Fight update (Shankar 1, Banditji 0)
Rajan P. Parrikar
From Hindustani Times, April 27, 2000
(Go to http://www.hindustantimes.com and do a search on "Jasraj")
Pandit Jasraj should apologise’
New Delhi, April 26
(UNI)
SITAR MAESTRO Pandit Ravi Shankar has denied charges that he ever lobbied
for the nation's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, or that he held
out threats to get land for his institute in Delhi.
In a letter sent from California to renowned vocalist Pandit Jasraj who has
made these allegations from time to time, Mrs Sukanya Shankar said that the
charges against her husband were unwise, false, and callous.
Mrs Shankar has also sent the copies of letter to the President, the Prime
Minister, the Chief Justice, and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and leader of
the Opposition Mrs Sonia Gandhi.
Mrs Shankar also denied the charge that Pandit Ravi Shankar had first been
taken abroad by Pandit Chaturlal and emphasised that in fact it was the sitar
maestro who had paid for the foreign trip as Chanturlal had been his disciple.
Pandit had recently celebrated his 80th birthday with the announcement that
the Ravi Shankar Institute had become operational. The institute is situated
in a prime plot of land in Chankyapuri in south Delhi.
At the outset, Mrs Shankar says "for some time now and for reasons of your
own which I am quitely unable to fathom, you have been making false and
scurrilous attacks on my husband, Pandit Ravi Shankar".
She said her husband had never lobbied for any award, and the Bharat Ratna
had been accepted by him from the President of India with deep sense of
humility and reverence towards our country.
The committee for the Bharat Ratna includes the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Chief
Justice of India or his nominee, and the opposition leader in the Lok Sabha.
In view of this, the allegations made by Pandit Jasraj "discloses disrespect
not only to my husband but alowards the highest institutions of our country'.
“Pandit Jasraj should “immediately and unconditionally retract your
statement and tender public apologies not only to my husband but also to
the people occupying the highest constitutional positions in the
country starting with the President India,” she added.
kartik...@my-deja.com
Has he already apologized?.He refuses to discuss the matter in any
interview that he gives .So I think that can be considered as an apology
Read the interview he gives in www.dhadkan.com
http://www.dhadkan.com/classic/index.html
And Dear Rajan
While I completely disagree with Banditji's views on Ravi Shankar,I
certainly think that he is a much better artist than you and Warren
give him credit for.
Bye and Thanks.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
bdixit
controversy, but most recently on a TV show called "Janata ki Adalat" he
made additional charges against Pandit Ravi Shankar, and the letter by Mrs.
Ravi Shankar, that was published in Hindustan Times of April 27th, is in
response to these new charges. I do not know when these "musical
stalwarts", like Pandit Jasraj going to show some cerebral maturity and
behave in a responsible manner and stop this game of mud slinging. ....
Balwant Dixit
kartik...@my-deja.com wrote:
--
Balwant N. Dixit
University of Pittsburgh
541-2 Salk Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Tel No:(412) 648-8582
FAX No:(412) 648-8475
maha...@my-deja.com
Many members here use very strong words against the artists they
dislike. But I think, unlike Pt.Ravishankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan,
there is no diehard Pt.Jasraj fan on the forum. Otherwise surely there
would have been another war.
Regards,
Maha
In article <8ebcdh$4i$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>,
A.Pavan
> As far as I know he might have refused to discussed the "Bharat Ratna"
>controversy, but most recently on a TV show called "Janata ki Adalat" he
>made additional charges against Pandit Ravi Shankar, and the letter by Mrs.
>Ravi Shankar, that was published in Hindustan Times of April 27th, is in
>response to these new charges. I do not know when these "musical
>stalwarts", like Pandit Jasraj going to show some cerebral maturity and
>behave in a responsible manner and stop this game of mud slinging. ....
