dover lane
surprising there doesn’t seem to be anyone blogging on the dover lane conference, or is it just not coming up in google search? I had a look at the performing artist line-up. It is interesting. There is a predominance of Bengali artists and of instrumentalists. On the whole I think it is a good reflection of the top people, Venkatesh Kumar, Shahid Parvez, Rashid Khan, Girja devi, Pt. Jaisraj, and others. I might be skeptical of the choice of N. Rajam and Manjiri Asnare-Kelkar but that might only reflect my personal prejudices. As I have noticed with Saptak festival, not much is given to the Maharashtran female vocalists with the exception of Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande. If i were the organizer of a major festival like dover lane, I would do anything to get Kishori Amonkar or Parveen Sultana. After these divas Manjusha Kulkarni-Patil is the darling of the public this side of the country. I have already blogged about my other favorites, Padma Talwarkar, vijaya jadav-gatliwar, Asha Khadilkar, shubada Paradkar, Shubha Joshi and others. I really enjoyed the blogs from the Sawai Gandharva festival from Pune. Many thanks to whoever that was. By the way I am very keen to get the recording of Malini Rajurkar’s bihag tappa that she sang there this year. I have learned that tappa and I would like to hear how she sings it, especially if she uses the tal structure indicated by Ginde saheb in his transcription of Ratanjankars’ compositions. I prefer it in two avaartans rather than one.
sra seminar 2012
It is that time of year, the sra, ims seminar at ncpa. I missed Ashok Ranade and especially Joep’s presence this year. Those 2 along with Pt Arvind Parikh were the coordinators since its inception. Ashok Ranade is gone and Joep, I do not know, but suspect there were some differences with Shri Parikh. I only attended the Saturday sessions; as usual I probably missed very good discussions. Shri Jayant Kastuar, board member of the sangit natak akademi, and an important person in the politics of art in Delhi was the keynote speaker. I found it odd that he began his address by explaining that he had been so busy the past month, he had only begun to write his speech at 1:00 a.m. the night before. To me it indicates a supercilious attitude and lack of respect. Shri Kastuar repeated the platitudes about cultural imperialism, globalization, standardization. In a revealing anecdote, he remembered an Asian UNESCO meeting in Delhi where he had chided the female delegates for wearing western instead of their native dress, inviting them to see the streets of Delhi where women are in saris etc. I wonder what he would have expected a Chinese delegate to wear. Chinese dress as such has long ago disappeared from the Mainland. His jibe was alluded to by a later speaker who in a light-hearted way felt uncomfortable in his western clothes. Mr. Murali, the former editor of the Hindu is an impressive speaker. Yesterday though he tended to waffle, especially when summarizing what a speaker had just said. Since it had been short and well said by Kalpana Sharma and Shri Ramnarayan the repetition was unnecessary. He did say that this is the 3d year he has come to the seminar discussing the role of media and it seemed to him to be the same re-hashing of the subject. Shri Arvind Parikh wanted his Indian musicians group (zakir, shiv kumar and a few other north and south stars) to interact with the major newspaper editors and asked Mr. Murali if he could arrange such a meeting to which he replied that to get the newspaper editors to cooperate together would be impossible. Admirable straight talking to someone who does not take “no” for an answer. Mr. Ramnarayan from Shruti magazine spoke very well about the difficulty in making his magazine with its geriatric readership interesting to the younger generation. Shruti has run for 28 years and has maintained an impressive high standard. He was skeptical of the financial viability of a new “glossy” venture on classical arts coming from Kolkatta called I believe, “Avantika”.
No doubt the star of the day was unexpectedly Ms. Subhasree, the creative director of Jaya tv in Chennai where a well presented program on classical music has been a huge success. There before us was a dynamic young woman giving us the history and blueprint of what can only be dreamed about in north India. Started in 2000 the prime-time program has resulted in a win-win situation for all involved. They have also had a reality program on classical music going for the past 3 years. She claims it is all in the packaging. Who can dispute it with the kind of results she has had? To a question whether the content has been diluted she replied that the traditional kutcheri formula was adhered to. A later speaker, the A.I.R. director Shri Mandloi perhaps in an oblique reference to her presentation said that content is all important (rather than packaging). When I think of some of the deathly dull music presentations I have seen on Doordarshan or even in concerts I cannot agree. Both are obviously important.
Shri Mandloi listed the impressive facts of A.I.R. and all the plans and sanctions for the future. Obviously everything had been taken care of! Nayan Ghosh had really thought about things that could improve with A.I.R. and had excellent ideas in my opinion. His suggestions and other audience responses were brusquely dismissed by Shri Mandloi who, as I said, has already taken care of everything.
Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan gave an interesting presentation on new media, social media and music. Their work with Underscore is interesting. They do not only talk and talk , they do! Bravo to them. It almost seems like different worlds meeting in the videos they have made- the English-speaking urban techies and the traditional artists and instrument makers. Will this world eventually meet in English cyberspace or Marathi, Hindi, Telegu etc.? Looking at population statistics and internet usage in China and Japan the inevitability of English is not certain.
traffic solutions?
