Changing the template

TM Krishna on Friday chatted with media students at Sophia college for two hours PicNimesh DaveSiddamma G Algonda 50 a transgender singer Jogappa based in Karnatakarsquos Managoli village Bijapur district is excited about his evening concert rendition at Mumbairsquos Sitara Studio today It will be his first visit to the city and the second instance of sharing the stage with Carnatic music vocalistpublic intellectual TM Krishna famously known as TMK who has been in Mumbai since December 2 for ldquoconcerts and conversations on music art and societyrdquo in four distinct venues Sitara is the last Mumbai stop before Krishna flies off to Anaikatti as Project Day Chief Guest at a school for underprivileged children and Siddappa along with four fellow Jogappas three from neighboring Belgaum district and one from his own Bijapur will see if there can be more to their lives than subsisting on alms asked in the praise of Goddess YellammaSagar Bhaskar the artiste in white saree from Belgaum TM Krishna centre Siddamma the senior artiste from Bijapur seen at the first Jogappa concert at the beginning of 2016 in BangaloreldquoWe have been singing in a routine way while going doortodoor for our jogwas but not for an invited urban audience never for a ticketed show of two hours like the one in Mumbai So we are happy that our everyday Kannada and Marathi bhajans sung in praise of Lord Ganesh Shiva Vitthal and Renukamata have become so central to a musical eveningrdquo explains Siddamma who is elated that TMK not just sings with them in his idiom offers a commentary on their lives in English and Hindi and most importantly rehearses with them before the show The other Jogappas are also happy about the continued engagement with him and also the Bangalorebased Solidarity Foundation which positioned them in the concert setting at the beginning of 2016 Satish Kerba Pasare adds ldquoI have lived most of my 30 years in the beedimaking town of Nipani Ever since I took on the female form in a saree and the name Rakhi five years ago I have always sung in temples Thatrsquos why being on stage with a singer who considers our folk songs equal to his art music means a lot to us It brings alive the song we sing with him karbhari anand zala manalardquo Pasare hopes meeting newer people in Mumbai may open new doors for a matriculate like himTMKrsquos collaboration with members of a sexual minority is a coming together of not just two distinct styles of music but also two distinct types of performers on stage It adds a new layer to Mumbairsquos cultural programming because the concert is located in an auditorium in a Lower Parel slum Sitara Studio owner Nikhil Hemrajani calls it ldquomusic which goes beyond concerts which takes the narrative forward and encourages new partnershipsrdquoAmong the new equations that TMK has formed mdash a vibrant one was seen at Sophia college where media students with no particular grounding in Carnatic or Hindustani music chatted with the multifaceted selfcritical and everexperimenting TM Krishna 40 for two hours For an author A Southern Music mdash 2013 who received the Ramon Magsaysay award this year and for someone known to speak well on artrsquos power to heal social divisions such an interaction was natural But it must be noted that it is an uncommon gesture in the world of classical music mdash whether in the south or the north of India mdash where an open dialogue with the uninitiated is not the norm In fact that is one of the reasons why Dr Sunitha Chitrapu head of Sophiarsquos Social Communications Media department finds it worth replicating in Mumbai colleges ldquoMost young people have a vague idea of any classical form They feel it is something cerebral something their parents didhellip Thatrsquos precisely why talking about it is important especially by an artiste who brings a wealth of social understanding to his practicerdquoThe Karnatic Modern concert is also an attempt to curate in a way that is sensitive to and feeds off the energies of diverse art spheres It tries to question the demarcation of the city into cultural zones For instance the idea of a Carnatic concert in a south Indian neighborhood of Sion or Chembur subscribes to the accepted idea of the city as a cluster of earmarked monolithic zones in which hardcore Hindustani music rasikas will balk at the prospect of going to the Shanmukhananda Hall to hear Carnatic music and vice versa The credit for locating TMKrsquos Carnatic music concert December 3 at the Veer Savarkar Hall in Dadar mdash a supposed mainstream seat of Hindustani classical music tradition mdash goes to First Edition Artsrsquo founder Devina Dutt who has worked towards materialising the Karnatic Modern itinerary for over seven months Dutt feels that since TMK is an artiste of many parts and a symbol of renewal in Carnatic music he was the most suited to take Mumbairsquos art lovers across all social and ethnic dividesShe and the artiste himself was not interested in a threeday blitzkrieg but an extended conversation between art practitioners and audiences across genres In that context TMKrsquos Manodharma the Carnatic term for improvisation December 2 lecturedemonstration at the G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture an intimate space in a retrofitted Mahalaxmi mill was also a long overdue cultural dialogue between Carnatic and Hindustani music systems in the presence of senior Hindustani gurus like Pandit Arun Kashalkar and Ashwini Bhide Deshpande and students The facetoface encounters between practitioners of the two forms of classical music have been extremely rare ldquoThe general belief in the Hindustani world is that Carnatic music tends to be low on creativity and improvisation But this raises fundamental questions of the very definition of creativity and the aesthetics and musical philosophy of each system of music This was thus an opportunity to understand how Carnatic music is made and what its aesthetic values arerdquo says DuttAt the root of Karnatic Modern is an attempt to generate ldquoan interest in the otherrdquo and discourage the rise of insularity which is sadly one of the characteristic features of an otherwise open and egalitarian Mumbai In fact insularity is common to many performing art forms theatre and dance included practiced in the city The First Edition Artsrsquo publicity videos on Karnatic Modern therefore involve voices from a wider arts community which underscore the need for healthy exchanges between diverse arts The videos featuring theatre director Sunil Shanbag and author Jerry Pinto show TMKrsquos connect with likeminded artistes who question hierarchies and feudal power play in the artsKarnatic Modern is an important slot in Mumbairsquos cultural calendar for another reason TMK though a Chennaibased artist appreciates Mumbairsquos performance culture in its totality And this is not just because he has performed in Mumbai over the years but because he is sensitive and alive to dissimilar performance traditions and power structures governing the arts in contemporary India In his own words ldquoThe Mumbai texture allows for greater interaction between people of different economic and social backgrounds Yet like any city in this country Mumbai simmers with tensions of casteism patriarchy and regional chauvinism Therefore unless these issues are directly addressed things do not changerdquoOne concert tour cannot make an overnight change in a cityrsquos culture But one vocalist can certainly trigger critical thinking and introspection on matters musical and otherwise Sumedha RaikarMhatre is a culture columnist in search of the subtext You can reach her at sumedharaikargmailcom