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Music

An interview with world's youngest music genius 'Chitravina' N Ravikiran

MEGHNA AMEEN
CHILD prodigy 'Chitravina' N Ravinkiran is known as the "prince of Carnatic Music' who was born of a desire to share the joys, beauties and numerous other positive qualities of Carnatic music with the rest of the world. He began his career in 1969 at the age of two stunning everyone by identifying over 325 ragas, 175 talas and by answering various technical questions in Carnatic music. He started giving full-fledged vocal recitals by the time he was five, and switched to the chitravina (a 21-stringed fretless instrument, considered to be one of the most difficult to handle) in 1979. He is the recipient of many awards: Sangeet Samrat, Kalaimamani, Star of India etc. The International Foundation for Carnatic Music (IFCM) was founded by him in 1990.
MA: We all know that Carnatic Classical music means South Indian Classical music which is one of the two major systems (the other being Hindustani or North Indian Classical music) of Indian Classical music. My question is why is its name 'Carnatic' as it is not used in only part of Karnatak. Don't you think the name should be South Indian Classical music as it is sung all over the Southern part of India?
CNR: Carnatic has little to do with the state of Karnataka today. The word Carnatic means "classical and pleasing to the ears." Thus Carnatic music is about a system that is classical and is pleasing to the ears. There is no doubt that its base is in South India but today, it has spread across the world with thousands of students and resident musicians and hundreds of organisations in numerous countries. Thus, the name, Carnatic music is most appropriate for this system. I sometimes joke with my friends that the name Hindustani music is not truly reflective of what it is since it is more a blend of Indian and Persian culture!! This is only in a lighter vein, of course.
MA: From my own experience I noticed that some people -- especially the music lovers -- have a kind of fearfulness about Carnatic music. Usually they make this type of com-
ment: "Oh!, Carnatic music is very hard: compared to Carnatic music, Hindustani music is much more easier." What is your opinion on this matter?
CNR: I totally disagree. I have taught Carnatic music to people from many parts of the world, including Americans, Canadians, Germans, French, Africans and Indians from Punjab, Gujarat or Bengal, to name a few. They have all found NO problems learning Carnatic. In fact, they have all found it a great experience to learn it and have been captivated by its beauty. I wouldn't say Carnatic is harder or anything. But I'd certainly say it is a very sophisticated system, more challenging sometimes, since there are more details to be focused on. Thus, one has to work hard on more aspects but this challenge is a very positive one, in my opinion. Also, Carnatic music is extremely well organised and scientifically well defined in many areas which makes it easier. Another thing is: BOTH Carnatic and Hindustani have many similarities which makes it easier for people with Hindustani background to study it.
MA: What you have just said, I agree with you completely. But I think this is applicable only for the Carnatic music learners and regular listeners. I am talking about those peoples and musicians (like Bangladeshi) who are not familiar with Carnatic music at all. As a Carnatic music listener and learner I myself switched from Hindustani classical music to Carnatic music only a few years back, as I found this type of music very systematic, structured, and richer than any other music system. There are types of people who don't want to put any effort in music but to obtain fame as quickly as possible through different media's. To be in love with Carnatic music listen-ers/musicians have to have a very elegant taste in music; or in other word Carnatic music is not for all kind of music lovers. What do you think?
CNR: I agree with you that the way in which Carnatic Music is PERCEIVED or projected by some people may make it seem that way. Actually, to gain reasonable excellence, any system demands a lot and Hindustani maestros have worked very hard to gain perfection in their
areas. There are no short cuts to success in any system and Carnatic music is no exception. But one way to look at it may be that there are areas where it is more challenging than any other system and there are areas where it is easier than some other systems. For examples, Carnatic music is full of many simple songs, which are in catchy tunes and easy for even 3-4 year olds to learn. On the other hand, there are sophisticated masterpieces which will take months to understand and perfect for even seasoned professionals.
MA: The concept and system of Carnatic music is unparallel in the history of the word 'music.' Then why isn't it more popular than any other music system especially Hindustani Classical music?
CNR: Carnatic music today is almost as popular as any other system in the world. It has been featured in most major festivals in the world including the Millennium Festival and the Olympics. It has a wide following in several countries and more and more artistes from other countries are working with top Carnatic musicians today.
MA: I can't agree 100% with your opinion. Yes, Carnatic music has been featured in Millenium festival, Olympics etc. But with all do respect let
me ask you this: The way the music lovers around the world (including Bangladesh) are crazy about Ravishankar, are they crazy in the same way about Ravikiran? In USA I saw with my own eyes how much Americans are fond of Zakir Hussain, do they feel in the same way about. T K Murthy? We both know that, the answer is 'No.' So according to my opinion Carnatic music is getting popular day by day, but not as popular as any other music system even though it is the best music system. And I also definitely believe that some day in near future Carnatic music and the musicians will be more popular than any other music system in the whole world. Am I right?
CNR: Here we have to remember one thing. Hindustani music was exported much earlier than Carnatic to
the rest of the world. Around the 1930s, my grandfather, Gotuvadyam Narayana Iyengar, was one of the first ever Carnatic musicians to set foot outside of India and perform but even then, his travels were more in Burma, Malaysia and Singapore region. Only since 1960s have Carnatic musicians gone to places like US or Europe and considering this time lag, Carnatic music has made amazing progress to be featured in the kind of festivals I described. One other factor which has helped this is the jugalbandi concerts between Carnatic and Hindustani artistes and also the fusion exploits of artistes like L Shankar, L Subramaniam, Vikku Vinayakaram and so on, who are quite well known in world music circles. It's only a matter of a few years for more artistes to become household names!!
MA: Don't you think Carnatic music itself is not responsible for not being popular that much?; it is rather the Carnatic musicians who are responsible for this by keeping themselves in a such a low profile.
CNR: What you say was true about 15-20 years back. Today, it is among the most popular since several top Carnatic artistes have been touring the world continuously, performing in high profile festivals, collaborating and composing with leading world artistes/orchestras which has firmly placed the system on par with the other premiere systems in the world
The main thing I may like to suggest would be for everyone to be positive about beauty and quality. The people who have them should be willing to share and spread it. The people who receive them must have an open mind and not worry about where it is from or who is giving it. This real appreciation of beauty will make life enjoyable for everybody in the world and bring people closer together. In the context of Carnatic music, it is one of the most exquisite systems that can be appreciated emotionally or intellectually or even spiritually, if one is inclined that way. And, I urge the present and future generations to forget region or religion and just get immersed in beauty!!
Meghna Ameen is a Director of Sarva Sree, the first Carnatic Music centre in Bangladesh.