This is a letter I have posted to the newspapers. What is going to become of Haji Ali, Horniman Circle, Kalbadevi, Bhuleshwar, Peddar Road etc. etc.? bye bye I guess! I like the Bandra-Worli sealink. It is beautiful. I see it from my window. It hasn’t reduced the traffic on Cadell Road at all. The JJ flyover too is great fun. I love going over it. Have you been underneath it though? The noise is unbelievable and the traffic- the usual slow snarl. I think it is a shame how this city is run, no accountability, no common sense, no vision, and no one at the top. Dear Sir/Madam, Recent articles on new road projects linking south Mumbai beg the question: do we really want more cars cluttering up the space? Even old buildings in Kalbadevi are seen as impediments to road widening. Why not take a look at strategies developed in European cities with many more years of dealing with traffic? Traffic planning there has been developed to limit as much as possible vehicular movement in city centers. This is being accomplished by expensive inner city day passes, reduction of lane space for cars, promotion of bicycle, pedestrian, and public transportation. Contrary to what I hear many people say, Mumbai has one of the best public transport systems in the world. Unfortunately no importance is given to modernization and development. The suburban trains and buses have changed little over the past 30 years and the ticket queues have only grown longer. In Mumbai the automobile is destroying a beautiful city. The latest scheme, an expressway on reclaimed land along the coastline would permanently disfigure the city. Along with the expressway along the eastern that is planned to end somewhere around the Asiatic library, south Mumbai will see a huge increase in vehicular traffic. Like the hideous skywalks (useless), monorail project (going from where to where?), cluster developments, the Shivaji memorial or slum rehabilitation, very little thought is going into these projects. The huge waste of public money that was the Bandra-Worli Sealink and especially the fiasco of the Worli-Haji Ali part of that project should have given us some lessons. I suggest leave certain things alone, and instead develop the already existing infrastructure, increase the east-west connectivity, and develop the one really sensible project- the bridge from Sewri to Nava Sheva. James Stevenson
Parveen Sultana
I have never met this grand lady but my friend Jon has. I think it was through Buddhadev DasGupta, the sarod player, the brother of Begum Sahiba’s husband. He was very impressed by her homely warmth and hospitality. I admired her loyalty to her husband for many years she would only give programs if they were along with him- and he was/is a very unlikable singer. Her career suffered. Some years ago though she started again singing solo to the relief of music lovers. Kishori Amonkar and Begum Sahiba, as different as could be, are the reigning divas of Hindustani vocal music, in my opinion.
Begum has always been known for her superb voice and technique. Her creativity is remarkable. Two comments she had made during concerts I had attended years ago I will always remember. Once during rag Madhuvanti she paused to remark that (perhaps contrary to the popular idea) Madhuvanti is a deceptively difficult raga. Another time during a stunning Megh, she remarked how the taans in this raga should be sung with power and demonstrated with impressive descending patterned taans.
More than anything I admire her charismatic stage presence. She does not throw tantrums, or have “off days” as far as I can tell, and she has the grace of a bygone era . She is of course the only female Muslim singer among the top singers. Isn’t that remarkable? Her emotional romantic connection with the audience is perfectly suited to thumri singing and she is a great, electrifying thumri singer. I believe it is a question of temperament. Many female khayal singers sing thumri in concerts but some fall flat- Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, Shruti Sadolikar, Kishori Amonkar, Kesarbai Kerkar, for example, even though they may be great khayal singers. Among current singers i find Padma Talwarkar, Manjushri Kulkarni-Patil and Shubha Mudgal excellent thumri singers.
It is not so different with male singers. The greatest- Ustad Faiyaz Khan, and the late Pt. Mahadev Prasad Mishra. Pt. Ulhas Kashalkar sings bandish thumris very well but bol banao…… that is something else. According to Kalidas, the well-known music critic in Delhi the best thumri singers in India are Rajan and Sajan Mishra, relatives and from the same Benares gharana as the great Mahadev Prasad Mishra. I assume that living in Delhi Kalidas knows them and has heard them sing thumri. Alas, not the public. they do not sing thumris, even if requested. I have no idea why, but perhaps it has to do with the “mirasi” tawaif culture of their background and a desire to distance themselves from it.
kishori amonkar and padma talwarkar
On different evenings I recently attended Padma Talwarkar’s malhar program at St. Xavier’s and the first public showing of Amol Palekar and Sandhya Gokhales’ documentary film on Kishori Amonkar. Both were magnificent! Padma’s musical creativity and emotional commitment are impressive. Her student accompanist in vocal was outstanding. I did not catch her name but she is certainly a young woman with great possibilities. Kishoritai was present at the screening of the documentary on her. In her brief comments she noted that she is a witness to classical music dying. She was though happy with the film. It was hagiography and beautifully done. It was not superficial. In fact it was densely packed with serious thoughts and ideas and I would like to see it again! I particularly liked the film clips of her mother giving talim and the clips of kishori giving a lecture-demonstration in Pune in 1986. It is hard to believe she is 80 years old. May she continue singing for many more years.
