To be honest i think the youth involvement in carnatic music is better than ever. Particularly in the US, there are many youngsters that are devoting a lot of time into music with a sincere approach which has to be commended.
I think we have to appreciate that there is a split here.
1) There are some youth that know nothing about carnatic music and don’t want to know anything about it either. They completely dismiss it.
2) Those who are dragged by their parents to music class who never take it seriously or become very good primarily because they don’t understand the art properly and have no "real" interest in it. They might have an arangetram after thorough preparation or participate in a competition or two but that is about it.
3) The kids who are genuinely interested in carnatic music and carry recording of semmangudi, dkp and gnb on their ipods.
There are cases when people in group 2 can have some sort of realisation and then fall into group 3 later in life We have to keep in mind that you cant learn to appreciate carnatic music overnight. If i get my nephew to sit down and listen to a gnb kamboji it will have absolutely no meaning to him. You learn to appreciate carnatic muisc in different stages and how you appreciate it will vary over time...i think most of us here have gone through these stages at some point.
The rasika is attracted to listen Classical Music , primarily for tasting the sacredness or taking the sacredness message, as part of their own religious progress or as a process of self realization OR for pure and simple entertainment value offering excitement and energetic feel.
Irrespective of the age, the need for the listening pleasure and objective drives the listener to take appropriate steps in securing the full filment.
It is undeniable fact that CM with the primary goal of religious gratification, never attracted youth-not well informed about CM or initiated. Youth listen to CM with intentions to partake the pleasure of experience with others, either inspired or influenced by a celebrity's success and fame or curiosity value or part of their educative values. They are of small per cent age, at any given point of time. Youth of the present generation are attracted mainly by the Hype generated by the Media-both visual and print, High Visibility, National/International Success, High profile Celebrities endorsements, successful event management, scope for their own participation, scope for unconditioned and uncritical listening and enjoyment. This is only applicable for the patrons/rasikas. The confidence gained through the real time opportunities to make a good living out of income from practice of Classical Music, will pave the way for continued and increased participation and roles by the youth, in serving the cause of Classical Music and CM.
The challenge of taking the CM to masses is real. With CM soaked with Bhakthi values has not been successful in this Endeavour.
Some of the Great Maestros/Maestros made/are making efforts to reach the larger musically inclined masses, by either judicious mix of Bhakthi and entertainment values or increasing the entertainment values in CM. They have met with limited success. To make CM appeal to the masses and youth, in particular, specific CM concerts/programmes should imbibe the core values of other genre, successfully attracting and delivering the satisfaction to the youth/masses-energetic, vigorous, striking, shaking and easy to relate and pleasing to the ears and the event well managed.
CM should focus on both the primary goals - Bhakthi/religious and Entertainment, and offer listening opportunities, exclusively with one of the goals and separately to achieve the goal of taking the CM to masses and youth.
I am enthused and encouraged by the response of our rasikas to the subject. Reason for inspiring the youth to attend concerts in large numbers is to ensure continued and better patronage not only to the fine arts, but also to the artistes. If today’s artistes come to the concert halls in style in sleek cars it is because of the money they get from showbiz tycoons from the glitter world. I am afraid Sabha people continue to be non-generous in the matter of payment. We need real connoisseurs who are generous to the artistes to attract more and more genius artistes.
Why even most successful musicians do not encourage their children take the fine arts, should be a revelation. Certainly, most of these musicians proved to be better and far more talented than their teachers/parents and grandparents. While quality of music and standard of living of artistes have improved by leaps and bounds, the highly talented sons and grandsons of the subsequent generation, have opted for other professions giving credence to the requiem penned by Thomas Grey.
The distressing observations of the following great artistes moved me, which I would like to share with you. As atonement to the dismal situation created by the previous generations, I thought I could initiate a discussion and move you too for a remedial course. I fervently thought we could reverse the gloomy picture the same way cricket lovers did for the game. Unfortunately, some connoisseurs feel that artistes should follow literally the message of "Nidhi Chala Sukhama"
Lord Macauley never said that. I've heard that he's said things like a single book from the shelf of a good European library is worth much more than all that was written in India put together. He either firmly believed or pretended there was nothing good about Indian way of life at all.
