One of the most misunderstood subjects today is CLASSICAL MUSIC. Being a musician, I thought I must try and find out why this is so.
Quiz any school kid on Brian Adams or Mariah Carey and pronto! they’ve guessed it right.

You’ll even get details on when the album was released, where, how many copies have been sold, its position on the Top Charts, you name it! But don’t you bet your money on Balamurali Krishna, Jesudas or even the Queen of song, M.S.Subbulakshmi – that would be asking for too much. ‘ Yeah, yeah, I think I’ve heard that name before’ is more like it. Why this indifference to most things Indian, particularly Indian music and specifically Classical music?

Classical music is something that’s been revered through the ages. Its power has wrought havoc on many a heart and kingdom, set ablaze fires and brought about torrential rain. But where are we today? I am beginning to feel the entire scenario is contributing to this in humungus magnitudes.

Western culture is overtaking us by light years. It is infra dig to not have just that bit of Americano in us. Gone are the days of ‘ Idli or Pongal, sambar and chutney’ fresh from the kitchen (you may get last week’s leftovers, piping hot from the microwave if you’re lucky!). ‘I usually skip breakfast’ or its just cereal, ‘tastier now, enriched with vitamins, trace elements, more fibre…..!’ Food habits, I believe, are really indicative of the cultural temperament of a people. This is the age of fast foods, unhealthy, carcinogenic stuff, that’s really delicious.

Ask your kids what they want for dinner – ‘Can we have Pizza or Noodles?’ Books always refer to the Hotdogs and Coke on a picnic, even Indian writing and textbooks. Have you ever heard of kids going on a picnic and enjoying Mom’s Alu parathas and Gajar Halwa, Idli with molagai podi and Polis?

Indian theories have preached for ages that the first meal of the day should be the heaviest, the next a little lighter and dinner the lightest. But our life style today is completely upside down—we skip breakfast, have a light working lunch and pile on at the dinner table! Is it any wonder that we suffer from indigestion, gastritis, acidity, heartburn, insomnia, et al. In addition, seldom do we eat freely, not worrying about ‘what am I eating’, how much am I eating, is this the right food for me and so on.

Most of our energies are spent negatively in counteracting these thoughts rather than in digestion!
But then, I’m digressing. Coming back to classical music, let me try and analyse the scenario. We say music is but a combination of seven different notes – but, boy, does the combination make a difference!

‘How can you listen to such stuff?’ asks my friend’s eight year old. Nothing can be more horrifying than the thought of attending a ‘kutcheri’! Sit through a music concert for 2 hours? God, you must be crazy! But what about the Brian Adams show that started 2 hours late, you didn’t get proper seats, and it got over at 4 am? ‘But that’s different’.

There’s got to be some logic here obviously. Its just that its really, seriously, majorly eluding me. Now I have to get to the bottom of this or else…… it’s simply driving me bats. Food, I can still comprehend--  convenience, no preparation or minimal preparation time, etc. Though to a die hard Indian, and a ‘madrasi’ at that, who has to have filter coffee and masala dosai with sambar and chutney, its quite sacrilegious to have ‘cereals’, BUT I’m still willing to understand it if not accept. But, music?

Ok, lets check it out now.

Film music has always had its following, even during times when it was sheer, unalloyed classical stuff. An MKT steeped in devotion or romancing coyly in chaste Panthuvarali or Vasantha was the order of the day. Any of those songs could be sung with proper embellishments in a concert today and to someone ignorant of film music, it could pass of as a Sivan composition! Nothing ‘filmi’ about it! (Of course, Papanasam Sivan himself had composed numerous film songs)

Then came the dichotomy between film and classical music, with film music becoming multilayered and multi dimensional while classical music still continues on its nearly linear, melodic lines. By definition, anything classical is that which sustains the test of time, retains its character against changing times and tides. A Kalyani has to be a Kalyani even in the next millennium, as a Kapi or a Todi. Of course, it may chip a little here, shine a bit more there but like a diamond, its intrinsic value only enhances.

You may be served a Kalyani ala microwave style against an Angithi type but it still is Kalyani! Now how  to serve this Kalyani is perhaps the musician’s discretion. Care for a quick bite or do we have time for a delicately cooked and beautifully served, nourishing meal? I read somewhere that as we grow older we tend to eat the food of our childhood, food that we grew up with. Perhaps the same is true of music?  Nothing is more delightful than to hear my 14 year old son subconsciously humming Ranjani as he gathers his Maths books to do his homework or my 11 year old daughter asking me ‘why does Charukesi always sound so sad?’ Or that ‘Kadanakuthoohalam is so bright and happy?’  Its just that listening to me practice, hearing the same ragas from other artistes on tape/ Cds again and again, its now familiar to them and they respond to it involuntarily. Maybe this is the treasure  we can give our children? Not stuff it down their throats till they protest and deny? Gently ingratiate it into their system so it becomes a part of them?

There can be no more fool proof system of preserving our heritage for posterity than this!

I think the lure of film music is in its mass appeal, as in fiction. To appreciate Kalidasa or Shakespeare definitely requires a higher level of sensitivity, a heightened sense of awareness of language, sentiments, presentation, idioms………I could finish reading a Sydney Sheldon or a Jeffrey Archer in a day perhaps, but I need to savour a Herman Hesse or Vivekananda. This is not to undermine fiction but to emphasize the fact that the two serve different purposes. Quick enjoyment against refined pleasure that can be relived in your mind again and again.

It is but natural that the younger generation should be drawn towards immediate gratification- not only in music but all aspects of life! High caloried sweets, fried yummies, cheesy rolls, ice creams, the works!! While this need not and should not be denied, do we not try and wean them towards things more sophisticated?  If my son has no friends with whom he can discuss the last song that he has learnt of Dikshitar’s in Kiranavali, or my daughter who has discovered that Saurashtram and Devagandhari have the same notes except for the Rishabha, where is the peer pressure to motivate them to higher levels? Often I have relied on popular film tunes to immediately identify classical ragas. This can definitely be a starting point to get them hooked on to the Real Thing!! If you can find like minded friends, that’s it, you are there! Right on target, bang on!

So, munch away on your Pizza while you enjoy a Ragam Thanam Pallavi in Mohanam, chew on your garlic bread as you let the Surutti padam serenade you or sip your coke while the Sindhubhairavi Tillana intoxicates you! This is truly a crosscultural exchange!  After all, the world is a small place.