stories in a song
Last night I attend the performance of “Stories in a Song”, a series of 7 vignettes highlighting aspects of Hindustani music. I loved it! I like the idea- to use theatre to tell the stories of the songs. The music and execution were impeccable. One wouldn’t expect anything else from Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan! The acting and singing were by the group “Arpana” and they were extraordinary. I particularly liked the full mujra thumri beautifully sung by Ketki Thatte, the hilarious nautanki, and the kajri akhada. I will add some criticism that I hope will not offend anyone. I think the first item about Buddhist nuns could be dispensed with altogether. Hindustani Airs about the interaction between and English memsaheb and a tawaif could be improved. Both characters seemed caricatural and the English lady very shrill- the story cliched despite the wonderful unexpected opera aria sung by the English lady. I would have liked a better story for the copyright, ownership segment, or even dispense with it altogether as it seems out-of-place with the other story lines and character development is weak. The story material, acting, singing, music and production were simply excellent. It does strike me that if these stories could somehow be woven together to make a whole, the effect could even be more impressive.( just an idea) Credit must go to Shubha Mudgal who conceived this project. She is an impressive singer, a remarkable speaker, and an active partner with Aneesh in various projects like this one. She is also a warm and generous human being. The performance was dedicated to the memory of Ashok Ranade who passed away in July.
Khansaheb’s Program at IIT Powai
IIT did a fantastic job of organizing this program. Khansaheb sang superbly, lalita gouri, puriya dhanashri, megh malhar, surmalhar, bahar, sohini, and shahana malhar. This was one of the rare programs where the sound was excellent- very low reverb, not too loud, and the right mix of vocal, harmonium, and tabla. I do not know if they use that same mix for the video, but I understand that it will be available on the IIt’s youtube channel. I have saved the name of the outfit that did the sound for future reference- NJ’s sound machine (in Powai). Many thanks for the program and hospitality.
coke studio
Thanks Devina for directing me to coke studio. And you are absolutely right, the Pakistani version is much better than the Indian. From what I understand the Pakistani v. was the original and its success spawned the Indian v. If any of you don’t know it, it is a fusion program, folk, rock, classical mixed together. It can be viewed on Youtube. What makes the Pakistani version so vibrant, and the Indian so dull? I have to admit to not having seen many of the Indian shows so am not really qualified to judge. Leslie Lewis though is in charge of the Indian show and I never liked his music with Colonial Cousins (with the wonderful Hariharan). Richa Sharma is not one of my favorite singers. I didn’t see Rashid Khan do anything outside of his box (except imitate that fantastic singer from Pakistan whose name I cannot remember). Could it be soul? Either you have it or you don’t and if you have to ask, you ain’t got it (paraphrasing a quote from some soulman).
listening session on Shobha Gurtu
Tushar Bhatia gave a very nice presentation on the music of Shobha Gurtu. The clips were well-chosen. The panelists (3 students of S.G., including Shobha Joshi) were guided to give interesting comments. The old Doordarshan clips were really remarkable, especially an extraordinary duet with Nirmalla Devi. Some of the clips are available on youtube, but not that one. Shobha Gurtu was a unique singer and her genius was beautifully presented.
Ustad Aslam Hussain Khan
I have been learning with Khansaheb, Aslam Hussain Khan for the last six months or so. I can say only wonderful things about him. He is a gifted musician and teacher. It is a wonder that such a treasure does not have students knocking on his door. I believe there are very few vocalists of his caliber and vast knowledge who teach like him. I am grateful to my other teachers and they were good too. Khansaheb though has a special talent. Why doesn’t he have more students? I think maybe students are not aware of him and his teaching skills. There is no obvious way to find a vocal teacher in Mumbai beyond word of mouth or recommendation. Perhaps some students might prefer what they consider a more intellectual approach (i.e. Hindu brahmin). As these youtube videoclips that I edited show Khansaheb is an excellent performer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=janUTg7GnOI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzwPfLO_xEg Would you believe that he is over 70 years old, crippled, diabetic and other physical ailments? His singing has the vigor of a 30-year-old.
Shivanand Patil R.I.P.
I was asked by Khansaheb if I would accompany him to the Shraadanjali function for Sivanand Patil. I hadn’t even realized he had died. Khansaheb said that he had had a freak accident getting down from a bus. I had heard him sing once years ago. He was a good singer struggling like many others to make a successful career. Khansaheb wanted to attend as he knows SP’s widow Yojana Patil. Khansaheb is in a wheelchair and negotiating stairs, lifts, taxis etc. is not easy. Yojana was dignified and graceful. She did something unusual which was to sing herself- a full rendering of puriya dhanashri, then abhang, natya sangeet, and bhajan. She is a very good singer and I particularly liked the items after the raga which were sung with much emotion. A doddering Sushila Rani Patel was stopped when departing to say a few words. After all the Marathi and some Hindi tributes she chose English and said to the effect that she had just heard something unique and very beautiful- a widow singing at the shraadanjali of her husband. There are others who might have found it inappropriate and strange. I have great respect for her and the way she conducted the proceedings in her profound grief.
