You could drive yourself crazy debating whether the Music Season should be held this year. Baradwaj Rangan draws up a pro-con list.
Con: Isn’t it awfully insensitive to go on stage wearing a silk sari in a carefully chosen shade, with carefully coordinated accessories – when so many people don’t have clothes to wear? Pro: But isn’t the Season a part of Chennai’s DNA, and if it does unfold, shouldn’t we see it as a sign that Chennai will continue being Chennai, no matter what happens? Con: But come on, it’s such an upper-class thing, this music – it caters to such a small portion of Chennai’s population. Pro: Is there a law that everything should be for everybody? When films are being released in theatres, when bouncy film songs are back on the radio, when people are watching comedy channels on TV, why is live music suddenly out of place?
Con: Because in the time spent practising and singing, these (privileged) musicians can go out and help the needy. Pro: But who’s to say they’re not helping? Some of them are donating their Season earnings to flood relief. Besides, isn’t the music itself a help, a salve on South Madras souls? (Let’s not forget, South Madras has been hit badly too.) Con: Oh please. Not as badly as North Madras. Pro: How do you decide whose suffering is worse? Suffering is suffering. Cancel the Season, and you cause more suffering to the small ecosystem (accompanists, canteen caterers) whose livelihood depends on the number of concerts this time of the year. Didn’t you start going to office and earning money as soon as the rains stopped? The sabha, the stage is their office. Why the double standards? Con: Canteen caterers? Seriously? There are people out there dying without food, and you’re talking about Mountbatten Mani’s vazhapoo vadai?
Pro: Okay, let’s just talk about the music. Wasn’t it Bharatidasan who said: During times of distress, come, play some music and make me smile again? Con: But that was a private entreaty. We’re taking about a public festival here. Pro: Don’t think of it as a celebration. Just think of it as music. Think of it as someone launching into Ninuvina marigalada and infusing the air with calming strains of Reetigowlai. Don’t think “music festival.” Think “meditation camp.” Carnatic music, after all, is almost always an expression of bhakti. Con: Yeah right. That’s what the NRIs are coming down for. Not for gossip. Not to show off their diamonds. But for… (snicker) bhakti.
Pro: Again, so what? Don’t they stay in Chennai’s hotels and eat at Chennai’s restaurants and bring more money to the city? If not a meditation camp, can’t you at least regard the Season as a tourism opportunity? That’s more money to help those in need, right? Con: Then why not ask those NRIs to send cheques for flood relief instead? Pro: Because it’s also about fostering and preserving art, tradition, heritage. The Season is single-handedly responsible for making Carnatic music a household word, even among people who don’t care for this music. It’s about finding new talent to take this art forward, to another generation.
Con: No one’s denying all this. All that’s being said is that this is not the time. At least postpone the Season… Pro: To when? And what is the appropriate mourning period for a tragedy of this magnitude, if that’s what you’re hinting at? A month? A year? Even a decade isn’t enough to erase this trauma. Con: That’s what we’re saying too. That’s more important… Pro: Maybe we should stop deciding what is more important and let people choose for themselves. If they feel like singing, let them. If they feel they should not (or cannot) sing, then let them not. If audiences feel like attending concerts, let them. If they feel they should be doing more important things, let them do that. It’s not as though we’re asking people to choose between flood relief and music. It’s not an either/or. Be respectful of tragedy, but, in some corner, don’t be apologetic about being alive.
An edited version of this piece can be found here. Copyright ©2015 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Jetlagged
December 10, 2015
Narada gana saba campus is being used for flood relief. Interestingly I saw this young lady nicely dressed in silk with a veena in her hand posing for a photo shoot on the front stair case. She looked perfectly happy. But that look in the eyes of relief workers…
This reminds me of That scene in unnal mudiyum thambi where kamal chooses to skip his kutcheri and goes out to save a hut on fire….”kudusa nu onnu irukku nu namakkellam theriyum anni”
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Anuja Chandramouli
December 10, 2015
Bravo BR!
