I have spent a few years of my childhood in Bangalore
(then). Now even her name has been changed and the city, drastically so! I am
not complaining, because change is an essential part of development, the only
rider being that the change be for the good. In all these years when the city
was busy growing up, her culture couldn’t keep pace and got left behind
somewhere. In the transition of Bangalore to Bengaluru, she became the ‘Silicon
Valley’ of India and saw a huge influx of people, growing vehicular traffic and
resultant water woes. The software companies made a beeline for the very ‘conducive’
business and environmental conditions that the city had to offer; and in
busying themselves with their own bottom lines, they forgot to notice that the
city was hitting rock bottom. The local language isn’t heard much anymore and a
‘pensioner’s paradise’ it has ceased to be; roads have been widened and
flyovers built at the cost of her once being the Garden City; iconic bungalows
which added to the beauty of the city gave way to concrete jungles to house the
growing population. And her music got muted!
Karnataka has been home to some great musicians, poets
and litterateurs – Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Dr. Gangubai Hangal, Pt. Kumar Gandharva, Pt. Mallikarjun Mansur,
Pt. Basavaraj Rajguru, Vidwan T. Chowdaiah, Vidwan Doraiswamy Iyengar,
Purandaradasa, Akka Mahadevi, Kuvempu, Shivram Karanath, Bendre, U.R.
Ananthamurthy and Girish Karnad, to name a few. Karnataka has also had the maximum number of
Jnanpeeth Awardees to her credit and many have been recipients of the
prestigious Sahitya Academy Awards.
When I read of the setting up of the Dr. Gangubai Hangal
Gurukul in Hubli I was happy that the government was taking an initiative in
the direction of promoting classical music. Prospective students were to be
selected from across the country and the faculty included the best from the field
of music. However, I was disappointed that the stipend offered to those who
showed an interest in studying classical music was a measly Rs. 2750 per month!
What saddened me more was that no corporate came forward to contribute to
developing that invaluable talent…
A society is recognised by its cuisine, music, clothing,
dance, language, art and literature. It is that very identity that sets it apart,
while simultaneously helping it merge effortlessly with another, without the
apprehension of the dilution of its own! Over the last eight years I have been
mooting the idea of active corporate participation in the cultural arena.
Ofcourse, there are companies such as the ITC who are
doing a great service in that direction through their Sangeet Research Academy
in Kolkata. Having said that, a corporate’s responsibility does not end with
sponsoring or organising a few classical music/dance concerts for the benefit
of its employees. It must involve the education, enriching and sensitisation of
it’s employees towards the culture of the region.
With the Companies Act (2013) making ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’
compulsory for companies, “this approach also reaffirms the view that
businesses are an integral part of society, and have a critical and active role
to play in the sustenance and improvement of healthy ecosystems, in fostering
social inclusiveness and equity, and in upholding the essentials of ethical
practices and good governance”[1].
The reference
note from the Lok Sabha Secretariat also details the areas where CSR would be
applicable.
I wonder why cultural responsibility does not come under the
purview of ‘social responsibility’….
One of my favourites, because my father sings this!
A veena and sarod jugalbandi:
Vidwan
Doraiswamy Iyengar and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
P.S. for the record, I was born to a Maharashtrian father (brought up in Tanjavur) and a Kannadiga mother (brought up in Delhi); I grew up in places across India, thanks to my father's occupation. May be I belong everywhere...or nowhere!
P.S. for the record, I was born to a Maharashtrian father (brought up in Tanjavur) and a Kannadiga mother (brought up in Delhi); I grew up in places across India, thanks to my father's occupation. May be I belong everywhere...or nowhere!
1 comment:
Shobha, it makes me feel proud to know you. You have amazing set of skills at your disposal. Wonderful write up and the musical presentation. I dont listen to a lot of classical music, but whenever I have given a ear to it. I know it is worth the effort. I can talk a lot to you on the transition of Bangalore, and where things have gone wrong here. I will narrate my understanding of Bangalore too from the early 1970s days. Also what I saw when I finally landed here.
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