sangitache suvarnayug
“The Golden Age of Indian Music” , a docu-drama on the developments in Indian Classical music from 1850 to 1950 was screened at NCPA yesterday along with a discussion with the filmmaker Anjali Kirtane. I found some nice things about the movie, some superb archival photographs and recognition of some largely forgotten singers. Ram Deshpande was the music director and I found the music on the whole very well chosen and sung. Who was doing the singing though? The credits at the beginning rolled by very quickly and even if recognized might be difficult to place in the film. I think Shruti Sadolikar singing as Kesarbai Kerkar and Raja Mian as Faiyaz Khan (with all the medals on the lapel) seemed odd. Why not use some of the superb audio clips, easily available and out of copyright of those artists instead? What Shruti sings is itself very odd if it is supposed to be a reflection of Kesarbai. Since this is billed as a documentary I think the dramatized singing parts should have been captioned like this: “Raja Mian” singing in the style of Faiyaz Khan”. This is really for me just a basic matter of recognition and respect that should be given to these and other superb singers who have really done an impressive job. It is not so important if this film is intended only for children. It was not stated that this is a film for children but I believe the simplistic representation and historical narrative along with the drama recreations are really meant for youngsters. The history presented is the standard textbook version, one that does leave out many big names, Begum Akhtar, Azmat Hussain Khan, Bholanath Bhatt, Ashiq Ali Khan, vishvamadev chatterjee and any other singer from Bengal or Rampur. I asked the filmmaker about this and that it seemed to me to be a history of classical music in Maharashtra. Although the “golden age” was supposed to be a 100 year period, it only presented the history in the 20th century. Smt. Kirtane said that this is just one film of many that she is making and the full story is still on its way. It was mentioned in the film that Hirabai Barodekar was the first woman to present khayal in public (1921) paving the way for many others. Is this true? What about Vidyadharibai and Zorabai Agrawalli? Didn’t they perform khayal in public? For me the unrecognized prodigious feat was accomplished by Siddheshwar Devi, Begum Akhtar and others in bringing the tawaif music of the kotah to the public concert stage defying the raging puritanism of the period by their charismatic music. I would recommend to the filmmaker to drop the device of the drama recreations and make something more adult. The stilted formal dialogue could be substituted by relaxed informal interviews and anecdotes. For example Raja Mian giving specific vocal examples about Faiyaz Khan’s music could be very interesting, as Wynston Marsalis did in talking about Louis Armstrong and others in the “Jazz” documentary series by Ken Burns. Smt. Kirtane is passionate about her subject and knows film making well. For some reason she does not want government or corporate grants and relies on individual donations. I wanted to ask her the reason for this, but felt I had already asked her enough questions. It will thus be a slow movie making process. One last peeve: Why the excruciatingly loud volume????
time management
I went to a program on the occasion of Ustad Azmat Hussain Khan’s birth centennary at karnatak sangh this morning. I thought I was quite late arriving near 11 a.m. Although the program was supposed to have started at 9a.m. the first singer, Nandu Dhaneshwar was still in his vilambit khayal. Notable was the absence of any amplification of the tambouras. With no harmonium, just violin, the vocal was quite naked, and not very appealing. Next was a sitar player I hadn’t heard before, Ravindra Chary. He was really excellent. Again, although the sound quality was very good, the tabla was too loud in relation to the sitar. I do not know if it was because the tabla player is quite high profile, Fazal Qureshi, or what reason it could have been, that delicate balance is too important to ignore. I also wished he had not played his vilambit gat at all and gone straight to his madhya lay composition. Time was short. Ustad Aslam Hussain Khan sang laccha lalit, raga and composition credited to alladiya Khan (ahmed piya). This variation on lalit has traces of rags laccha, shubra gouri, hindol and malashri. After this he sang two bandishes in husseini todi. It was a short program but he sang beautifully. Kishori Amonkar attended the program, a rare occurrence probably in recognition of her ties with Ruby Mansion via one of her gurus, Anwar Hussain Khan, and the atrauli- jaipur gharana connection with Azmat Hussain Khan. She was of course a neighbor when she was living in Gowalia Tank with her mother.
Hindustani Idol?
I have been told about the tv reality show Carnatic Idol, similar to indian idol and saregamapa, but only a competition of classical carnatic singers. This show on Jaya tv (Tamil) has a huge following and is more oriented toward advice and mentoring by the judges rather than the overwrought histrionics and idiotic judging that often mars the mumbai film music competitions. I have written about these shows in a previous post and I enjoy them when there are good singers. I like that the line is not so firmly drawn between classical and film music. Granted, saregama used to be more serious about the singing with an emphasis on quality songs from the 60′s and 70′s and guest judges like girja devi, hari chaurasia, etc. Asha Bhosle’s comments as a judge were insightful and pertinent to any kind of music. She also took that opportunity to say some controversial things concerning music directors of the past which Raju Bharatan has discussed in his recent book “A journey down melody lane”. On the other hand the huge success of these singing talent shows has meant that the talent search across India attracts thousands of hopefuls. Most who make it to the finals are really very good, it seems to me. Ghulam Ali had chosen some wonderful singers from Pakistan too in pre-competitions there. Srinivasan from Hyderabad who won the telegu version of Idol then went on to win the last season of Indian Idol didn’t come from a musical family but had extraordinary talent that certainly had me viewing every week. I also went back to see on You tube what he had sung in telegu. The challenging songs he has sung make any distinction between classical and filmi irrelevant.