Attracting youth to Carnatic music... McCauley... Right...
(srikant... Is it a myth then? I do recall something of the sort from a BBC program on the history of the British in India, but I never was a historian, a rememberer of names, dates, quotes...
Somewhat offtopic, anyway, eh?)
(EDIT: a quick surf shows that considerable controversy surrounds the veracity of this supposed quote, but hey, lets leave it as totally off-topic as it is, shall we?)
Last edited by Guest on 23 Aug 2009, 14:47, edited 1 time in total.
I mean youngsters who move around by themselves and with others their age. Let's exclude younger, or all teenagers, and consider just people in their twenties when you were also that age.
rasikaranjan: your points are well taken and IMHO I believe every profession goes through the same thought process in the family. I have seen children whose parents are scientists, doctors, engineers also refuse to follow the parents profession and if the parents bad mouth their profession in front of their children, that is all the more cause for not following parents profession.
srikant1987 wrote:@ older members here, like vkv43034
I mean youngsters who move around by themselves and with others their age. Let's exclude younger, or all teenagers, and consider just people in their twenties when you were also that age.
I was in MADRAS till I was 25& moved to USA 50 YEARS BACK. I had close to 100 friends close to my age . Most -of them used to attend most of the concerts of these artists-MMI, GNB, MALI - in Madras, south & B'Lore of these artists. As a matter of fact many of them are poineers all over the world who have sponsored concerts by S.Indian artists & started associations. Names like N.V.Subramanian( Saraswathi), Nadopasana Srinivasan are among others are persons who were part of this group.
My annual visits to Chennai now a days feature meeting these persons & discussing our experiences as the HIGHLIGHT of my visit etc. Especially discussing & recalling their concerts with the greats like LGJ, V.R, T.K.M are PRECIOUS.....VKV.
srikant1987 wrote:Lord Macauley never said that. I've heard that he's said things like a single book from the shelf of a good European library is worth much more than all that was written in India put together. He either firmly believed or pretended there was nothing good about Indian way of life at all.
I have no knowledge of either Sanscrit or Arabic. But I have done what I could to form a correct estimate of their value. I have read translations of the most celebrated Arabic and Sanscrit works. I have conversed, both here and at home, with men distinguished by their proficiency in the Eastern tongues. I am quite ready to take the oriental learning at the valuation of the orientalists themselves. I have never found one among them who could deny that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia. The intrinsic superiority of the Western literature is indeed fully admitted by those members of the committee who support the oriental plan of education.
It will hardly be disputed, I suppose, that the department of literature in which the Eastern writers stand highest is poetry. And I certainly never met with any orientalist who ventured to maintain that the Arabic and Sanscrit poetry could be compared to that of the great European nations. But when we pass from works of imagination to works in which facts are recorded and general principles investigated, the superiority of the Europeans becomes absolutely immeasurable. It is, I believe, no exaggeration to say that all the historical information which has been collected from all the books written in the Sanscrit language is less valuable than what may be found in the most paltry abridgments used at preparatory schools in England. In every branch of physical or moral philosophy, the relative position of the two nations is nearly the same.
nick H, yes, this is off-topic, but as it was brought up by the OP, it's helpful to add some source material to this thread.
rasikaranjan, having dragged in Macauley yourself to this thread, it is only fair that the correct material is provided. Having said that, hope we do not get into debating Macauley here.
rasikaranjan
It is heartening to note that Smt.Bombay Jayahsree and Shri T.M.Krishna, very successful artists, taking the lead to get Youth/Students involved in CM, through their Matrika and working with YACM in Swanubhavam series, in Chennai. I am also very happy to note that many sponsors are silently supporting the great cause. All of those who are genuinely concerned and deeply committed, should support genuinely with all the means and resources. I pray that their efforts to take this series to all the other Metros, also succeeds. Matrika and SPIC MACAY should get well funded to realize the goals and objectives.
munirao2001
I would say it is only exposure.Were there not days where an ordinary richshawwallah listening to Madurai Mani Iyer refused to accept a customer?