>Balwant Dixit
>
I was in India recently and happened to see this show (Janata Ki Adalat)
where the host questioned Jasraj about his remarks on Ravi Shankar and the
Bharat Ratna. Jasraj vehemently defended his statement that Chaturlal
was the one who made the travel arrangements for Ravi Shankar and was
the first to clear through customs at JFK so technically Chaturlal was
the first one to step on this enchanted land. :-)
One thing for sure - Banditji is good entertainment value, musically,
or otherwise :-) Total paisa wasool ... :-))
Regards.
Pavan
Keith Erskine
: In article <390995C4...@pitt.edu>, bdixit <bdi...@pitt.edu> wrote:
: > As far as I know he might have refused to discussed the "Bharat Ratna"
: >controversy, but most recently on a TV show called "Janata ki Adalat" he
: >made additional charges against Pandit Ravi Shankar, and the letter by Mrs.
: >Ravi Shankar, that was published in Hindustan Times of April 27th, is in
: >response to these new charges. I do not know when these "musical
: >stalwarts", like Pandit Jasraj going to show some cerebral maturity and
: >behave in a responsible manner and stop this game of mud slinging. ....
: >Balwant Dixit
: >
: I was in India recently and happened to see this show (Janata Ki Adalat)
: where the host questioned Jasraj about his remarks on Ravi Shankar and the
: Bharat Ratna. Jasraj vehemently defended his statement that Chaturlal
: was the one who made the travel arrangements for Ravi Shankar and was
: the first to clear through customs at JFK so technically Chaturlal was
: the first one to step on this enchanted land. :-)
As if it mattered who booked the flight and made the first step.
Yehudi Menunin was the one who arranged Ravi Shankar's trip to the west,
and it was most certainly for Ravi's sake, NOT Chautar Lal.
Back in those days tabliyas were considered merely accompanists,
NOT the stars or even on equal footing with instrumentalists -
so it is absolutely nonsensical to assert the concerts in the west
were to premier a tabliya.
The pettiness of it overwhelms me.....
Keith Erskine
I don't speak for HP.
fird...@my-deja.com
bdixit <bdi...@pitt.edu> wrote:
In fact this mud-slinging and leg pulling amongst indian
musicians is nothing new ; stories abound both in oral folk and written
texts about how rivalries were played out both overt and covertly ,
esp. after the music practitioners moved from temples to Moghul courts.
Perhaps it did'nt use to be as uncivilised as in the era of
Banditjis . In my personal experince ; take away the musicianship of
most of the latterday music craftsmen , they behave no better than
fleas trying to carve their terrtories around the nether orifices of a
stray mongrel!!
Firdausi.
> As far as I know he might have refused to discussed the "Bharat
Ratna"
> controversy, but most recently on a TV show called "Janata ki Adalat"
he
> made additional charges against Pandit Ravi Shankar, and the letter
by Mrs.
> Ravi Shankar, that was published in Hindustan Times of April 27th,
is in
> response to these new charges. I do not know when these "musical
> stalwarts", like Pandit Jasraj going to show some cerebral maturity
and
> behave in a responsible manner and stop this game of mud
slinging. ....
> Balwant Dixit
>
> kartik...@my-deja.com wrote:
>
> > Has he already apologized?.He refuses to discuss the matter in any
> > interview that he gives .So I think that can be considered as an
apology
> >
> > Read the interview he gives in www.dhadkan.com
> >
> > http://www.dhadkan.com/classic/index.html
> >
> > And Dear Rajan
> >
> > While I completely disagree with Banditji's views on Ravi Shankar,I
> > certainly think that he is a much better artist than you and Warren
> > give him credit for.
> >
> > Bye and Thanks.
> >
> > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
> > Before you buy.
