serve the cause of Indian classical music devotedly – the gurus without any designer gurukuls, the students who continue to learn patiently even as gurukuls on television channels make overnight stars out of their contemporaries, the ordinary office goer/professional whose one passion in life is music, the record collector, the instrument maker who remains anonymous while the artiste playing it receives a Grammy, and many more who act as links in a chain between the past and the present. It is they who form a continuum, not just Mukherjee’s heirless stars! And that makes me and others like me a part of this continuum too. Our contribution may not be earth shattering or worthy of mention and yet we form an important part of a chain. Poor Mukherjee cannot be expected to understand this stressed as he must invariably be in order to meet deadlines. All he could do was to make a few phone calls to the few undoubtedly dazzling names that he could think of, and who, unwittingly expose quite a few chinks in their own armours.

For instance, Hari Prasad Chaurasia is quoted as having said : “There is a lack of proper taleem because a lot of today’s gurus are top performers and have one foot in India and the other in the US all the time. When will they teach?” One may ask then why he himself chose to set up a designer gurukul called Vrindavan in Mumbai? We know for a fact that Hari ji is one of India’s busiest and most sought after performers of classical music. He is also a Green Card holder to the best of my knowledge and therefore has to perforce spend a stipulated amount of time in the USA to be able to retain his Green Card. He also teaches for several months in the year at the Conservatory in Rotterdam. Why did he then put in so much effort setting up the Gurukul, possibly seeking subsidies and aid from the state as well as corporate sector if he knew he wouldn’t be able to find time to teach?

Similarly, here is what Girija Devi says to Mukherjee: “Bismillah Khan went on performing even in his old age. Why didn’t he push his disciples forward? Why didn’t Gangubai let her disciples come up with her?” We know for a fact that Girija Devi herself has groomed many talented disciples and regularly presents them as vocal accompanists to her singing at concerts. While many of them have been wonderful accompanists, we have yet to see any of these undoubtedly talented youngsters burgeoning into fine soloists in their own right. So here is an occasion where the good taleem-good guru- good student formula fails. Why? Because originality cannot be taught, it can only be nurtured. And so far, these talented disciples of a great guru have not shown signs of being originals. What is surprising is that when it comes to endorsing the ITC sponsored Sangeet Research Academy where she is a guru too, Girija Devi speaks of the future of Indian music as being secure and the SRA being the breeding ground for future greats of Indian classical music. Why the sudden turnaround for Mukherjee?

And look at this little chink in the media’s armor that Mukherjee himself exposes: “There are, of course, star children and star disciples, but in many cases, their talent does not live up to the publicity blitzkrieg surrounding them.” Some truth at last! So who’s selling space for publicity blitzkriegs these days? Us worthless good for nothings, or the mighty newspapers and magazines themselves on which star children and star disciples buy space?

Since magazines like Outlook wake up to the future of Indian classical music only at the passing away of a stalwart like Bismillah Khan Sahab, I am going to hope and pray that their next story doesn’t come soon. We love our great musicians and we want them around for as long as the good Lord permits. But the fact remains that even if we lose more of our great musicians, the edifice of Indian classical music is unlikely to come tumbling down. Because there are too many passionate, dedicated, junooni people who will continue to teach, learn, perform, write about, research and listen to music irrespective of Mukherjee and his ilk. I cannot speak for the others who were outraged by Mukherjee’s feature, but I can speak for myself when I say that I love music too much to bother about Mukherjee’s premature obituary for classical music. Let him write his obituaries while I and many others love, learn and care for the music he mourns for.

Shubha Mudgal

PS: Psssttt, Hey Mukherjee, you slipped up on your research too! The Outlook in the past featured me and several other contemporaries as being torchbearers for Indian classical music in the next generation! And no, I am not going to tell you which issue it was. Go find it yourself.

]]> http://shubhamudgal.com/a-response-to-arindam-mukherjis-heir-gloom/feed/ 5 http://shubhamudgal.com/look-what-theyve-done-to-ali-more-angana/ http://shubhamudgal.com/look-what-theyve-done-to-ali-more-angana/#comments Thu, 19 Oct 2006 19:48:52 +0000 smudgal http://shubha.underscorerecords.info/2006/10/20/look-what-theyve-done-to-ali-more-angana/

Do you remember “Ali More Angana”? For those who dont, its an Indipop album I recorded in 1996 and the title track became both popular and controversial, if the media is to be believed. I wont discuss the controversy if indeed any existed, but just thought I’d warn anyone thinking of buying the album to be careful before they make a purchase.