The question is could a only classical oriented program work in North India? I think there is a huge interest. Latent interest maybe- untapped, unknown and invisible. It cannot compete with the monotonous bollyvulgarity in that holy grail of trps. In the classical sphere there is no unifying institution or event in the north equivalent to the “season” in Chennai, Shruti magazine and the Hindu newspaper. The stars in the classical music world in north india are common, Rashid, Ulhas, Ajoy, rajan and sajan, kishori, parveen, shahid, amjad etc. Yet what do people in mumbai know of the next level of instrumentalists and especially tabla players in Kolkatta? Not much. Nor do the Bongs know much about the 2nd level of singers in mumbai, like Ashak Khadilkar, Vijaya Jadav Gatliwar, Manjusha kulkarni-patil etc. Some of the stars under the leadership of Arvind Parikh have a group that has garnered media attention and met the politicians. I have the highest regard for Pt. Parikh and I hope they are able to come up with some good ideas. The two people who I personally would like to see provide leadership would be Smt. Shubha Mudgal and Smt. Shanta Gokhale. I think they have clarity of vision and the ability to change the status quo . Shubha is the person I could imagine creating the tv show in a new exciting way. Highly successful tv shows in the West like “Lassie”, “The Flintstones”, “The Beverly Hilllbillys” , “Startrek” and “the Apprentice” were new risky ideas whose success was not automatic. Classical music on tv cannot be presented any more as a concert with the predictable intro formula. I myself have seen too many dull programs with pathetic sound out of the little tv speakers- and I love classical music! On the other hand I have found Birju Maharaj talking dancing and singing to be riveting viewing. The late Pt. Ramashreya Jha speaking on music was an incomparable enlightening and entertaining experience. Smt. Shanta Gokhale spoke at the sra seminar earlier this year about the need to change the formula of music criticism is it were to be resurrected and her ideas are relevant in the medium of tv as well.
I think that when it comes to judging any kind of singing talent show the right attitude is important. Positive criticism is better than negative fault-oriented. Here is a blog criticism of that of the Carnatic Idol show http://inthehandsofgrahas.blogspot.com/2011/02/contestants-humiliated-on-carnatic.html I have seen humiliation on the Mumbai shows too and it is irksome coming from the likes of Himesh Reshamaya, Adesh Shrivstava, Abhijeet etc.
I also think that the value of the reality shows like saregamapa is that it helps to de-mystify classical music. The esoteric reputation promoted by the brahmin brigade, (universities, auditions, etc.) is long overdue for some puncturing and I am all in favor of the crossover work of Sonu Nigam, Shubha Mudgal, Rahat Fateh Ali, and especially the brilliant cd of Fateh Ali Khan (not Nusrat fateh ali) called Bandish. I remember the film that Nicolas Magriel showed at the sra semainar some years ago on the youngsters in the mirasi communities in rajasthan learning music from their fathers. What I found interesting was the reactions from the Mumbai music world. I read the excited response to an excellent film as a interesting new discovery to be promoted, indicating the uninformed insular nature of the classical music community. I believe most of the participants in these talent contests know the basics of classical music at least, and some much more than that! It is not the equivalent of pop music and classical music in the West. Maybe Kishore Kumar and K.L. Saigal did not have classical training. Not everyone is a genius.
Mumbai Infrastructure
This post is about the plight of this city. I feel passionately about it and the blog allows the full rant.
Although the subject is not music I believe an artistic eye can see beauty and value where the pluke will just see old=ugly and a money making opportunity. Mine is just another voice added to the outcry against the wanton destruction of the character of this city. If this kind of insanity continues, fuelled by extraordinary real estate prices and out of control corruption, in the future our current era is likely to be seen as the last gasp of a great city and there will be much regret.
white elephants
It wouldn’t be so bad if the civic authorities did nothing and let things be. Instead they are hellbent on making as much money as they can and the easiest way seems to be graft in awarding contracts. The muddled infrastructure projects in this city, the lack of planning and vision, are detrimental to the future well-being of the city. Common sense, the advice of experts and the shared development experiences from around the world are just ignored. Accountability? Forget it- “nothing is ever my fault”! In the name of progress and development the half-baked schemes have been going on at a fast pace. Maybe it is slowed down somewhat now that Adarsh, Lalit Modi, Raja etc. etc. etc. has been exposed. The vulgar unabashed scale of the corruption has tipped the balancecc. Admiration for the super rich turned to disgust with even Ratan Tata’s reputation getting tarnished with the Radhia tapes.