>
> --
> Balwant N. Dixit
> University of Pittsburgh
> 541-2 Salk Hall
> Pittsburgh, PA 15261
> Tel No:(412) 648-8582
> FAX No:(412) 648-8475
>
>
Arnab Chakrabarty
musical discussions. That way, the old stalwarts of rmic do not lose
perspective. Before I start with my new assault on Ravi Shankar and
Jasraj, and their henchmen, I would like to request Shri Parrikar for
the notation and lyrics of certain bandishes made immortal by the late
Smt. Kesarbai Kerkar. MAnan Kariye...? Gaud Malhar, a drut bandish in
Nat Kamod that has obviously inspired Bade Ghulam Ali's Chhaya (i am
forgetting the lyrics). Also, I find it very difficult to classify this
following bandish as Gaud Malhar. It ws recently performed by Shri Ulhas
Kashalkar and his extremely talented disciple Shireen Nath. (Saiya Mora
Re... etc.). The use of R M P D n P is a little confusing.
R M P D - n n P,- - - M P M G M
12 13 14 15 16 X 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11.
I thought you might be able to shed some light on this because of your
taleem in that gharana. Perhaps it was overlooked merely because of the
beauty of the bandish which might be affected if it was changed to fit
the raga? R M P D n D M P (M) R S is a Narayani phrase, and R M P D n P
M D borders on a raga called Arun Kedara. There are many, many other
ragas in that territory as well. Also, have you heard of any raga called
Maluha Chhaya? It does not make any sense to me whatsoever. Dilshad
Khan's 25 minute rendition of this is just a bad Chhaya with some
phrases stolen from Shuddha Nat and some from Maluha Kedar. His taan
construction would have to be considered very cerebral had he stuck to
pure Chhaya and not this antic.
RAVI SHANKAR AND JASRAJ
Both these men have demonstrated ample tayyari in their younger days,
and Ravi Shankar has also played many ragas correctly and well, nicely,
if you shut out Vilayat Khan from your mind (after that brand of sitar,
everything is bland irrespective of rAgdAri, as far as I am concerned.
VK and AAK are the only musician one HAS to excuse on this count).
RS is senile, and all his recent appearances on television in India bear
ample testimony to that. He is just like a toothless tiger today, but he
was a very capable man in his good days, both as a great musician and an
evil plotter. He deserves credit and respect for his efforts in making
ICM heard in the West. Chaturlal was a good tabaliya, but never of the
order of Kanai Dutta, Keramataullah Khan, Nikhil Ghosh or Allarakha.
Careful researching of Ravi Shankar's documents reveals that Yehudi
Menuhin was an acquaintance of the Shankar family since their Paris
days (Shankar, Ravi, 1983; Ghosh, J. P., 1985).
Jasraj is crazy, evil and arrogant. He invented a Mewati Gharana off the
footpath, and propagated some story about some Ghagge Nadir Khan and how
family tradition has it that the music is passed on from maternal uncles
(Mamas) to their nephews (bhanja). Ideal propaganda for promoting Ratan
Sharma. Married money. Never sang a single Raga correctly (used basant
phrases in bahar and never called it basant-bahar; used R M R S R n S RM
S R M M P in Dhuriya Malhar; butchered poor Darbari by using Adana
phrases: M P d, d n P S, S, S, R S d n P M - PdnS in the tar saptak. It
is a safe rule to avoid P S while approaching the tar SA). He just needs
an agenda to invite more media men to his house and bark away. Why did
he not have the balls to refuse the Padma Vibhushan?
Sukanya Shankar is the force driving the Ravi Shankar Machinery today.
She is one of the most manipulative and complicated person today. Her
marriage to Ravi Shankar was merely switching jobs from Swissbank to RS.
Anyhow, I think it is no use wasting time arguing over these characters
who have lost the patience and ability to sit down and think about
music, so why not just shelve this and get back to the real stuff!