I always hum some raga in office.Even my sub-staff who are quite young were able to identify ragas like Anandabhairavi and Carukesi.I took them to CM concerts but they could not sustain their interest there.Probably we may arrange simple concerts in all places starting from Chennai where U may relate a particular ragam to a film song just to entice them.Like Rajeshnat has said only through a powerful media like cinema the youth can be attracted.Like once writer Sujatha remarked"The entire T.N is glued to cinema(majority) and living a dream life".
U take any commercial channel that has a good viewership.90% of the programmes are cinema based.If U can make the youth loose interest in cinema,probably U can divert their attention to finer things like CM.
In my opinion Carnatic music is one which is personal in nature and largely is taken up by people of age 35+ for listening. It is also a fact that film music. entertainment of other nature and sports are freely available in the media available at home and so it is more attraction for the youth. If you take a normal house it is equipped with television and FM radio (also available on mobile units) and in both these free to get entertainment media, you have more of film music than Carnatic. This means youth in particular are more used to film music or entertainment or sports other than Carnatic music, which i think is one of the major reason.
Many non-classical listeners actually end up listening to and often enjoying classical pieces without a conscious effort or realisation on their part. For example:
- many people will instantly recognise and can hum the British Airways theme from Delibes' Lakme
- Recently I noticed an ad using Che Gelida manina from Puccini's Boheme
- Another had a tune in Kadanakutuhalam
- Mozart's 21st has been used by Titan watches
- Votre toast from Carmen, Brindisi from Traviata are used by many as ringtones without knowing what they are.
and so on...
IMHO, when classical music is showcased with Professional Quality, there will be more takers. My point is not that CM should or can possibly catch up with film music, but that it need not be in the wretched state it is in today. For this, we have to blame the absence of even a single credible CM institution led by professional management that can rise above petty agendas and see the bigger picture.
If we broaden our minds, we will see many songs of Salil Chowdhary or S D Burman as classical in their own way. And people (like indeed me! ) who grow up listening to such music won't turn away from good CM or HM.
Last edited by srikant1987 on 24 Aug 2009, 19:19, edited 1 time in total.
I once theorised that the mojority of tunes that everybody [in the west] can hum were written either by Mozart or Beethoven, and there are, as karthikbala has mentioned, many other classical melodies that people are used to hearing.
Then there is 'popular' music that tends more to noise than melody of any kind --- but then, for each person, where noise becomes music or music becomes noise, can differ wildly, of course.
my father and me:
1. my father used to listen to news from Delhi and the moment it was over the radio will be switched off. He was not a hater of music either. He had a great liking for MMI and Dhanam; GNB and Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer and the like. He never took a liking for TVG and used to make fun of him.
2. His concept was music is ok and not over indulgence. He had a deep rooted hatred for cine music of the 60s and 70s. Nobody in the house including my sister whom he loved the most were given any exemption.
3. My mother learnt carnatic music vocal and harmonium; she knew how to write notations. She was constantly evolving and learning. Even when she became immobile she used to regularly follow the 'isai payirchi' in AIR and learnt songs when she was 75.
4. I had an elder brother who used to shed tears when he listened to some artists. He introduced to me some of the finest cine and carnatic musicians. He had a thin but melodious voice.
5. I was a good singer from childhood but could not hone my skills being youngest in an old generation family. I was content with cine songs and a few carnatic songs which I learnt on my own.
6. It was not until i was 26 when I went for a formal carnatic music training and continued the same for 5 years atleast. probably it was a bit late.
7. in introspection when i look at it i was always trying to evolve and mature into a good carnatic musician but probably it was the intricacy which was the stumbling block. this happens to any form of science or art in india. you need to spend a minimum of a decade to reach some level. i used to think that they created the varnas only of this purpose of attainment of self sufficiency in the respective core competency.
8. my father was a little amused when i started learning carnatic music and used to comment ' my long eared friend is musically inclined today'. my mother was very fond of my singing and used to say ' sing without saying no whenever i ask you; otherwise you'll regret when i'm not there'.
9. in the course of my learning i went to a master in my town for learning pancharatna. he was very hot tempered and it knew no leaps and bounds. i had to abort it because my mind was not at peace.
10. youth shunning carnatic is not substantiated by any statistical data; assuming it to be true what have the elders done to attack this? i chennai especially i find cm as a one of the barometers of upper middle class hypocrisy and we use it many times to put down another human being.
