As I was driving down the supposed express way of OMR this morning, I have observed groups of folks clad in safronish robes walking on the side road. The number of these groups kept growing and what got me curious was the fact that many of them were pushing prams full of luggage. The prams looked imported and the bags also belonged to foreign brands. A bit further ahead and I encountered a well bedecked chariot shaped vehicle parked bang on this express way with a big cross on top and a big poster of mother mary on the back. And then it occurred to me that all these folks are on a religious trek, apparantly worshipping mother mary, albeit in a very hinduish way. Obviously, this has no sanctity in their book of religion but is adopted from the way hindu sastras prescribe certain way of worship. The words cultural appropriation and inculturation flashed in my mind at that moment. My thoughts moved on to the current hot topic of carnatic musicians singing christian songs. Below is a question and answer session that ensued in my mind:
Q)Is music tied to a religion?
A)No, music is very very instinctive to many living organisms including humans and not tied to any religion.
Q)Then, is Indian music tied to a religion?
A)Even if we restrict the scope to Indian classical music, which can be broadly defined as music based on saptaswaras or notes, how can we tie that to a religion? Afterall, aren’t the seven notes supposed to be adopted out of various animal sounds? Even if we take the basis of proposition that music evolved from sAmavEda, it is difficult to tie it to a religion since a lot of sciences / shAstrAs have evolved from vEdAs and they are pretty secular at least as we know. For example, we can’t restrict AyurvEda to only hindus. It is a right of whole humanity to benefit from it and now a days even hindus are trying to spread it as much in the world as possible.
But then well, the converse is very true. Followers of hinduism have discovered the ultimate truth or parabrahmam through music and the process was called nAdOpAsana. They even saw every sound and syllable that we hear and utter as born out of the little drum wielded by Iswara and also prescribed a spiritual course through aksharArAdhana. They have channelised divine powers in to these syllables and created sacred bIjAksharAs that lead to development of a whole colossus of mantrasAstra. And no one can deny this close bond between the mantrasAstra and sanAtana dharma.
Q) So what about carnatic music?
A)Carnatic music as practiced in the current form is inseparable from the trinity of Sri Tyagaraja, Sri Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Sri Syama Sastry. Though there are numerous other composers other than these three, the compositions of these three composers form the backbone on which this tradition currently stands. Most of the other composers have followed the path shown by these three in producing their own compositions. All the three are nAdOpAsakas of highest order and have seen music as a path to liberation, the concept of which is thoroughly based on hindu religion / sanAtana dharma. Their compositions are as much about devotion as they are about music. So for someone like Tyagaraja there is no use of music or musical knowledge if it is devoid of devotion to the god.
Obviously, majority of patrons of such music are from the hindu society and they strongly believe in those concepts as espoused by these greats in their compositions. As someone recently said, most of the rasikas or patrons of carnatic music come to listen to the concerts as much for the bliss of devotion they experience as much for the sheer pleasure of listening to the music. Names of most of the sabhA’s or organizations that facilitate these concerts reflect a strong link to hindu religion as they refer to saraswathi, nArada, krishna etc. Hindu temples are a big source of support for this genre of music, as they channelize the strength of devotees to patronize this music. So there is little doubt that carnatic music as practiced in current form is very closely tied to hindu religion.
Q) So is it wrong for a carnatic musician to venture into other art forms or sing songs that are propagating other faiths like Christianity?
A) I think it should be completely left to the individual’s choice. Tyagarajaswamy was not a commercial artiste (by which I mean someone using music for commerce / earning money), But 99% of today’s musicians are. So if they see some commercial interests in pursuing such activities it is entirely up to them. Also, in current generation artistes can be multi-faceted. We are seeing folks who have expertize in carnatic as well as hip-hop. Many young mridangam artistes are also good at playing drums. So it is not fair for anyone to ask them not to showcase these talents which could be of interest to them.
Q)That brings me to the actual question, what about carnatic music patrons, sabhAs, listeners etc.? Are they wrong in trying to ban the artistes who have sung songs propagating Christian path?