Rajan P. Parrikar
>Jasraj, and their henchmen, I would like to request Shri Parrikar for
>the notation and lyrics of certain bandishes made immortal by the late
>Smt. Kesarbai Kerkar. MAnan Kariye...? Gaud Malhar, a drut bandish in
Nobody has done Gaud Malhar like Mallikarjun Mansur has. The text is:
mAnana kariye ri gori tore kArana Ayo mehA
hari-hari bhoomi pei barsohi jAye nayo nayo nehA
>Nat Kamod that has obviously inspired Bade Ghulam Ali's Chhaya (i am
Jaipur-Atrauli's Kamod-Nat is the well-known "nevara bAjo re"
which has a rather busy mukhDA. The following is what I recall:
nevara bAjo bAjo re te hAri bairana ki savana sunata hi
Enunciation of words per se has never been Atraulites'strong
suit. For them bandish structure is everything.
>ragas in that territory as well. Also, have you heard of any raga called
>Maluha Chhaya? It does not make any sense to me whatsoever. Dilshad
>Khan's 25 minute rendition of this is just a bad Chhaya with some
Isn't Dildo Khan (as he is affectionately called) Buddhadeb
Dasgupta's bro? Yes, I have heard the Maluha Chhaya for about
an agonising nanosecond. If I correctly recall wifey Begum
Parveen was also screeching behind him.
>RS is senile, and all his recent appearances on television in India bear
>ample testimony to that. He is just like a toothless tiger today, but he
>was a very capable man in his good days, both as a great musician and an
>evil plotter.
Allow me to intercept right here and remind you that you owe us
a detailed account of Ajoy Chakraborty's plots. We will definitely
get to RS's plots in the fullness of time but I propose that we
first speak of Ajoy's triumphs.
Warm regards,
r
Rajan P. Parrikar
the six-generations-teentAla-ONLY gharAnA panjandrum Vilayat Khan.
Warm regards,
r
ps: Germany has just announced a new malhAr prakAr - Gustav Malhar.
***********
The Express Magazine
February 13, 2000
The relationship between two maestros of Indian music - Ustad
Vilayat Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar - has often been discordant.
But it was never as shrill as on February 7. Then Khan, 72, a
living legend of sitar, called a press conference at Calcutta
and publicly rejected the Padma Vibhushan award conferred on him
this year, accusing the government of playing politics. Later,
he spoke to SABYASACHI BANDOPADHYAY, expressing his angst at
being relegated to second rank. Excerpts.
Q: What was your first reaction when you received the award?
VK: Let me make one thing clear. If you receive something
both courtesy and custom demand that you are informed. But till
today I have never received any kind of communication from
the government. What farce is this? On January 27 I was in
Singapore and there Indian envoy Prem Singh called me, saying:
"Congratulations Ustadji, you have received the Padma Vibhushan."
But till date I have not rceived any communication from the
government. I say I don't want the award. In 1964 I was
conferred the Padmashri and at that time too I rejected it.
Q: Why?
VK: My grudge is, well...first, I don't want awards. There
are crores of people in this country and abroad who love me and
respect me because of my music. That is my recognition. But
if the government gives me any award why is it always after
Ravi Shankar? In what respect is he better or superior to
me? I raised the same question in 1964 when I was conferred
the Padmashri. (Incidently Ravi Shankar received it much
before Vilayat Khan).
There are three things you consider before giving an award:
Seniority, gharana and fame. Now, on which of these is Ravi
Shankar superior to me? If you talk of gharana, he has no
gharana. Neither he nor his guruji Ustad Allaudin Khan had
any gharana. While mine is an illustrious family of ustads and
I am the sixth-generation exponent of the Etawah gharana.
Everybody knows about my father, Enayet Khan, my uncle Wahid
Khan, grandfather Imdad Khan and everybody knows the contribution
I have made to music as well as the sitar. I did all this silently,
keeping a low profile. And to speak of seniority I have been
performing longer than him, it has been 64 years on stage. And
if you speak of fame, then why not consider Lata Mangeshkar.
Q: Panditji has been awarded in recognition of excellence in
sitar and for his contribution to the world of music...