11. cm is safe in the hands of rasika youth and performing youth. the elders should not throttle their necks by not allowing them to sing in the name of guru bakthi and seniority.
post script 1: i continue with my learning even today.
2. i have a brother who never took a liking for cm. he is the one in my family who rose to the level of a CEO of a company.
3. other than me and the CEO brother all passed away. the solace is only my memories of having lived with all of them in the same house.
I certainly have an objection, to the extent that I am entitled to one.
Under fair use principles, you can refer to this discussion, paraphrase it, quote short excerpts, satirize it, and so on. You cannot "include" it or quote large excerpts without the permission of the copyright owner.
The group admins can tell you what the forum policies are regarding ownership of copyright.
You have made a relevant observation. I would like to share with the group members the observation made by a highly revered maestro Bharatratna Pt. Ravi Shankar which is relevant here. ""¦There will be some occasions when a minority will suffer for the sake of the majority. I have found this a number of times in western countries when we have played to foreign audiences with a sprinkling of Indians. In these cases, the initiated must have patience through the introductory stages. In the Western style of music, for example, the audience is habituated to a programme of a certain length, to hearing music with which for the most part they are familiar and to a more or less varied group of compositions. If they have the opportunity to hear their first Indian music performance in India, usually all three of these are missing. The programme may last several hours, the music is not at all familiar and it all sounds the same since they have had no opportunity to be acquainted with the nuance and the subtleties of the ragas. Even for the Indian who is acclimatized only to film and the lighter styles of music, much of this will apply. Although I feel that it is our obligation to kindle any spark of interest we may find, there is absolutely no reason why we should ever sacrifice the authenticity of the essence of the music. Some of the greatest moments of our music have been heard on the Radio are recorded all within minutes, not hours. And yet, listening to these one felt that they were the very height of musical presentation and the complete embodiment of the ragas"¦"
Perhaps you may all agree with me that if an uninitiated person is exposed to high class music of the grade of TMK, Jayshree, Nityashree Vijay Shiva etc. successively for a period of time
I don't agree. Who is going to do the exposing? How will it be? An enforced daily dose? What if our youth hates it?
Whilst it sounds like a neat argument, it is actually entirely without practicality.
Nick: Let us separate the two aspects. What content ( artist, raga, type of song etc. ) would be good for this 'good conspiracy' to make the youth CM addicts ( ) and the method and format of doing that. munirao is referring to the first part for now, though he had written about the methods and formats in different contexts elsewhere.
One method of many practical methods I can think of is to have high quality recordings of a set of songs by selected artists as a 'music appreciation cd'. As the old saying goes 'you can only lead a horse to the water but not make it drink'. One can make an effort to make such 'music appreciation' cd s available in as many avenues as possible where youth congregate, Of course, this has to be done in a respectful fashion that CM deserves. It is in the best ( and self ) interest of these artists to donate such renditions for such a project and in the best ( and self ) interest of associations, sabhas and music labels to fund it.
As Cool effectively put it, CM is a home comfortable and confident in its own skin. Others can seek out the house. The home does not have to change colors to attract the visitors, we just have to provide potential visitors proper road signs and directions so they can find the home.
rasikaranjan wrote:I trust you have no objection if I include the opinion of our group members in my ensuing book on carnatic music. kindly confirm
You might need to contact the particular members personally (don't post on the forum) and ask them their permission if you want to quote their names or their forum IDs along with their messages
If you want to keep the quotes anonymous, there may not be any need to contact them. The forum or the admin do not retain copyrights of individual members' contribution
With regard to music appreciation among novices, the first and only rule is the "wow factor".
It is unlikely that a non-initiated person is going to understand the finer aspects of CM without having a full dive into it. People are not naturally attracted to the ocean of CM, without wetting their feet well enough.
Contrary to popular understanding among the CM community, tukkadas (and tukkadafying the elaborate kritis) actually make people feel CM is another name for bhajans. Those who are primarily attracted to the kurai onrum illais and brahmamokkates rarely if ever climb up the ladder into the realms of kamalambam bhajares and balagopalas.
