What's a musician without instrument?
Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia said poignantly "Jinho ne vaadya kalakaar ko jeevan diya, vaadya banaye hain - bina vaadya ke koi sangeet gaa hee nahi sakta, bajaa hee nahi sakta- aaj wohi hamare bhai behen buri haalat mein hain".
All over India, instrument makers are facing a perilous future as there has been no business for three months, and no likelihood of any for another minimum six months. With no concerts, who needs his instrument tweaked? Everyone has been affected – sarod, sitar, harmonium, sarangi, tamboora, veena, tabla, pakhawaj, mridangam, flute, violin makers – the list is endless.
Some mridangam makers from Mylapore Chennai have already abandoned their crowded shops and headed home to the Kumbhakonam/Tanjore areas, realising there will be no business for a while.
Noted Carnatic singer Bombay Jayashri remembered how she would slow her car to soak in the sight of mridangam artists in convivial discourse outside the shop, sharing memories, bound together by the common interest that dominated their lives through music.
Kshitij Mathur of the 'Swarit Foundation' is trying to raise money for instrument makers; an online week-long festival of young instrumentalists from all over India will draw attention to this issue. As Kshitij said, "We have been hoping the government would announce a financial package but as there has been nothing so far, we are trying in our own small way".
Artists without work are getting desperate too. An accompanist in Kolkata tried to commit suicide. There have been incidents of artists from the folk traditions in Rajasthan resorting to begging. In such a situation, insisting on your children doing regular 'riyaaz' rings hollow.
In faraway California, the 'Indian Classical Musicians Association' has started an online weekend concert series for minimum two months, starting this week to raise awareness on artists needs. Mahesh Kale plans to support needy artists throughout India through this campaign, as well as give talented artists a platform. As he said, "It is not only about feeding your body, but also feeding your soul, and for an artist, an audience is vital to feed your soul."
The crowd funded campaign 'Assistance for Disaster Affected Artists' (ADAA) is assisting 132 artists throughout India for a period of six months while many others are donating liberally. Perhaps one of the most touching stories was a 'nadaswaram' artist in Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu, who on receipt of getting some financial help, insisted on sharing it with 10 other similiarly placed artists in need.
Indeed, reaching out to artists is quite a problem as there is no all encompassing umbrella association either of musicians or instrument makers. Private association's memberships are miniscule with artists not bothering to register themselves as they feel there will be no benefits. The 'Global Carnatic Musicians Association', which is one of the most active and prominent association, has less than 300 members! There is also no significant association of musicians and instrument makers in North India.
Looking after artists financially by the Centre and State governments is important, but the zonal centre's list of artists does not include all performing artists. Institutions like 'ICCR', 'SNA' and 'IGNCA' can use their allotted budgets for festivals to aid performers. 'All India Radio' and 'Doordarshan' can help by commissioning concerts from their empanelled artists.
In the words of Dr Sonal Mansingh incidentally, the arts world most visible spokesman in her capacity as Rajya Sabha nominee, rather ruefully commented, "Performing artists don't feature in government schemes, they don't qualify for any relief, despite being the guardians of our great Indian heritage."
(Shailaja Khanna writes on music, musicians and matters of music)