The album was not available for several years and I was left without a single copy so I had made repeated efforts to see if I could buy a left-over copy at a record store somewhere. About a year ago I received a call from one of my favorite music stores in Delhi to say that the album was available once again. I rushed out and bought two copies and this is what I found:

By the way, this is a new cover for the album. The original published by Magnasound had a very different cover and didnt have my picture on the album cover. I heard from various sources that Shashigopal, the MD/owner/whatever of Magnasound felt my face wasnt appropriate for the cover so they had a vague illustration of a what may have been a female dancing figure on the cover. Ten years down the line, this new company that now seems to have aquired the rights for this album finds my face appropriate for the cover!!! Well well, its a democracy after all. But to get back to business, this cover would suggest to you or anyone that I am the singer featured on this album, wouldnt it? If you are in any doubt, open the album cover and take a look at the CD label. This is what it looks like:

I dont think it leaves any room for doubt that indeed this is Ali More Angana, sung by Shubha Mudgal. Unfortunately, that isnt really true because when you play the CD you hear no trace of Shubha Mudgal or any of the songs from Ali More Angana. You hear songs by Vinod Rathore and they aren’t any of the songs from Ali More Angana!!! I have bought two copies of the album and both times it was the same story.

In short, dont be fooled by the album cover, the title, my picture on the cover or the track details . Buy it only if you want a Vinod Rathore album ! And if you want to know who is responsible for this tomfoolery, here’s the name and address listed on the inside cover:

M R S Filmcraft & Advertising Pvt. Ltd.

MRSFA Farms, Chaudhary Maam Chand Farm Complex, Chhattarpur Bhatti Road, Adola, New Delhi 74.

Ironically, it even carries the following word of caution:

CAUTION: Beware of Counterfeit compact Disc.
(Thats exactly as it is mentioned on the inside cover!)

So please do be aware and check before you buy.

This article was first published in Tehelka.

Chak de phatte!!! It’s a virtual “let’s have a blast” slogan that you’ll hear ever so often in the ‘bhangra-with-the beat’ music that steadfastly refuses to be defeated by the gloomy depths of despair from which the Indian music industry is currently hoping to emerge. Following the phenomenal success of Daler Mehndi’s “Bolo Ta Ra Ra” in 1995, the Indian music industry saw a steady undying stream of Punjabi pop albums symbolizing the often loud and flashy, but nevertheless indomitable Punjabi spirit. Till just a few years ago, music companies were chasing the bhangra stars and pouring lakhs, even crores into promoting Punjabi albums with glitzy music videos featuring kudis galore. The dhol-bhangra-kudi formula was considered so unbeatable by many that even the most severely challenged of nymphet-singers found their short lived moments of glory in the annals of Indipop by warbling and wiggling their way through hip-hop versions of Punjabi folk songs. Occasionally, even singers of considerable acclaim who proclaimed allegiance to the sufi tradition of the Punjab dropped their black robes, donned sequined shirts and tossed their locks to join the bhangra pop brigade. But not for long! Those who had decided to forsake the Sufis are now back in their fold, and the nymphets really don’t need to warble any longer because the music companies don’t put their money into albums any longer. Now that the remix formula is in, they’d much rather pay for the wiggle than the warble.

But that hasn’t stifled the indomitable Punjabi spirit at all. Irrespective of the ups and downs and vagaries of the music market, Punjabi pop and bhangra mix rides high on the charts and not just in the country but on the international charts as well. Even as music companies hit rock bottom, acts like Punjabi MC, Josh and Rishi Rich hit the jackpot defiantly. So what’s the success mantra? The legendary indomitable spirit of the Punjab, or the sheer vigour of the music that makes it enjoyable the world over? I would say it’s a bit of both and more.

For one, the Punjabi singing star has remained strongly connected with his mother tongue. Resident Indian or NRI artiste come home to sing, Daler Mendi, Jasbeer Jassi and even the younger Mika and Stereo Nation, or Harbhajan Mann, all sing with the unmistakable twang of someone who knows his “theth” Punjabi really well. Oh yes, they mix the music and sample it, and put it through vocalizers and every gizmo under the sun, but nothing ever camouflages the true blue Punjabiyat of their utterance. Unlike Indipop stars from other parts of the country, some of whom are hard put to understand a word of Hindi or Hindustani, the Punjabi musician remains Punjabi of both spirit and tongue. Perhaps it is this ethnic peculiarity that is part of the success mantra.

