The great Indian Culture!

I didn’t get why all that fuss over the BBC documentary about the ‘Nirbhaya Gang rape and Murder’ that shook the whole nation back in Dec 2012, totally for the wrong reasons. All those ‘Conspiracy’ theories and illogical statements by political leaders (The so called leaders…don’t know why should they still be called ‘leaders’!!) and even by ministers in the government…. What the hell is wrong with these guys?? 

 I couldn’t find the actual documentary on internet, but got this NDTV debate show with the maker of the documentary Leslee Udwin, Kiran Bedi, Parents of Nirbhaya, Vani Tripathi and others on YouTube and found it quite interesting and educating. The debate opens up many issues ranging from the mindset of Indian men, cultural bias, sociological & psychological reasons, shortcomings of law, delay in justice & many others!  

As I understand, this is what the documentary probably contains: few interviews of convict and the defense lawyers – wherein, one of the convicts of that ghastly crime, recounted his crime, showing no regret or remorse at all, and held the victim herself responsible for her rape and murder. He even went further and said that the victim should not have tried to fight back, as that made the gang to inflict more sever beating causing her death later. Also the defense lawyers made similar remarks, after reading some of them, made me think are they humans or animals? To give a sample, read this: 

 " Woman is like a diamond, or a flower..very soft, whereas man is like a thorn, strong! A flower always needs protection. If you keep sweets on the street then dogs will come and eat them. Why did Nirbhaya's parents send her with anyone that late at night? He was not her boyfriend. Is it not the parents' responsibility to keep an eye on where she goes and with whom?"   

 These lawyers looked like & talked like the villains of a typical Bollywood movie, rather than real life personalities. It simply shocked me, to know that such lawyers (rather villains) exist. I have to admit now, that Bollywood’s claim is true, that they only show what happens in the real world!

 If this is what the documentary contains, and I am sure BBC or for that matter any other Indian or International broadcaster of the civilized world would never ever defend or justify, these interviews or the views expressed in them.  So where is the question of convicts getting a platform to justify their crime etc etc…the fear these politicians are worried of?? If the reality is this, then let them show that to the world!

 I don’t understand what has happened to all these MPs and MLAs, even the women MPs/MLAs are asking to ban the documentary! And the reasons, they have given to justify ban, are indicative of the mental retardness of our representatives and hence it is worrisome.

Instead of congratulating the filmmaker for her research & initiative, instead of making this documentary be shown on each and every TV channel to spread it in every nook and corner of the nation, instead of bringing law and police reforms, instead of sensitizing lawyers and police to handle crime against women, instead of facilitating an initiative of debate and dialogue within the society on gender inequality so predominant in India since ages, look what these politicians are doing!!  The BJP Government had an opportunity here to show to the women of India, that they care and they are concerned about the gender inequality and the prevalent biased mindset of lots of Indian men, if not all!  Perhaps PM could have told his ‘Man ki Baat’ on this issue to his fellow Indians!  

Sometimes I feel, what the hell…..what are we so proud of…what kind of a culture??  At one hand, I remember mugging up an ancient Sanskrit Hymn ‘Yatra Naryastu Poojyante, Ramante Tatra Devataha’ (Literally meaning, ‘God is found or God likes to be there, where Woman is worshiped’) when I was in school, and at the other hand growing up with, witnessing around the society in general,   ‘Purdah’, ‘Ghoonghat’, ‘Dowry and bride burning’, ‘Female infanticide’, ‘rapes’, ‘Honor Killings’, ‘Eve Teasing’!!  
I wonder what the ‘Pooja’ or worship is for? I don’t think any girl has ever asked for that…!  We are not giving her even the minimum respect and consideration, but showing off in the temples and in other rituals that we not just respect but worship women!  What a farce…!!

In western countries like UK or US, they don’t worship women like us, but they practice equality… in all sense…be it gender, color, creed, or religion. Yes stray incidents happen there too, no body is denying that fact, but based on my personal experience of living for 3 and a half years in UK, I can surely say it is a much better place for women than India even if we consider only the safety and respect aspects of it.

But I am still not able to understand this anomaly, “how did things ever get so far? It is so unfortunate…so unnecessary!” (In words of Don Vito! All ‘Godfather’ fans would remember the scene! :-) ).

I am an avid listener of Indian classical music, and feel that it is so spiritual and so perfect & complete as a music genre, as compared to other world music traditions. Similarly the ancient Indian Yoga and Ayurveda traditions are now spread allover the world, as a much more complete and natural way of healing. The ancient texts and scriptures talk of ‘Swayamvar’ wherein the girl had the authority to choose her husband. Similarly ‘Kamasutra’, the unapologetic and bold work dealing with sexuality in days when today’s developed world considered it a sin to even talk about it!! 
If I try to put all these threads together, it makes me wonder, how such a civilization, complete in most areas of life, could have become so ignorant and abusive for half of its population??
Nevertheless, I want to believe, in that India was not such a bad place for women in those times, and hence I want to believe in that we can once again get our sense of equality back…specially the gender equality.  Amen!!

The 62nd Sawai Gandharva Festival 2014-15

The 62nd Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Joshi Music festival, ended last Sunday. A 4 day 3.00 pm to 10.00 pm, musical treat for those who find a bliss in listening to Indian (to be precise North Indian or better known as Hindustani) classical music. I had bought the 4 day 'Bhartiya Baithak'(Means sitting cross legged on the floor with mat, instead of chairs) Pass, though could go only on the weekend due to office on other days.