The only way of attracting people to pure CM is to keep CM intensely classical and orthodox, and at the same time increase the wow factors such as great voice, good delivery and total professionalism:
1. It is unlikely that a novice is going to pay anything to wait for a TNS or even a Balamuralikrishna to come late to stage - professionalism pays.
2. Persons with average voices (most current day musicians) are ruled out for being brand ambassadors, regardless of how much CM they "know". We need more Yesudas voices.
3. Musicians sadly do not act their part in public concerts. A public performance is not just singing or playing. It has much more to do with "acting" on stage in a manner that will actually draw more people towards the music. This is a thing that is heavily underemphasized currently.
4. The delivery of the music is sadly unprofessional too... speaking of on-stage mannerisms and the laizzez-faire approach to the music in general. Musicians actually justify low turnouts at concerts by claiming that CM is elitist, how stupid is that? Carnatic concerts rarely give the impression of serious "music on fire" effect to novices.
5. As far as youth are concerned there is also the "role model" effect. Carnatic musicians (except a few notable exceptions) rarely consider themselves as role models for youth, because their music and demeanour dont give an impression of being "out of the ordinary". Rather they give out negative signals to youth, teaching them what to avoid. Very few carnatic musicians send out positive signals to novices about the progressive side of CM, most of what people see from mainstream performers is the regressive side.
If the above changes are found, I am sure CM will get a new lease of life among the common people.
If you change the title to 'Why the Youth are Indifferent to Music?' (not using the word shun), it makes the thread less threatening. 'Indifferent' too comes in varying degrees. Coming from a musical family did not mean that I did not care for popular music when I was young. It had its charm and still does.
The question is not about luring the youth away from what they like, but to lead them to be more open-minded in expanding their interest in music. Who leads them? The parents--by listening to CM themselves. It is the same as in anything else. If you are readers, there is a chance of your children becoming readers. If you go to the library, buy books, so will your children. Then, if peers listen to CM, they might give it a try eagerly.
I have written about this before. To have a music appreciation class once a week in the schools where they can relax and just listen, and at the end of it, spend ten minutes talking about it--no teaching or homework--just listening to appealing music. Bring in a musician or two (those who are good at communicating with them in persuading them that CM can be youth-friendly).
If this becomes a trend, there is hope for success. As an outsider, I see that in the past few decades, trends have a way of taking root in India. In religious matters, the Ayyappa movement has grown without frontiers of states or languages. The Om Sakthi phenomenon is another. Socially, wearing the jeans and other modes of fashion have become mainstream. I find the youth going to temples much more than we used to, in our days! CM has connections there as well. So, temples can have special youth celebrations--when a short music program dedicated to the deity of the temple sounds apt. If popular musicians can be brought in, this may work.
To give an example, I have seen Shashikiran coordinating musical events. He is keen, reaches out, is friendly, and will certainly relate to the youth. Carnatica, Charsur and other audio companies along with sponsors can make it all come true. Surely, we have enough young artistes who are good communicators too. To start with, one would invite well known cinema music personalities to be guests. To see them in the audience and perhaps to hear them (by way of a 'short' speech, of course!) will make it more effective.
It is not as if we are selling an inferior product! Yes, as Cool says, to direct the youth to what they may learn to enjoy in the course of time is the key. Sudha Raghunathan and Aruna Sairam are already known among the young, even to those who haven't been to a CM concert. Let such personalities pave the way for the youth to get to know the music of Sowmya, Vijay Siva and other musicians.
The idea that CM is a brahmin-oriented thing should be done away with. Why? there have been and there are enough examples of outstanding musicians to refute that idea. That the brahmins had the advantage cannot be denied. That they had the privilege in education was once true. Not anymore. The same with CM too. Times have changed and times are changing rapidly. In a country where our muslim president Kalam loves CM and plays the veena, what more do we need for a shining example?
Dear Mr. Rick - A good point made by you. It is not possible to take a youth to live concerts for regular exposure. We have excellent CDs and VCDs of these artistes. Parents/ Well-wishers can expose them to these recorded music regularly.
Ms. Vasanthakokilam sounds like the melodious NCV when she says "home does not have to change colors"¦"
srkris has summarized the essentials in a beautiful manner. They are very valid and useful suggestions.