Then there is this indefatigable will to survive. With music companies closing their doors to budding talent and refusing to commission new or old acts, most singers face a struggle that could break their backs any moment. Not so the bhangra star. As music companies run helter skelter trying to make ends meet by launching compilation after recompilation, Punjabi music channels and music companies release album after album, with accompanying music videos and promos to boost sales. I’ve often wondered if the artistes are funding themselves, and if they are why not? They are in fact doing a Chak de Phatte on the music companies!

The downside of course is, that while bhangra remixes and Punjabi pop reign supreme, some of the finest voices from the musically rich Punjab, the traditional musicians and balladeers who sing the kissas, the sifts and vaars languish and face extinction. And, for some inexplicable reason, it is the male of species that has always hogged the bhangra limelight. How come we haven’t seen the same success stories with female artistes? Undoubtedly there are some very fine women’s voices from the Punjab such as Jaspinder Narula and Richa Sharma. Both found the limelight more through doing playback successfully for films rather than from non-film albums of Punjabi music. Are the Punjabis then a macho lot who would rather have their men sing “Chak lyo revolver” (pronounced rivaalvar) rather than see the women of the Punjab reach pop star status?

Shubha Mudgal

This article was first published in the Times of India, Mumbai in 2003.

This has been a difficult and violent year for India, with communal violence and terrorist strikes taking centre stage. Perhaps that is why not many have noticed that despite a lot of tall talk about preserving and promoting our glorious and ancient traditions, current government policies regarding art and culture have dealt a severe blow to Indian classical music and arts. For over half a century now, All India Radio was one of the only agencies to steadfastly broadcast Indian classical music, thereby providing regular performance opportunities to virtually thousands of musicians across the vast length and breadth of the country, and giving the nation’s music lovers a chance to listen to Indian classical and folk music every single day of their lives. With the advent of television, the state run Doordarshan also became the only television channel to lend support to Indian classical music and the traditional performing arts. However, this commitment to Indian classical music and arts will soon become a part of All India Radio and Doordarshan’s past policies, as both seem poised and ready to finally abandon all and any support to Indian classical arts. Why pretend any longer with meaningless talk of “sanskriti” and “parampara” when budget allocations for classical music have seen a steady and cruel whittling and chopping, and are now down to a meagre few thousand rupees a month for both North Indian and Carnatic classical music at most radio stations? Musicians confirm that recordings, broadcasts and telecasts of classical and traditional music are becoming scarce with each passing day. Countrywide, the slogan now is “Down with Indian Classical Music and let’s see the revenue rising with whatever brings in money”. Worse still is AIR’s reported intention of recording classical music only when the musician brings in a sponsor for the programme! So if you now want to be heard performing classical music on AIR, formerly a bastion for classical music, you don’t need to audition as in the good old days when strict screening made it possible for only the most deserving to perform on AIR; and neither do you need to bother with riyaaz any longer. All you need to do is to go out and find a sponsor and AIR will be ready to broadcast your music. It is going to be that easy, and sadly, no one seems to care or bother to protest.

Naturally, this has not stopped Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj from paying the customary lip service to Indian culture. At the recent Doordarshan Awards function in Mumbai in November 2002, she waxed eloquent about “sanskriti” even as scantily clad performers gyrated to popular tunes, laying bare the hypocrisy underlying the Honorable Minister’s concern for traditional arts. Let me clarify here that at no point do I advocate a complete banishing or side-lining of the popular arts. I believe strongly that popular arts must be given due respect and stature alongside traditional arts. It is against the constant harping of the hypocritical “sanskriti” brigade that I raise a voice of protest. Aren’t these self-appointed keepers of Indian culture aware of what one of their very own favorites, Pramod Mahajan, Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology has to say about musicians and performers generally regarded as cultural ambassadors of the country? As he held aloft a replica of a commemorative stamp of Dhirubhai Ambani on December 28, 2002, he made a shockingly uncouth declaration when in his eagerness to please the powerful and wealthy for reasons best known to him and unknown to us, he said (as reported in the Sunday Times of India, Mumbai on December 29, 2002), “The government hands out Padma Shris and Padma Bhushans to all kinds of people – khaanewale, gaanewale, bajanewale…”. I suppose I should count myself amongst the gaanewale he refers to with such contempt as I was awarded the Padma Shri in 2000. Joining the ranks of gaanewale with me will be Padma Vibhushans Pt. Jasraj and Kishori Amonkar and of course Bharat Ratna M.S, Subhalakshmi among others! In the queue of Mahajan’s bajanewalas will be Bharat Ratnas Pt. Ravi Shankar and Ustad Bismillah Khan and others! So the gaanewalas and bajanewalas are sorted out. But who could he be referring to when he said khaanewale? Surely he was not referring to unscrupulous political parties and politicians who bend backwards to please those who could fill party coffers?

