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Connoisseurs of
Indian music
“Kulkarni, you are a
connoisseur of Hindustani music. How much do you know about Carnatic
music?”
“Not a whole lot. In the
Matunga area, there are a few sabhas that hold Carnatic concerts;
but I do not attend those concerts,” replies Kulkarni.
Shankar prods on. “You
should. Since you are in Chennai for a few days, why don’t you join
me for one of the Carnatic music concerts? Only if you listen to our
Carnatic music you will understand how complex and brilliant it is.
I can explain some of its intricacies to you if you
like.”
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Kulkarni responds, “Well,
I prefer my music. But, I will go to the concert with you. We can
discuss both at the end of the concert.”
The concert begins
promptly and the musician starts with the Sahana Varnam and follows
the brisk Varnam with Gajananayudam in Chakravaham. The cutchery was
already off to a good start. After one more kriti, he begins
Anandhabhairavi raga alapana.
Shankar turns to
Kulkarni, “Do you like a cup of coffee? We can stop by the canteen
and be back in a few minutes. Narasimhan, the cook, is excellent and
makes everything fresh and hot. And, besides, the Anandhabhairavi
alapana will go on for some time and then the violinist gets his
turn. We have time.”
They get up and walk
towards the canteen.
“Kulkarni, the dosa here
is very good. Shall I order you a dosa?” Kulkarni’s eyes open wide
at the mention of dosa and they order dosas and coffee.
“Did you note the variety
in our Carnatic music? Twenty minutes into the concert and we are
already on the fourth piece. The audience likes that. I am sorry but
your Hindustani music is a little too slow for my taste. Your
artistes take one Bhairav or a MalhAr and go on for two hours. I
think all that Muslim influence has made Hindustani music lose its
Indianness.”
“Shankar; it shows how
much you know about Hindustani music. Hindustani music definitely
has its influences; but it never lost its basic identity. If
anything, the Persian influence only enriched its greatness. Don’t
forget that we took the fixed shadja from the Iranians. On the other
hand, you must accept that Carnatic music lost some of its emotional
charm with the advent of the Venkatamukhi’s 72-Melakarta scheme,”
retorts Kulkarni.
“The Melakarta scheme is
a wonderful mathematical approach to coding ragas. How could you say
that it undermined the emotional charm?
Kulkarni replies, “The
Melakarta scheme may be rational and precise. But, the precision has
restricted your musicians from elaborating the ragas with ease. They
are constrained from improvising a raga with broader aesthetic and
emotional appeal. Because your Carnatic music places more emphasis
on compositions of the great masters, it tends to take away the
importance of the raga and its improvisations even further. In
contrast, Hindustani musicians continue to give more importance to
raga elaboration and less to lyrics.”
“May be,” Shankar replies
defensively, “but, since Vedic times, Indian music has been
intricately related to religion and morality. The Muslim invaders
did not know our religion or our languages and consequently,
Hindustani music moved away from its Sastrika traditions. Unlike the
compositions of the great composers of Carnatic music, your
compositions have lost their intellectual content. The KhyAl style
mostly emphasises romantic themes and has virtually killed
philosophical thought.”
“You could be right. But,
you must recognise that the KhyAl is very rich in its traditions.
Unlike Carnatic music, it is less rigid and more appealing because
it borrows from ghazal and folk music and embellishes the content,”
replies Kulkarni.
Shankar shakes his head
and tries to attack from another point, “Hindustani music seems to
only pay lip service to the thala systems mentioned in the
Sangitaratnakara. The Hindustani rhythmic patterns are simple
compared to the thala system in Carnatic music where, the rhythm
patterns are far more precise and mathematically complex. You cannot
deny we score big on the thala aspects,” Shankar exclaims with a
check mate grin on his face.
Kulkarni would not be
swayed that easily. “May be,” accepts Kulkarni, “but, rhythmic
complexity comes at a cost; because of the thala intricacies, your
music compromises on the bhava aspects. Expertise in thala is no
excuse for over-shadowing the melodic beauty and context of a
composition.”
Neither Kulkarni nor
Shankar was ready to throw down the swords. They carried on in vain
over several more cups of coffee. As they continued to discuss which
music (and thus which Indian) was better, Narasimhan, the cook,
announces the kitchen is closing.
As Narasimhan is about to
leave, he stops by the two music connoisseurs and asks, “Shankar
Sir! Do you need anything else? You both are hotly discussing
something; I did not want to interrupt but I have to close the
kitchen.”
“Thanks Narasimhan. We
were just discussing which of our music system is better, Carnatic
or Hindustani. What do you think Narasimhan?”
Narasimhan replies
humbly, “You are both experts in music; I am just a cook. I cannot
make such a judgment. The only thing I know is that both Hindustani
and Carnatic music are like a pair of eyes and both are important to
us as Indians. I am proud that our people can create so much great
music.”
Humbled by Narasimhan’s
simple but profound comments, Shankar turns to Kulkarni and says,
“It is time we got back to the auditorium. The artiste should have
finished Anandhabhairavi by now.”
His words were drowned by
the sound of doors opening and the Mangalam words, 'Neenama Rupa
Mulaku', drifting from the auditorium.
Connoisseurs of
Indian music
