Vidya Shah, the young musician member of the Culture Sub-Committee

News 21st March 2008

A speech recently delivered by Vidya Shah, Musician and Director Programs, Centre for Media and Alternative Communication (CMAC) and member of the Culture Sub-Committee of the SAF-India Advisory Board.
Presented at a Seminar organized by INTACH and Nakshband Educational Trust, IIC, March 15^th New Delhi

The Context

Contemporary discussion and analysis of Indian music, and the challenges it faces in modern times, inevitably leads to a refrain that with each passing day it is deteriorating and suffering in terms of quality and content. There are times when lovers of Hindustani music swear by the music they had heard several decades ago - that old is sure to be gold and the new or contemporary can certainly not meet the mark, if not bitterly criticized. But the point is that in the overall Indian life-pattern too, numerous changes are taking place and they are inevitably reflected in Indian music because of it is closely interwoven with the entire fabric of life in India. Having said this obviously, everything happening in Indian music cannot be expected to meet with unqualified approval or acceptance!

The situation is complex and very diverse. On the one hand I’ve had people asking me at music appreciation workshops – when is it appropriate to express approval in a concert and on the other you have the fastidious connoisseur who comments on the placement of the Pancham in Bageshree. The task of examining facts and putting them in their proper perspective in this extreme situation becomes daunting. Added to this is the sheer diversity of Indian musical forms. Indian music is a very heterogeneous reality– so much so that a well known musicologist, Dr.Ashok Ranade once even referred to it as a “cultural federation” in India, which for want of convenience to the powers that be gets thrown into one cauldron referred to then nonchalantly as a singular entity called Indian music.

Given my own engagement with music as a learner and a practitioner my overview primarily focuses on art music in relation to the other forms namely film and pop.

The Challenges

Music has always had the quality of borrowing, lending, evolving and adapting. For instance Thumri borrows from folk and Khayal borrows from Qawwali. The inherent quality of music is to explore, innovate and improve. All music-cultures, at various periods have engaged themselves in a similar activity. Rather paradoxical, but it is true to say that every epoch has its own versions of the Modern, the Contemporary or the New.

In a completely organic and evolving cultural tradition such as the Indian, this is more than true. For instance apart from the changing and evolving form and repertoire, current practitioners today range from hereditary musicians to first generation musicians such as myself, and even non-Indian scholars and performers. Today one need not belong to a family of musicians to be able to study music. The dogmatic tradition of handing over the musical tradition only within the lineal structure is fast changing.

The presence of more women as performers is another indication of the large-heartedness of the tradition. My series of concerts on the tribute to the Bai’s in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century is quite a radical shift in the gendered perception of the performance code.

But there are also other faster paced changes, one that can be overwhelming, irritatingly so to both the practitioner and listener. The advent of the Digital musician. This phenomenon has been spreading large and wide in giving opportunities to even non-musicians who haven’t learnt, do not sing or play or perform live, create music through machines. Popular Indian music provides this new Indian musician with abundant scope, opportunities and rewards. The success of the Indian DJ is a classic example of this and can often frustrate the folk or classical musician.

The use of computers and gadgetry has also resulted in amazing and startling changes within the recording and music industry. Recorded sound can now be processed, manipulated and altered more than ever before. What would seem sacrilege to the purist is now a done thing in the studio space. Some editing, pitch-correction, sound effects and lo and behold you have a spotless product.

Technology has in fact shown us the power to create new genres – Asian Underground and Electronica are popular and commercially successful examples of this. In this context fusion music has also gained immense market popularity. Where art music affords more scope to individuals than to performing groups, fusion music is getting communities of people to perform live and interface with technology, an idea that seems to excite a lot of listening, particularly in countries outside of India. Not surprising that one hears tabla beats in a Sean Connery flick!

To add to this confusion is the manner is which music gets represented in the media. Reality shows and film music appear to be the only kind of music that satiate the Indian and even international palette. Today the idea of success has been converted into visibility on television.

There are two sets of reaction to the world of music – one that is suggesting that Indian music is really ‘happening’ now across the world and the other which is concerned about the way its ‘happening’ – that this western invasion is proving to b its nemesis!

The Way Forward

There are some key issues:

- What information do we have on the current status of musicians in India?

There is no data. There is no mapping that has been done, any kind of situational analysis, which in turn could provide some direction to planning and strategizing for the creative industry. Some researchers and scholars even suggest it should become part of the census data, more categorically than “self-employed”.

- Is the Government taking any responsibility?

If the state of the broadcasting networks is any indication of this, then there is reason to worry. Doordarshan and AIR which took on this task of broadcasting Classical music regularly as a public responsibility, are now also talking the commercial language, including selling commercial time at really cheap rates.
There is a need to (re)visit our culture policy. The planners and implementer particularly within important decision making positions, i.e. the bureaucracy need to give thought to innovations and fresh ideas in programming. Or else artists will continue to be left in the lurch looking for supporters and patrons to give their work a voice, leaving them little room for choice.

- Do the practitioners face a challenge from the current modern commercialization of the profession?

The music industry does not offer any support to musicians for recording. Let alone commission recordings, they do not even publish quality materials that are ready for release –“doesn’t sell”. There have to be other opportunities than just the small number of scholarships and fellowships that the Government offers, which in any case does not make it possible for them to publish or record their work. In this regards, we need to look at how technology can play a proactive role.

- How do you use technology?

We need to find ways in which musicians become more techno savvy. Use the same technology that is challenging their prowess and scholarship; flip it around to make it friendlier to performers. Just today the newspaper mentions a major band in UK is releasing their music through the now popular Facebook.
What about acknowledgements, copyrights and all such uncomfortable realities?
It is very often that repertoire from both folk and even classical gets co-opted, copied, stolen into film music – not only Bollywood but now also in Hollywood. Nimbuda-Nimbuda – Ismail Darbar composition in the film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam which won several awards– no! Comes from the Langa-Manganiyar tradition. Where is the acknowledgement for this? Contracts, copyrights, performer's rights and such other contemporary commercial aspects of the profession have to become realities.

Conclusion

Given the complexities of our culture it would seem only fair to say that a lot has been achieved. But it is also a case of “miles to go before you sleep”. The truth probably lies somewhere in our midst. Younger people need to become more aware of the business o music in addition to the raagdari and layakari. Even though culture is not a product we need to step out of our stupor and accept that it has its worldly realities too! Perhaps it is in preserving and studying the past, as well as accepting the present with all its challenges that we would find a reasonable answer to these questions.