A) I don’t think they are wrong. As mentioned above, many of the patrons/rasikAs and even sabhAs see a strong link between sanAtana dharma and carnatic music. It is the devotional experience that draws them close to this genre of music and they are in their own right to take offence when an artiste patronized by them is seen singing songs of other faiths, especially when the other faiths are hell bent on destroying the sanAtana dharma which is so dear to them. They are duty bound to resist such attempts and use their strength to stop such activities. There could still be some patrons and sabhas that may not want to do it, and again it is their own choice.
Q) So what can artistes do in this situation?
A) I think it is again entirely left to the individual. As a commercial artiste he/she can take a decision that suits him/her best or gives maximum commercial benefit. Like for many professionals and in many scenarios, this could be a decision involving mutually exclusive options. So one better do a good judgement and take the decision. I don’t think one can complain against patrons for not supporting him if he takes a decision that is not favourable to the patrons.
Q)There is already a complaint of carnatic artistes not having enough market and these actions may aggravate the fear of someone who may want to take up this as full time career. Art will flourish only if there are good talents pursuing it which will only happen if it is commercially viable. So what about the danger of carnatic music losing potential talents and the art becoming extinct if the artistes are expected to be faithful to hindu religion only?
A) Well, I think it is little too far to say that the art will be extinct if artists cannot involve in missionary activities. First and simple,There are many things that a carnatic artiste can do to pursue his other interests without hurting the sentiments of the art’s patrons.Second, the art has enough patrons and sabhAs that are doing a good job of supporting it.
But we cannot overemphasize that art needs patronization and patrons can influence and drive artiste behaviour that has the potential to shape the art.So there are few risks these patrons of carnatic music have to be aware of and perhaps few lessons they can learn from history. An example I can relate to this is a story I heard about a certain family of north Indian musicans (Dagars, IIRC). Few hundred years back, artistes from this family performed in front of muslim rulers and have accepted tAmbUlam (pAn/betel leaves, generally given along with some money) from these rulers. The hindu community apparantly out-casted them because of that and eventually the family was patronized by these muslim rulers and was given a muslim name.
The point here is, as far as Carnatic music is concerned, eventhough it is an exaggeration that there is a problem of lack of market, there are few genuine problems one must recognize. One is that there is a supply – demand problem. There are more artists becoming available now compared the commercial market available. The other one is about the over-dependence on Chennai based patronship.
Let us look at these issues in a little detail. The oversupply of artistes is infact a good problem to have. And we should recognize that this is as much due to technology and global availability of competent gurus as much it is due to the raised popularity of this art in last two decades after the bad phase of missing patronship it went through during 80s and 90s.
And here in we can we can find a solution to the second problem. Behind the regained popularity of carnatic music are efforts of organizations like YCMA that have worked hard to rejuvenate the art. Leading artistes of today have worked hard during that time to re-establish the popularity and market that it is enjoying today. Ofcourse, it also helped that the Indian economy and NRI community have flourished economically during this time bringing in lot of financial support.
Now is the time to expand the market to the next level, leveraging the increased supply and it can certainly grow beyond Mylapore. Especially in India, there is a big potential to take this art beyond the current size and locale. The entire South India is available for out reach and it is upto the artistes and well wishers of the art to expand the market for it. There are talented artistes already available in places like Bangalore, Mysore, Vijayawada, Vizag/Vizianagaram and Tiruvananthapuram. Currently artistes from all these places compete for slots in Chennai performances. But if Chennai sabhas and artistes can collaborate with the artistes and patrons in these places, it is entirely possible to create a mylapore in each of these places in next 2-3 decades. Instead of competing for slots in one December season in Chennai, we can have multiple seasons through out the year like a Rama navami season in Bangalore, Dasara season in Mysore and Sankranti season in Vijayawada. Ofcourse it is easier said than done and there is no established paths to follow. But it is achievable and the NRI community which is patronizing the art so well today can help take some initiative in promoting the art in their native places. We can also leverage the presence of big temples in these places and the strength of devotees around them to rally support for this initiative.
Q)OK then, last one, what about TMK?
A)Oh, he is just one of those brilliant musicians who can sing sublimely well. Rest of the stuff from him is pure noise. Use filters if you can to not miss his music or please ignore.
సంగతులూ,సందర్భాలూ…. 