The Bandra-Worli Sealink was initially opposed by the World Bank, environmentalists and traffic planners. Yet it was built at an exorbitant cost. Although it is an impressive structure it is not very user-friendly, with very limited bus service and no pedestrian or bicycle access. It has now been reported that usage by vehicles is half of what was predicted. The land reclamation done at the mouth of the Mithi river for the project has also been cited in the National Geographic special on the floods of about 3 years ago as one of the causes. Worst of all is the limited utility of the bridge. After all these years the continuation beyond Worli is still undecided. Reliance Infrastructure still claims it is building the Worli-Haji Ali section while at the same time reports in the newspapers claim that the government wants a coastal road. If either is ever built it will be an eyesore that will forever alter the beautiful little bay at Haji Ali. They say the dargah will not be damaged but an entry-exit interchange is proposed there. After Haji Ali that insane idea of an elevated road over Peddar Road is still on the cards! Peddar Road is not wide enough and the commuter traffic chaos that would ensue during construction can only be imagined. Newspapers report that along with that a tunnel is likely to be built from around Priyadarshini Park to near Wilson College. I doubt that will ever happen because of the expense. Why do the authorities want more cars in South Mumbai? I guess so they can get to their offices quicker. They are already quite comfortable in their chauffeur driven mercedes. No need to worry about parking with chauffeurs too. Personally I find driving and parking a nightmare in south Mumbai and prefer the trains- comfortable, convenient and no waiting! I find it odd when people here complain about the public transportation. Both the bus system and trains are among the best in the world. What is glaringly obvious is the lack of interest by the government in improving them. The trains and stations have hardly changed in the past 30- 40 years. The new Siemens coaches that were introduced have had many technical issues, are dangerously high from the platforms (people have slipped under them), and were painted a colour that highlighted paan stains. In contrast to the neglect here, in London congestion charge was introduced and central London flooded with modern buses. There is no doubt the strategy to limit cars has been successful. Most cities in the world desire this- except Mumbai.
Another disaster has been the skywalks. There are some places where they have been successful but the majority are unused. It was so obvious before they were built but those with the idea and those making money from it were not listening. Now they are proposing to add escalators to get people to use them! Dream on. ….. These ugly dirty constructions have ruined the areas where they have been built. There are many dangerous foot over-bridges in need of repair and crossings of main roads where pedestrians could benefit from underpasses or at least pedestrian-friendly signals. The government people do not care about pedestrians.
Another danger for this city is what is called “cluster development”. Large areas of south Mumbai have been targeted for demolition under this sinister scheme. It is an idea that has been unsuccessful in the housing projects for Blacks in large American cities, the “Estates” of south London built in the 1960′s , the banlieue projects of Paris, and the monstrous dilapidated housing of Moscow. Kalbadevi, Bhuleshwar and Chod Bazaar are old beautiful areas that should be preserved rather than destroyed. Buildings were constructed solidly with good materials and a broad architectural uniformity. The plukes with no aesthetic sense see only an opportunity to make money by constructing ugly modern boxes. The builders and many others see public parks as wasted space and would love nothing more than to build on the few that remain. Across Europe cities have protected their old central areas which have become highly desirable for residential and commercial. Isn’t it obvious that the main problem in Mumbai is the pugree system where rent is protected at ridiculously low rates, the landlord has no incentive to repair (the tenants cannot be evicted)? I understand that that is oversimplifying the problem but with some kind of incentive the area could be improved.
This is a diatribe of the negative obviously, and I haven’t even gotten started on Dharavi, another complete mess on the government side. The Zoo, beautiful as it is now, is slated for some no doubt hideous makeover.
East-West connectivity projects are sensible. The cross harbour bridge from Sewri to Nhava Seva first proposed back in the 1970′s is a great idea but if and when that will ever be built, who knows? The tendering process was a fiasco involving the Ambani brothers’ feud.
Newspapers dutifully report all the schemes from BMC or MMRDA in an optimistic tone. And why not? The intentions sound reasonable. Yet after the litany of failures how can they control what everyone feels in this city- overwhelming cynicism. Most projects are purely cosmetic, as if looking good or hiding poverty will make a difference. 2 or 3 years ago large, ugly concrete planters were given out and placed along the footpaths. Since no thought was given to the plants or to maintenance within 6 months they were looking like hell. They can still be seen here and there with the odd one or two maintained by a local resident. Likewise about a year ago with fanfare plastic garbage bins were placed along the footpaths. Although they were well attached to posts and looked nice there is not a trace of them now. The only place to throw garbage in Mumbai is on the street.
Credit where credit is due- the interlocking paver blocks mainly used on side roads really look great and have a nice feel. It is another matter that they were poorly laid in many areas and sometimes just months after laying repairs were required. In my locality along cadell rd. near Hinduja hospital the classy kotah stone sidewalks were unnecessarily dug up and replaced with the sidewalk pavers that could not be considered an improvement.