Someone wrote that a rickshaw puller refused to accept savari because he was intently listening to Madurai Mani's concert. In a similar fasion when Pt. Vishnu Digambar was singing Lord's name, in Pune, a muslim jatkawala refused passengers because he was listening to the music. Such a music would definitely attract the youth. But who is capable of this feat now ?
The youth of today face several hardships in managing time which the youth of earlier generations did not have. Life has become intensely competitive and they need a lot of time to prepare for meeting their challenges. The quantity and variety of alternate entertainments available to them is so great that they need to be choosy to maximise their pleasant experience. A lot of time would naturally be lost even in getting introduced to these available opportunities. They would flock the halls of CM if they are ensured of undiluted "experience"
arasi wrote:To start with, one would invite well known cinema music personalities to be guests. To see them in the audience and perhaps to hear them (by way of a 'short' speech, of course!) will make it more effective.
Charulatha has been doing this to some extent for her Isai Payanam concerts. Apart from guest speakers from CM world like Dr. VV Srivatsa, Sri TRS, film music personalities like Sri MSV, Sri PB Srinivos, Sri Ramesh Vinayagam, Sri ARS, Sri Kathadi Ramamurthy were guests. Music director Dhina and CM-and-Film singer Sri Unnikrishnan feature in the latest instalment this Saturday.
Mind you, it is very hard to get hold of music directors, who have chaotic schedules and often work into the wee hours...
I don't know anything about the film world, but I gather that mass appeal is its first, if not only priority --- and the pockets of art-film making to which this does not apply are not going to influence large amounts of people of any age.
I don't know how relevant it is to this thread (I'd say, though, that if rasikaranjan wants to make a full study of this, he must take an international, not a Chennai- or even India-based view) but Carnatic music seems to be doing very well abroad. The class rooms are full, and there are many children in the concerts. Although there are quite a few disapointments, musicians are even emigrating to cities such as London, expecting a good teaching career there.
It helps to have a market of those who, rather than having any complacency, see their very cultural identity under threat as, perhaps, only a refugee community can: the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora play a huge part in this.
Last edited by Guest on 26 Aug 2009, 18:02, edited 1 time in total.
srkris wrote:With regard to music appreciation among novices, the first and only rule is the "wow factor".
It is unlikely that a non-initiated person is going to understand the finer aspects of CM without having a full dive into it. People are not naturally attracted to the ocean of CM, without wetting their feet well enough.
Contrary to popular understanding among the CM community, tukkadas (and tukkadafying the elaborate kritis) actually make people feel CM is another name for bhajans. Those who are primarily attracted to the kurai onrum illais and brahmamokkates rarely if ever climb up the ladder into the realms of kamalambam bhajares and balagopalas.
The only way of attracting people to pure CM is to keep CM intensely classical and orthodox, and at the same time increase the wow factors such as great voice, good delivery and total professionalism:
1. It is unlikely that a novice is going to pay anything to wait for a TNS or even a Balamuralikrishna to come late to stage - professionalism pays.
2. Persons with average voices (most current day musicians) are ruled out for being brand ambassadors, regardless of how much CM they "know". We need more Yesudas voices.
3. Musicians sadly do not act their part in public concerts. A public performance is not just singing or playing. It has much more to do with "acting" on stage in a manner that will actually draw more people towards the music. This is a thing that is heavily underemphasized currently.
4. The delivery of the music is sadly unprofessional too... speaking of on-stage mannerisms and the laizzez-faire approach to the music in general. Musicians actually justify low turnouts at concerts by claiming that CM is elitist, how stupid is that? Carnatic concerts rarely give the impression of serious "music on fire" effect to novices.
5. As far as youth are concerned there is also the "role model" effect. Carnatic musicians (except a few notable exceptions) rarely consider themselves as role models for youth, because their music and demeanour dont give an impression of being "out of the ordinary". Rather they give out negative signals to youth, teaching them what to avoid. Very few carnatic musicians send out positive signals to novices about the progressive side of CM, most of what people see from mainstream performers is the regressive side.
If the above changes are found, I am sure CM will get a new lease of life among the common people.
