Divinity

I had been to a Classical Music concert by Shubha Mudgal once with Mom and was absolutely enthralled in it when I had anticipated a good 2-3 hours of pure boredom! The fact that Music transcends language and all other barriers is so true. Even though I had no knowledge of what the lady was singing, it was divinely captivating. There was much I needed guidance on, the talas, the ragas, surs et al. Consciously singing absolutely in control to match all those permutations and combinations to the exact beat of the tabla and the chords of the tamboora and keys of the harmonium is indeed an art. I wonder if our future generations will have in them to go through the rigors of training to produce music that is fulfilling and lasting. In this age of clamor, the best we get are songs which are all absolutely forgettable. Good songs take you on a high and they keep you floating for a while ruminating over the lyrics and the music and make you forget the worries of the world and linger in your mind. Sometimes irritating jarring songs stick around too and it is particularly difficult to get a hated song out of ones head unless replaced by a better one! But I digress from what I’m saying.

I am no expert on music and I hate to go down in the past again, but seriously the half baked half English half Hindi Bollywood songs liberally sprinkled with Punjabi with nonsensical lyrics and several booms and bangs called beats, and ‘sung’ tunelessly are getting worse! Perhaps there are good singers, and perhaps there are great composers out there, but these are the songs we appreciate now. It’s only the songs that sound and look like they will be runaway hits are broadcast. Why, the song is least important, put a sizzling Bipasha Basu in it, and it could have everyone hooked!

The music shows and the talent hunt shows have indeed brought about a revival of the classical music scene and there is much encouragement towards the arts such as singing and dancing. Organizations such as SPICMACAY are doing their bit too, but honestly I don’t think it’s enough..why, I have no clue about who the upcoming singers are on the classical scene and I am sure there are more who are totally oblivious or disinterested or who find it uncool to listen to Indian music but appreciate ‘Jazz’. This is certainly not to disparage those who find the western forms of music alluring, but to bring to the point, that our Indian youth in its rapid westernization is rapidly moving away from its own cultural roots and mostly takes no interest whatsoever in what is indeed an age old civilization. I should certainly wish there were more music schools and more dance schools to propagate this art.

Though I would heartily like to dwell on the facets of Indian Classical music, I discover, there is just too much to be said. For the uninitiated, I shall try to fit a bit in one paragraph. Our Indian classical music emanates from the Vedas which are in the form of a song and hence, divine in itself. The tradition of Indian classical music is an oral one. The music tradition has been handed down over 2000 years to the pupil and there still live the ‘gharanas’ that have descended from eons back. Unlike Western music, the sounds cannot be captured on any manuscript. There are two forms of the music, Hindustani from Northern India and Carnatic from Southern India. The soul of the classical music is based on ragas which is a combination of several notes (sa re ga ma..), sung in a particular sequence, pitch, speed etc where as tala is the pulse of the music that captures the rhythm of the music . Where the musical instruments are concerned, there is a long list, some of the popular ones’ being Sitar, Sarod, Santoor, Veena, Sarangi, Harmonium, Shehnai, Flute, Tabla, Mridangam.

Due to the diversity of the culture we have, there are numerous popular folk music forms which differ from region to region. Folk music instruments also differ from those of classical music and may be less refined and are usually fabricated from commonly found materials such as bamboo, coconut shells, conches etc. For example in the rich culture of Rajasthan there are folklores, tales of heroism of the Rajput kings and queens, the praise of Gods etc. In most cultures the songs have been handed down through generations to mark the beginning and end of seasons, of phases in life, festivals etc.

The Indian culture has such divine forms of Art in it. I sincerely hope that I am mistaken, and even in this impatient fast moving world, certain beautiful things will never diminish.