It is always a great feeling visiting Sawai Gandharva festival. Along with the musical treat, I get to see lot of middle class maharashtrian families, and even yougsters who are probably like me, atleast in this department!  People coming in such a large number, and that too, for Hindustani classical, is unbelievable for even me, because I was used to seeing plenty of empty seats in a classical music concert! And hence, then I felt better, knowing that I am not the only one left alone of my species in today's world, where classical music, that too Indian classical, is not considered 'cool', where a Guitar is considered to have more prospects of winning heart of a girl, than a 'Sitar'.  :-))
Ofcourse when I used the word 'today's world' , I meant the world around me, the thriving IT industry.. those people in a t-shirt & a 3/4th with their company id-card hanging by their neck..typical scene in Pimple Saudagar - favourite place of IT people to stay, the MBA executives and general folk around me.. But as I read on internet and witnessed in the festival too, that Western world is taking a lot of interest in our music and its popularity is increasing day by day there.  By the way, I too work in IT industry and I stay in Pimple Saudagar. :-)

Anyways, let me not waste anymore time in coming to the details of the festival.
Saturday afternoon 3.30 pm,  as I am entering the New English School ground, the open-air venue for the festival, I can hear a formidable voice humming a known raag. And once I take my seat, I am sure that it is the Raag 'Bhimpalasi' and the guy is singing some Patiyala gharana bandish.  Now please don't think that I am a learned musician, and that's why I know about this. It is because I have the same bandish by Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan of Patiyala gharana with me, and have listened to it many times, so the style and notes sounded familiar to me and hence my conclusion.
This was a young Ramakant Gaikwad, and he was singing with such emotional content, that connected the audience immediately. After this, he also sang another bandish 'Ja Ja re apne Mandirwa' in the same afternoon raag, and again, I have the same bandish sung by Pt Rajan Sajan Mishra of Banaras. But he sang it a bit differently, and that's the beauty of Indian classical music, the same raag, same set of musical notes, can be represented differently by different artists, as per their own imagination and temperament, within the fixed set of rules and boundary. And each presentation can be a unique experience for the listeners!
Ramakant, ended it with the much famed thumri of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, 'Yaad Piya ki Aye' , in raag Kaushik Dhwani, also known as 'Binna Shadja'.  It was not exactly the way I would have liked it, missing those crisp and clear taans of Bade Ghulam Ali, but still it was beautiful rendition with brining out the 'bhav' of the raag & also the lyrics, and that's what made the audience to chant 'once more'!

I must say that the anchor, Anand Deshmukh, who has been anchoring the Sawai gandharva festival since last 25 odd years, is one of the best anchors I have ever seen in music concerts. Very Polite, and very knowledgeable, and knows the pulse of audience very well. He sensed the mood and agreed with audience showering praise for the young man's display of artistry, and then very smartly apologized for the lack of time, and moved forward in inviting the next set of artists.
I also got to listen to the 'Rudra Veena' recital by Ustad Bahauddin Dagar, of the famed Dagar family of Dhrupad musicians. As I got it from wikipedia, he represents the 20th generation of the Dagar lineage dating back to 16th century. Rudra Veena is an ancient Indian classical string instrument, with two large round resonators at two ends of it. Very few people learn & play it nowadays, and it was a unique experience to listen to Raag Patdeep on this instrument, and I liked it when the Rhythem kicked in, with Pakhawaj being played by Manik Munde. But the initial alaap in the lower octave notes was a bit boring, as the sound gets very low, making it hard to follow.
I didn't stay further, as I had some other tasks to finish, so by 7.00 pm I left the show only to come back on Sunday evening at 3.00 pm again.
Sunday evening started with again a young violinist, Ambi Subramanium, son of the famous violinist L. Subramanium (Husband of Kavita Krishnamurthy). Since I joined late, I am not sure which ragam (as they call it in Caranatic classical music. For the uninitiated, it is the south Indian classical music, and again it has a long history & tradition of its own.), he was playing, but it sounded a happy & soothing raag.
His jugalbandi with the 'Mrudangam',and 'Morsing', a tiny instrument that can not be seen, as it hides in the hands and mouth of the performer, was wonderful.   More information about this tiny instrument can be found on:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morsing
After this, he played the raag Dharmavati, whose equivalent in Hindustani classical is the raag Madhuvanti.
It is a beautifully sweet sounding raag with a bit sad emotions, and I have the records of Ustad Salamat /Nazakat Ali and Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, so I was very familiar with this raag. I just loved the way he played it, gradually starting with alaap and bringing out the emotions with his improvisations,and automatically I said 'wah kya baat hai'! Indeed there is some connection with raag and the time of the day when it is sung/played. The late afternoon had become so still & melancholy started creeping in, due to the notes of this afternoon raag.The guy indeed has great talent and sure his father, who was present in the audience, must be feeling proud of him.
After the violin recital, Meeta Pandit of Gwalior gharana came on stage, but I didn't like her singing, lacking that control over notes.  So I just came out of the 'Pandal' and strolled down the stalls, selling food varieties and music CDs, books & so on, bought few MP3s, had 'Ukdi che Modak' & 'Sabudana Wada' as snacks and just strolled down here & there, observing people and enjoying the atmosphere.  I was amazed to see people having such interest in classical music, and as I said before, I felt good about it.
Again, I could not stay till the end, as I had some other work, and missed on the last recital of the Dr. Prabha Atre of Kirana Gharana who is now 84 year old, and still looks elegant with all white hair and a matching silk saari.  May be next year...

I hope to visit next year, and year after that, and so on.....as this is the only place to find people like me and hence to feel better!!