Shubha Mudgal

You know what I don’t like about those proverbial silver linings in the clouds? Sometimes you have to poke around so bloody hard for them that you almost give up hope. I’m afraid I’m feeling a bit like that at the moment, trying desperately to think of silver linings in the thick dark clouds that hover rather threateningly over the world of Indian music. But for whatever they are worth, here are some of the bright spots that I have been able to notice –

For one, we are sitting on nothing short of a massive and sadly untapped treasure trove of musical talent, and don’t let those guys who insist on glorifying the hoary past and running down the future tell you otherwise. And whatever you do, please please don’t let Ms. Pooja Bhatt tell you stridently that there is far better talent to be found in neighboring Pakistan. Don’t get me wrong because this really isn’t my shot at petty patriotism, but seriously, she and others of her ilk need to get out there and start listening to the many and diversely wonderful kinds of music that are made right here in this, our own country. Every genre of music in India that still hasn’t been throttled to death by the friendly Bollywood monster, and yes, even Bollywood music has young talent that could bring a smile to the faces of the most hardened skeptics and pessimists with the exception of Ms. Bhatt perhaps. Whether it’s the more heard and written about Bollywood singing stars such as Sunidhi Chauhan, Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal and others to the impossibly young, not-heard-often-enough and hardly ever written about Langa and Manganiyar children with their still-snotty noses who can take the stage by storm at any given moment, it’s amply clear and evident that there is talent in happy abundance in this country. Rock bands writing original songs in Hindi, English, Bangla and many other Indian languages, lounge, electronica, hiphop, rap, classical, semi classical, folk, tribal, qawwali and much more- it’s all out there waiting to be heard. But now here is where the silver lining is in danger of disappearing behind menacing dark clouds made up of the severely myopic vision of most people who control the music industry and this includes record labels, concert promoters, talent hunters out to make a quick buck. Any originality that the young and promising may show is swiftly and surely stifled to make way for the same stale fare that they believe is saleable. And there goes my silver lining number 1!

Now we all know that it’s both fashionable and lucrative to declare these days that one “does” Sufi music. Never mind the fact that a lot of the nouveau Sufi singers may not know whether this declaration refers to a genre or form of music or the poetic content of a song. With so many self styled Sufi experts running around a dime a dozen, I’m not sure I want to say this, but it has to do with my silver lining number two so I’ll say it nevertheless. In the midst of a whole host of freshman pseudo Sufi singers there are those who have kept alive a family tradition. I refer to the likes of the young qawwal Hamsar Hayat Nizami and his group, whose family has for years sung qawwali at the shrine of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, and others such as Zaki and Zakir Ali of Ajmer. They could give you a real taste of Sufi poetry and Sufi music too, but once again they have had to pay a heavy price for being exponents of the real thing, so to say. Scour the record shops for any recordings and you aren’t likely to find them beaming down at you from a poster because none of the big wigs in the music industry thought fit to record and publish them. And thank heavens for that too, because had they been recorded, it is highly likely that they would have been coaxed into doing a disco and/or fusion/muqabla version of the qawwali! And just when you thought I was going to talk about the dark clouds again, here’s silver lining number 3! It took a music lover/film maker named Yousuf Saeed to record and publish a qawwali album featuring Hamsar and his group. What’s more, I’m pretty certain that there are other Indian musicians like Hamsar and Zaki Ali whom I may not have had the good fortune to hear, but whose work will be documented and made available by other independent producers like Yousuf Saeed.

