My daughter, a Radio Jockey, lives and breathes music. And yet, the day she had Dr L Subramaniam on her show, she requested a more senior RJ to take over to interview him. “He’s all about classical music and I know nothing about it!” was her concern. What relevance does classical music hold for my daughter’s generation? What would be the situation two generations after?
Who could address this concern better than Carnatic music icons Dr L Subramaniam and Dr M Balamuralikrishna? Over a leisurely chat that spanned an hour, both of them directed an honest lens on Carnatic music and how it has responded to needs of the younger generations.
Today’s youngsters will badger their parents for money to go to a concert by ‘Black Eyed Peas’ or Beyonce, but the same eagerness is missing when it comes to attending a classical performance, be it Hindustani or Carnatic.
MB: “In today’s fast-paced life, even food has not retained its classical flavour. Rasam and rice have given way to pizzas and noodles. The younger generation has to be addressed in a language they can understand, if we want greater participation from them. It is an artiste’s responsibility to give the listeners what they like. Without change and innovation there is no growth. Why should music remain isolated from change?”
LS: “What is classicism? Who created it? At every stage a new tradition has been created by our masters.
Change is the only thing constant in life. If I play music like it was played 40 years ago, it won’t be accepted. We have to recognise evolving needs and respond to them. And we have the framework for this. The system of our music is such that from the 72 ‘melakartha raga’s (fundamental ragas) other ragas can be generated. Our base is such that we can build on it.”
The younger generations have a fear of coming to Carnatic concerts because the music is abstruse and difficult to understand. It is also considered ‘not cool’ to attend them.
MB: They must be encouraged to come and listen without differentiating the music into classical or non-classical modes. If the music appeals to them they will keep coming back.
LS: The blame for this lies partly with the earlier generation. When parents restrict themselves to listening to pop or rock it is difficult for children to do differently. We have taken our younger generations away from their roots.
Children must be exposed to diverse forms of music and allowed to make their choices.
Classical concerts do not give space for participation and listeners cannot sing along or dance with the performer.
MB: People dance to my ‘tillana’s in Italy. There is ‘addition’ in the word tradition. It is a matter of changing mindsets. Anything that doesn’t allow you to add cant be called tradition, so is music.
LS: Music can be appreciated at physical and spiritual levels. An artiste who can reach out to every level is a successful one.
How can you popularise Carnatic music among younger generation?
LS: If Carnatic music is not touching the younger generations to the extent it should, the failure is at several levels. There is so much hype created over visiting overseas bands, even if they are little known in their own countries. They get huge financial support from corporates. Similar support is not forthcoming for Carnatic music because of a concern that it might not be marketable. There has to be a beginning somewhere. It might not work initially but we have to keep trying. On our part, we have a collective responsibility to ensure that our music evolves in a manner that will appeal to the younger generations. We need to innovate, even while holding the essence.
MB: The media has a role to play in this as well. A one-hour radio performance or a half-hour TV performance can do more to popularise Carnatic music than live concerts. Our efforts must receive the kind of publicity that overseas bands get when they visit India. This will have a lot of impact.