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jithu
December 10, 2015
the musicians can sing their heart out, but if they linger anywhere close to raga amritavarshini or malhar, even the ardent rasigargals wouldn’t mind dropping a adyar water brimming ghatam in their head
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Baradwaj Raman
December 10, 2015
absolutely nailed it!
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sangsteroni
December 10, 2015
I like where you ended that piece.
For some reason, the entire time I was reading it, I heard Red’s voice in my head saying, “… I’d like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can’t expressed in words, and it makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a grey place dares to dream. …”
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ramitbajaj01
December 10, 2015
At times, music can help us forget our sufferings. At others, it can give us the courage to fare better in a suffering.
At times, it can help us mourn better. At others, it can help us underline our feelings.
(case in point: Titanic)
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Rahini David
December 11, 2015
Well, I was not very happy when the Kids Christmas Festival was adamantly celebrated on 6-Dec in our Church especially as practices happened on 4-Dec and 5-Dec for very young children and all three were very very rainy days. At first I could not understand why they were being so obstinate about it and realized that they considered it as a demonstration of faith that they trusted God to protect them (their faith is strong or something).
That said, stopping such celebrations after the water has receded seems unnecessary. Things should not stop. We should concentrate on getting back on track. If the past is any indication our actors and actresses will start shaking their bon-bons to collect funds. Or Cricket if the pitch isn’t too soggy. When we are OK with all this, why not high-caste women in silk sarees?
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Rm
December 11, 2015
BR: Margazhi Music festival is supposed to be in Margazhi no?
Anyway, I, for one, would like not to forego the tradition of having the music festival in December. Back then, I used to wake up to the singing of MLV rendering Andaal’s ‘Margazhi Thingal’ streaming gently from the loudspeaker from the temple in my locality, all throughout the month of Margazhi. Despite all the grogginess from sleep (and the temptation to return to slumber again in that early morning cold), and the fact that the music was being played for a zillionth time, that period of the year again from a worn out tape, that divine rendition in Nattai brought within me an inexplicable cheer in that wee hours of the morning. Maybe it reminded me of a potential possibility of more delightful musical experience later in the day/ week. Sometimes I skipped tuition to tune into Margazhi Maha Utsavam in Jaya TV.
Unfortunately Margazhi music festival, like all other festivals has transcended out of its core cultural aspects and nowadays is being identified by its superficial aspects. When Tsunami hit Chennai about a decade back, I think the music season still went on. I do not see any reason why we should forego it now. I hope all true music fans out there having some level of similar emotional connect to the Margazhi music that is beyond all the superficial aspects of this tradition will share the same sentiment.
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Adithya
December 11, 2015
Has this question been raised in Public? Or is it one of your own musings?
What has this got to do with the relief work? there are people who want to help and there are people who aren’t exactly inclined in pushing themselves to do physical labour (“could i write a cheque?”) As long as the latter don’t interfere or hinder the relief process everything should be fine. The ISL team played during the rains (won the game largely because of the rain).
“Isn’t it awfully insensitive to go on stage wearing a silk sari in a carefully chosen shade, with carefully coordinated accessories – when so many people don’t have clothes to wear?”
This question applies throughout the year and to the entire world doesn’t it? New year parties are around the corner too.
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Ram Murali
December 11, 2015
I am actually leaning towards one side of the “To sing or to not sing” debate but I would just have that in my mind, not express it because to your point, it is an exercise in futility – grown-ups can decide what’s best for them and be mature enough to maybe express but certainly not thrust their opinions unreasonably. I remember that post 9/11, there were some comedians on TV essentially saying that we must give ourselves permission to laugh again while acknowledging the gravity of the tragedy.
On a lighter note, this whole discussion reminded me of this wonderful sequence from UMT:
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Sumathi Sridhar
December 11, 2015
Your blog raises questions people (I for one) have not been daring to ask. There cannot be one right answer for them surely.
Agree with you that it’s up to the individuals really. They can choose to show some restraint in dressing and indulging in culinary delights at the canteen. Canteen owners can avoid going overboard on their fares, and together with the Sabhas can think about contributing a share of their collections to flood relief.