While we are on the subject of documentation, here is another piece of good news for those who have an interest in archival music. After years of sitting tight on one of the largest catalogues of Indian music, Sa Re Ga Ma has re-launched CD versions of their 78 RPM records, making it possible for students of music to listen to recordings made over fifty years ago. Currently five albums featuring 78 RPM recordings of Hindustani vocalists Bai Sunderabai, Surshri Kesarbai Kerkar, Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, Pt. Sawai Gandharva and Gaantapasvini Mogubai Kurdikar have been made available, and I sincerely hope that more albums of this nature are on the way because this is musical history being offered to those who value it. In a similar effort, Doordarshan has for some time now made available VCDs of music and dance from their archives. So you can actually watch footage of the inimitable Begum Akhtar, Shankar-Shambhu Qawwals, Pt. Mallikarjun Mansoor and others from the Doordarshan archives, that is, if you can lay your hands on the VCDs which are not readily available. Yet this is a truly commendable effort from the custodians of yet another mammoth archive of Indian music.

I’d also like to acknowledge with gratitude the immense contribution of non-resident Indians and non-Indian scholars and performers of Indian music, because like it or not, there are many from among this category who work quietly and dedicatedly for the cause of Indian music. They are never the recipients of the highly coveted and greatly lobbied for Padma awards or other national honors and yet, their contribution is valuable beyond doubt. People like Dr.B.N.Dixit, a Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, single handedly and selflessly ran a program for almost twenty years which brought hundreds of Indian musicians to the USA for performances and lecture demonstrations. There are others too like him, who need to be acknowledged for their devotion to Indian music. And then there are the performers and scholars like Allyn Miner (sitar), Adrian Mc Neil (sarod), Dr. Richard Widess, Joep Bor (sarangi), Ken Zuckerman (sarod), Steve Gorn (flute), Nancy Lech (cello), Francesca Cassio (dhrupad) and many others whose scholarship and proficiency in Indian music is redoubtable. And yet, many an Indian musician tends to retain a condescending attitude towards their work. It’s high time we dropped the condescension and acknowledged their work fairly.

By the way, if you are wondering why I haven’t brought up the matter of the Grammy nominations in this piece, let me confess it’s been a conscious choice. I am delighted that almost every year Indian musicians are nominated for the Grammies and for other awards such as the BBC World Music Awards. And I am absolutely thrilled that this year too we have two Indian musicians, or rather two musicians performing Indian music (sorry, I’m not too sure whether the lovely Anoushka Shankar has an Indian or an American passport) nominated for the Grammies. And I’m going to cheer for both Asha ji and Anoushka while I watch the Grammies on the telly. But what bothers me is the fact that they are nominated for a category called World Music. Why is there no separate category for Indian music or even for Asian Music despite its strong and unique presence in the world? Why do we have to be dumped into a category called World Music with the rest of the world? If the Recording Academy can accept a special set of awards called the Latin Grammies, why not a new Asian Grammy if not an all Indian Grammy? I’d rather wait for the Indian or Asian Grammies to happen before I include Grammy nominations for Indian musicians in my list of silver linings.

Shubha Mudgal

First published in Tehelka

The much beleaguered world of Indian classical music, struggling to keep its head up in the face of all odds, has now been dealt a spate of cruel blows by an unlikely enemy – the hugely successful, steadily burgeoning string of talent hunts on virtually every television channel in the country. At least two of the many talent contests on television channels have decided to go the ‘classical’ (pronounce ‘klaasikal’) way by cheekily appropriating terms connected with Indian classical music with a lack of sensitivity that doesn’t surprise me in the least. What does amaze me is that the many purists and traditionalists and great vidwaans of Indian music have stood mute witness to this bold daylight robbery, and at times have even aided and abetted it without so much as a murmur.

Let’s first take a look at the greatly successful “Fame Gurukul” on Sony Television. I have a big axe to grind with whoever coined the name for this show because he/she or they obviously never went to one. Why does one go to a gurukul in the first place? I would imagine it would be to obtain “Gnyaan” or knowledge, wisdom, mastery, skill and expertise, but certainly not fame or money. The knowledge gained from the gurukul may then prepare the learner for a life of success and fame and glory. But nowhere in the Indian tradition does one hear of a gurukul for fame alone.