It seems to me that the overwhelming problems and lack of direction and vision in solving them is at least in part because of the administrative setup. There is no one person in charge. The mayor is for the most part a titular position with no real power. Thank goodness for that too. The current mayor had a couple of bizarre proposals. One was to ship all the stray dogs out to a property outside of the city (reminiscent of concentration camps). Another was to turn the Mahalaxmi race course into a parking lot! No, it is not a joke. Mercifully we do not hear the pol/babus harping on turning Mumbai into another Shanghai. It was pie in the sky and the wrong model to follow, nor is it a beautiful city. Here there really does not seem to be anyone in control of the city government. New York is lucky to have a dynamic mayor like Bloomberg, and London Boris Johnston. Something like that is necessary here. Dynamism, honesty, efficiency and sensible development are needed here urgently.
sra seminar at ncpa
It is that time of year again, for the yearly seminar on music at ncpa. Many are cynical, and I have been too, but I am now an appreciative enthusiastic supporter of it. I have heard many interesting discussions and learned many things. It is easy to criticize but at least they are doing it! Many thanks to Pt. Arvind Parikh Wim, Suvarnalata Rao, Ashok Ranade and the other organizers. I unfortunately missed Saturday completely and much of Friday. I had wanted to hear Alyn Miner’s presentation on 19th century texts but only caught the end of it. It was interesting to hear her recorded rendition on sitar of a composition notated in a Urdu or persian publication from the 19th century. I am looking forward to reading more about her research. Along with Katherine Butler Brown she is a pioneer in the exploration of largely neglected manuscripts in urdu and persian from the 18th and 19th centuries. A gentleman from California addressed the audience to note the large presence of foreigners on the panels and among the research scholars. This elicited a response from Suvarnalata Rao that there is no promotion or discrimination in the choice of invitees and that her invitations to present something sent to as many of the universities in India with music departments as she knew about yielded almost no response. She remarked that even the 2 Mumbai universities didn’t seem to have any representative there. On the other hand Rajesh Kelkar came down from Baroda University with 26 students. My feeling is that perhaps more attempt could be made to encourage Hindi researchers who, as things stand now, might feel intimidated by the emphasis on English. I do think the experiment of having simultaneous translation into English for non-Hindi speakers that was done at least one year for the seminar is an excellent idea and worked very well. That year Ustad Aslam Hussain Khan, Savita Devi and Purnima Chaudhuri gave very interesting talks in Hindi. Shri Goswami who has written the remarkable book on Sadarang has not been called to the seminar and remarkably the late Pt. Ramashreya Jha an incomparable authority on Hindustani music and mesmerizing speaker (in Hindi) was never invited to the seminars. The seminar did miss something this year. Nicolas Magriel has been doing a research project on children learning music in traditional families and has made remarkable films. The footage of the children learning at different periods over years and sometimes even generations is very interesting and well done. Nicolas was invited to speak on another subject and I hear it was very good nonetheless. It was a treat to listen to Smt. Shanta Gokhale again this year. She speaks beautifully and is clear and forceful in her thinking. I couldn’t agree more that music reviews need a lighter touch, very different from the hackneyed approach of the previous decades. Mr. Murli the editor of the Hindu was the moderator of the session and he spoke very well about the current situation. The Hindu still of course has its reviews in the Friday supplement and although I do not often see it, I always remember back in the 1970′s and 80′s when I would go to Madras and avidly read the reviews in the Hindu. Even though I knew nothing about Carnatic music or the artists the reviews were so well written and interesting I loved reading them. As in any kind of reviewing, that is really the test of a good review. Despite Mr. Murli sitting next to him, Nandu Dhaneshwar declared the review “dead”, at least of classical music in national papers. He sees the preview as having taken the place of the review. In the next panel discussion on music across national boundaries Wim did an excellent job of focusing the discussion and many interesting points were raised. Time was too short for this subject; I would have liked to have heard much more from each speaker. It was fascinating that the musicologist from Uzbekistan remarked that in that country Indian music is known by film music and that when she has tried to present classical music it is not thought of as authentic. Shubha Mudgal was brilliant and provocative. She remarked on how representations of Indian culture sent to foreign countries often now are of the Bollywood lip-sync, hip gyrating variety, and the recipients of government largess in general tend to be from the region or community of the current holders of positions of authority. She mentioned Steve Gorn’s name in connection with his being nominated for a Grammy award, which I didn’t know. Steve was in the audience and is a modest gentleman (and a truly fantastic musician) . Shubha mentioned this in the context of him, although playing Indian music, was not recognized here in India for the nomination whereas any NRI no matter how distant from India culturally or musically is wildly celebrated in the media. On Saturday night I attended Ulhas Kashalkar’s concert at Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre. Bhup was excellent and Suresh Talwarkar in great form. The barwa bandish after “baje mori payelia” for me was just ok. Faiyez Khan really set the standard for that and I think it needs the support of one or preferably two singers behind. The harmonium of Sudhir Nayak was just too loud, and although he is very good I wish he were more subdued. After the intermission Ulhas began Hamir. I am so familiar with his commercial recording (champa chameli) and it began so similarly that I didn’t feel like staying. It is true that however good he is and all his qualities his treatment of all ragas is very predictable and can start to be boring if he isn’t careful. He doesn’t have the ability of some singers to break the sameness with thumri.