I think here, the guiding principle here is to remember that we could have been among the men or women who have lost their home or even their loved ones to the deluge. That sobering thought would help us act responsibly be it a music festival, grand marriage celebrations or a new year bash.
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Ram Murali
December 12, 2015
Jetlagged – believe it or not, I just read your comment! So wonderful that you mentioned UMT as well; sorry I didn’t notice earlier when I posted my comment. The Gemini-Kamal scenes are just out of the world.
Their conversations were essentially one gem after another!
“Sudha Dhanyasi-aa adhu? Asudha Dhanyasi!”
“Enaku Sangeetham thaan moochu…aana unaku adhu thevai patta pottukara scent-u”
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Mohan
December 12, 2015
I would say, carry on the concerts with less aadambaram, no silk sarees, no canteens, and if possible, no tickets too, but asking the rasikas to donate at the gate, part collection to go to relief works. Go back to the basics of just singing a good concert and enjoying it in a simple setting, without speeches, awards, adulations, etc. Just for this season.
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sanjana
December 12, 2015
If a person dies we have mourning period. And festivals are not celebrated for one year in some cases. Recently the Chennai rains claimed hundreds of lives and the aftermath is not very bright. People are slowly trying to come to terms with the tragedy and they will fear rains. Some people can relocate but some cant. In mumbai, people call it the spirit of mumbai which will make them take the local train the very next day. Mumbai faced terrorist attacks many times, riots, rains and the list is endless. Hope Chennai recovers its spirits with the help of government, NGOs and philanthropists. In Andhra Pradesh (now Telengana and Seemandhra), after those severe cyclonic storms, people are evacuated in thousands whenever there is some signal and big tragedies are averted in this way.
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Yoganand Netrakanti
December 12, 2015
Instead of analyzing the pros and cons of attending the Margazhi music festivals, you should have concluded hinting at what organisers of the should have done At this sorrowful moment is it necessasary to debate pros and cons I don’t understand you ended with a pro. Personally, my suggestion to both the organisers of the sabhas as well as the rasikas is the money spent in advertisements in the form of invitations in the media, transportation, food can used as a charity contribution for the cyclone victims. By the time, I write there was no public announcement in the media about the contribution from the sabhas. The various sabhas in corners of Chennai should come work under same platform – big, small, medium – to provide the financial assistance. Finally, there is no need of debate or arguement in this aspect. let all the sabhas and musicians and rasikas join hands to help the fellow human beings. What can be a better appeasement to Lord Vishnu in the month of Margazhi than this instead of singing.
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Neer
December 13, 2015
We had an earthquake in Nepal and as I live abroad, it wrecked my heart for days that I couldn’t do anything. Later I was told that there was frankly no point of us going to help unless you are trained in relief work or medical help. I was neither. I couldn’t bring my self to hear songs for pleasure because I felt so guilty but one day I found myself humming in the kitchen. Then I realised how music comes to you even if you didn’t go to music. We had lots of memes going around that said let’s not celebrate any festivals or weddings this year, when I saw a picture of a bride and groom in the midst of rubble a few days later and that restored my faith in not asking questions that were not necessary, for, those who suffered answered it far more beautifully.
http://nepalitimes.com/page/wedding-during-nepal-earthquake
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Kannan Baskar
December 13, 2015
An important concept to be considered here is “art for art sake”. I am a firm beleiver of this concept and love hearing live kutcheri. It is first important to differentiate between the various phenomena, which characterize the margazhi music festival it is an aesthetic process, a cultural phenomenon, and a spiritual undertaking. These phenomena I do not think in any way antagonize the process of disaster management and post flood relief. The city is recuperating from one of the worst disaster it has witnessed in recent years. This I feel is also the right time to engage in an aesthetic phenomenon that is culturally significant to the city’s history. I fail to understand how few rasikas and musicians enjoying a musical performance would deter flood relief activity. Do people expect everyone to mourn a natural calamity, and what particular purpose would this activity serve. This is one of the reasons I feel that the Margazhi music festival should be secular in nature and should be a celebration of classical music. This would stress and reveal its aesthetic and cultural significance. Moreover it would become more relevant to artists, intellectual, and liberals; who are agnostics.
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