Further, a gurukul is always presided over by the guru, a Master who imparts knowledge to disciples. Not so at Fame Gurukul, if we are to believe what we see! Frankly, all I have been able to see of the two young gurus at Fame Gurukul are the briefest and often most apologetic shots of two young individuals, one male and the other female, seated occasionally with one or the other participant across a harmonium. More television time is given to the horseplay between the participants or even their outings and shopping sprees than to their actual “taleem” or learning sessions! Hey, how about renaming the show “Forget Your Gurus Gurukul”? What? No? Aw shucks? That’s too many syllables, says the numerologist? Sigh!!!

Worse still, the young participants are made to dance and gesticulate while singing with the admonition that it isn’t enough to just sing. You have to be a ‘performer’ to succeed in today’s world. By that logic, it would not just be difficult but well nigh impossible for Lata ji, Asha ji, Rafi Sahab, Mukesh ji, or even Shankar Mahadevan and KK, two brilliant singers who also judge the Fame Gurukul contest, to win had they been participants. All the recording and dubbing sessions I have attended have had most singers come in and stand in front of a mike and deliver the song without any of the shenanigans that are now forced on the young Gurukulites. In fact, as far as I can see, the poor young things might have been able to sing a trifle better had they not been made to swing and shift around unnaturally.

And that brings me to “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005” on Zee TV, the other contest with a professed classical twist! Fortunately, this show doesn’t insist on having the contestants gyrate while they sing, and that perhaps is one of the reasons why we hear some better singing on this show. Unfortunately, that is also one of the only good things I can say about the show because on this one the five mentors namely, Aadesh Shrivastava, Ismail Durbar, Jatin-Lalit and Himesh Reshammiya, all successful music directors for Indian films pose as Gharana specialists. The term “gharana” is typical of Hindustani classical music and denotes a distinct musical style taught to members of a family or to successive generations of disciples. A gharana, we are told by the old and wise, comes in to being only when at least three generations of musicians follow the same style. But director Gajendra Singh obviously didn’t listen to the old or wise, did he, when he decided to bestow gharana-dom on the five willing mentors he chose for his show? They didn’t even bother to analyze whether they had a distinct musical style to claim as their own. After all, musical styles are not created on the fast track. Not only does it take decades for a musical style to evolve and mature, but a pre-requisite of a gharana demands that several generations follow the same style. How come there isn’t any R.D.Burman Gharana or a C. Ramachandra or a Jaidev or even a Vanraj Bhatia Gharana? All of these composers had unique musical styles that were typical of them. And yet they didn’t claim to have formed gharanas! What are these mentors hoping to teach their young charges? Music, musical style or sheer arrogance and swagger? As mentors, they have a responsibility towards their charges and the least they should do is to give them accurate information about music. And to be able to do so, they will first have to relinquish their claim to being leaders or founders of gharanas.

Another pseudo classical touch to this show is the little puja that each participant is made to undergo with his or her mentor, modeled on the gandaa-bandhan ceremony that students of Hindustani music observe when they are formally inducted into the guru’s extended family. The five mentors on Challenge 2005 willingly go through this sacrosanct ceremony on television, heedless of the fact that their charges may have been learning for years from some other guru and will probably go back to the same guru after Challenge 2005 makes way for Challenge 2006 or whatever else is to follow. Surely they are aware of the protocol followed by Indian musicians? No honorable musician accepts another musician’s disciple as their own unless the disciple can prove that the transition is being made with the permission or “ijaazat” of the former guru. If the director of the show is unaware of these niceties and etiquette, surely the mentors themselves could point out the weak links, coming as some of them do, from families of classical musicians.

I must point out here that I don’t have the slightest intention of pulling down talent hunts. I have nothing against them and the fact that they are acquiring epidemic proportions is proof enough of their popularity. What I am protesting about is the long lasting effect they will have on young minds. Two years from now people may believe that a gurukul is a space on television where you do the most embarrassing things you have ever done in order to be declared a Super Singer or an Idol or a Golden Voice who finally gets to sing a “Chavvanni” Or “Athanni” wala song. If the makers of these shows are keen on promoting classical music, how come they haven’t ever thought of presenting a show dedicated to true blue classical music? Thousands of deserving young students who devote their lives to the serious study of Indian classical music would benefit from the opportunity and we would all get to hear some good music too in the bargain. Anyone listening? Mentors, directors, sponsors, heads of channels? If you are, how about bursting into tears on the show and admitting that you haven’t been fair to classical music so far! After all, it is reality TV and would make for great television!