Srkris, nice post. I tend to agree on two things more than others - that we need more Yesudas voices (Sankaran Namboothiri is one) and that there is no substitute for discipline and carrying oneself well on stage. In this sense I find Bombay Jayashree, T M Krishna and the Ranjani Gayathri sisters, to name a few are doing a good job. I'd also add the idea that the musicians should also stand for social causes that affect ordinary people and perform at benefit concerts. We rarely see this trend amongst Carnatic musicians.
VK RAMAN wrote:KJY obviously is a commercialized artist and a man of different faith - according to some and does not merit mention
Faith in my mind doesn't have as much as an effect on one's developing an interest in Carnatic music, as culture. I'd rather see an Indian KJY singing Kuzhaloothi Manamellam, than a faux exhibition by a US-based, Americanized, hardly Indian performer who haughtily expects recognition for the little he/she has done to the field. I even saw a video (courtesy Coolkarni, if I am correct) where a muslim lady was performing a Carnatic kriti.
All our well known Carnatic artists who sell CDs and tapes of their Carnatic music can also be considered commercialized, by the same yardstick. That doesn't make their music any less effective or any lower in quality.
nick H wrote:That is one thing that might improve the image of carnatic music for the young, and a lesson it can learn from HM.
HM, with its ustads and pandits, hardly cares what religion an artist is, even when it comes to singing religious songs.
Just for instance... I wonder how many of those hypothetical youths shun carnatic music because they think that it is just for a bunch of Chennai Brahmins?
Absolutely, we first need to SHUN this idea -that our Classical music CM need to be linked to religion, people following particular faith, community etc.
On KJY- he was invited twice to the place I live for fund raising- for what? Building Hindu temple-cultural center.
And yes, we need voices like him!
CM appeals to the intellect rather than to the primeval emotions. Hence once one learns to appreciate the beauty of CM he/she is hooked for life. The older folks (V&LG) have all the time in the world to listen(shravaNam) enjoy(mananam) and cogitate (nidhidhayasam). CM has lasting effects and they get 'addicted' to it rightly so. I am aware of oldies who listen to more than eight hours of CM per day. On the other hand the youths (B&G) cannot afford to have a similar commitment. But once initiated CM grows on them and they do get addicted just like the oldies with devastating consequences. First their economic potential will take a steep dive. They cannot devote even an hour a day of listening to CM let alone the massive amounts of time the oldies do. Their creative capacity takes a steep dive too! Instead of learning marketable skills they will be dreaming of aalaapanas, swaraprasthaarams and RTPs. Their family life takes a steep dive too. The spouse who usually may not be a CM afficianado may not like the partner spending time on CM which is legitimately theirs as do the children! Again CM turns the personality of the individual towards saatvika. No surprise here since the Trinity chose that chemistry purposely to turn the mind on to spiritual thoughts. But survival in a competitive world for the youth requires raajasic personality. CM does even affect the sex-drive (effeminates) acting as a substitute and I should not discuss more of that subject here! There is no doubt that music controls the moods. CM is designed for placid spiritual pursuits as adrenalin running high is totally incompatible with CM.
I have case histories of youth whose family lives have been affected/shattered through CM addiction. The cases are somewhat simiilar to substance addiction. Weaning is difficult needing expert psychiatric counselling. Even the lives of young performers are challenged especially if there are no adequate financial rewards (if we also focus on those who devote their lives to pakka or upapakka vaadhyams). Perhaps knowing these consequences only great performers in the past did forbid their offsprings from adopting CM as a profession!
Youth should devote their lives towards artha and kama (economic prosperity and fulfilment of legitimate desires), in other words enjoy their lives fully till they mature and when their commitments are over join the ranks of V&LG to enjoy exclusively the nectar of CM which ultimately leads them on to salvation.
We have to keep in mind that you cant learn to appreciate carnatic music overnight. If i get my nephew to sit down and listen to a gnb kamboji it will have absolutely no meaning to him. You learn to appreciate carnatic muisc in different stages and how you appreciate it will vary over time...i think most of us here have gone through these stages at some point.
) and the method and format of doing that. munirao is referring to the first part for now, though he had written about the methods and formats in different contexts elsewhere.