recently in Mumbai
I was awaiting a cyber attack after my criticism of Ajoy Chakraborty’s lec-dem. It never came, thank goodness. Last weekend there were a lot of good music programs in Mumbai. I would have liked to hear Vijaya Jadav-Gatliwar, one of my favorite singers who had a concert with Shruti Sadolikar on Saturday in memory of Mallikarjun Mansur. Instead, I had an obligation to go to Malad for Aslam Hussain Khan’s program. It wasn’t easy to find the venue and I arrived at 7:30 p.m. At that time the sitar player who was supposed to have started her 30 minute program at 6:30 hadn’t even appeared! She of course played for an hour and who can blame her, having come all the way from Kolkatta for this? Although Khansaheb was not happy about this delay he was just magnificent. It seems odd to see him lifted on the stage from a wheelchair- the infirmity so at odds with his vibrant, youthful singing. He sang two wonderful compositions of Murad Khan in rag dhani “singharwa mein kese karu” in jhoomra and “krishna murari” in teentaal and after that a teentaal composition of “dilrang”, Azmat Hussain Khan “navela bana aye” and his own composition, a “naat” in tappa style “tenu alah diya amaan”. I had to leave and missed the concluding item. I did hear from someone who Kishori Amonkar’s performance on the concluding day of Gunidas Sammelan at NCPA was a disaster. We all know how moody she can be. I must congratulate Maharwal Mahipal Singhji of Dungarpur for his website: http://dungarpurmusic.com/index.htm I particularly like the tribute to the great Batukbhai Diwanji and the excellent coloring of the photos.
Although it doesn’t concern music, today I learned that the builders are planning to destroy chod bazaar. Is there no limit to their destructiveness? Last week there was an article about the imminent destruction of one of the remaining old bungalows in Kotachiwadi. What this city will look like in 20 years I cannot imagine. The heritage people and sensible people who value this city’s beautiful architecture are no match for the politician/builder nexus.
Catherine Potter R.I.P.
What a shock to hear of Catherine’s death! Such a lovely person and good friend. I admired her dedication to her music and her ability to make a living from playing bansuri. She was one of the few of Hariji’s students to look beyond those seemingly addictive classes that in my opinion give a limited interpretation of HCM. i was aware of her knowledge of western music and whatever she did in fusion in Canada was serious. She was a very loving and loyal friend and I will miss her very much. Here is a link to a memorial website: www.memoria.ca/RechercheFunerailles/?q=potter&id=4637.
Ajoy Chakraborty
Last night Ajoy Chakraborty gave a lecture demonstration on Patiala gayaki at NCPA. I like the idea of lecture demonstrations and especially have enjoyed those of Ramashreya Jha and Arvind Parikh (in his elaborate several part series on Vilayet Khan). Ajoy Charkaborty’s though was not in that league. It was a more or less scripted lec-dem that gives a superficial view of Patiala gharana offering few interesting insights, if any at all. His was an unctuous performance praising Bade Ghulam ali Khan and his daughter, Kaushiki. He himself of course is really insignificant (of course- “one paisa”). There is nothing wrong with praising the great Bade Ghulam ali Khan but very little was said about others from Patiala gharana. He stated that at SRA in Kolkatta when he was associated with it (15 years I believe) the only research that had been done was on Patiala gharana, and that other research on gharanas was planned but…… If this is the case, isn’t it odd for an institution called the Sangit Research Academy? What was the result of the research on Patiala that he was so involved in? He played a recording of exerpts of Yunus Hussain Khan commenting on aspects of a recording of Bade Ghulam ali Khan. Yunus Khan was a great scholar and musician but the very short examples such as a passage that was supposed to be a reflection of Tanras Khan’s gayaki was unconvincing, at least to me. I do not really understand the idea in a lec-dem to just play recordings through from beginning to end. I can do that at home. Stopping passages and commenting, highlighting things that we as uninitiates in the gharana may not hear is more interesting. Although a recording of Ahiq ali and Umeed ali was played there was no comment on it. What about the historical context- especially concerning Ashiq ali Khan? What about Amanat ali- Fateh ali, Nazakat-Salamat (granted not Patiala, but still), Mohammed Sarhang? I am a fan of Ajoy Chakraborty’s singing and I do not doubt his knowledge is great. The ingratiating phoniness of his manner and the promotion of his daughter put me off. Was it necessary too, after singing a bandish in bhairavi as a request at the end to have his student sing Bade Ghulam ali Khan’s sohini bandish from Mughal-e-Azam virtually note for note? We had already seen that his student was very good. AC also said that he had some 70 odd recordings of Bade Ghulam ali khan and said these recordings should be avaliable to the public, that there is no point in keeping them in private hands. If that is how he feels I wonder why these recordings are not out on the internet! Here is a truly awful version imho of one of the most beautiful famous thumris of Bade Ghulam ali khan sung by Kaushiki Chakraborty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jKrOOO4kBw&playnext=1&list=PL6031AF232F169B13&index=45.