VK: One minute, one minute. First of all Pandit Ravi Shankar
is not purely a sitarist. The instrument he plays is structurally
more akin to the sarod. It has all of the sarod's features. In
fact, Baba Allaudin Khan was a sarodia who knew how to play the
sitar too. He was the band master in the court of Maihar and
he had to know how to play various instruments. But, of course,
he was a master of sarod. Now I don't know whether Ravi Shankar
has popularised sitar or popularised himself by mixing up with
the Beatles and fusing eastern and westernm music. But what has
he done for sitar?
Q: But how has he got the awards?
VK: By pulling the right strings at the right time and at the
right places. Now he is considered Mian Tansen of India, maybe his
statue will be built somewhere very soon. He has got excellent PR
and is very close to the government. But I have no objection to
that. Why do they neglect me? Why this politics?
Q: Can you tell me more about politics in music?
VK: In the early '50s I started the Sangeet Natak Academy in
Delhi. After some time, a person called Narayana Menon joined. He
started all this. He recommended people close to him for awards.
After some time as the atmosphere was vitiated by Menon, I left
in disgust.
Q: Have you and Panditji ever played together?
VK: Yes, in 1951 or 1952 - I cannot remember which year - I went to
a concert where both Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar
were playing together. I requested then whether I could play with
them. And you go through newspapers of those days: Wo dono chup
ho gaye the (Both became silent). After that I often sent feelers
to Ravi Shankar that I wanted to play with him, but got no response.
Q: There is a controvery about the gayaki ang in sitar. There are
several claimants to its invention.
VK: That's rubbish. I have heard that there is even a web
page on this. But I have enough material to prove that it is
solely my invention. I even introduced several changes in the
instrument to suit the gayaki ang. I started changing it since
I was 20 or 25 years old. The sitar you see today is different
by at least 60 per cent from the one that was found 30 to 40
years ago. And today even students of many sitarists, including
Ravi Shankar's, follow my style.
Q: Can you tell me something about sons and daughters of music
gurus being promoted by their fathers?
VK: It's there. I know how the sons and daughter are being
promoted by their fathers. But I have never promoted my sons
Sujaat or Hidayatullah.
Q: What is your message to everybody?
VK: Ban politics from music. Music should be left to musicians
and politics should be left to politicians.
**********
Vivek Sondhi
form in criticizing each other openly. But Indian music scene has been
vitiated by politics for a long time, and that the artistes are speaking
openly, is a welcome sign.
S.Kalidas has written a piece in the latest issue of India Today where
he makes the same point. Unfortunately, he does not reveal the identity
of the artistes involved.
Mallikarjun Mansur achieved nationwide fame only in the last decade
and a half of his life, when as he once put it, he was singing his
"retirement gayaki". In his prime, he was shut out of many of the major
festivals. Amjad Ali Khan has had some excellent students, but none of
them were given a fraction of the help he is giving his sons. Recently
there was a news item that Anushka Shankar was the first women artiste to
perform at the Ramakrishna Mission in Calcutta- does anyone seriously
believe that this had nothing to do with her father. Similarly the
amount of publicity Shubha Mudgal gets is not a linear function of her
talent- artistes like Prabha Atre have remained in relative obscurity.
Crossing to another artistic medium, there are many Delhi government
buildings which have sculptures (in my opinion, quite ugly) by Satish
Gujaral, which were installed during the time his brother I.K Gujaral
was the head of NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Committee). As Prime Minister,
I.K Gujaral prevailed upon the U.P government so sanction substantial
amounts of money for artistic adventures of his brother.
I guess that personal connections and public relation skills are
cultivated by musicians in all parts of the world. Ideally, it should be
the task of the newspaper music critics to expose the artistes who are
conniving against other performers and to write honestly about
performances. From my experience in Delhi,this rarely happens. Raghava
Menon, who has been the music critic for the Times of India forever, will
say nice things about everyone. A case in point is the annual vocal recital
of Vinay Bharat Ram in the DCM music festival- I never read an honest
review(by any critic), which stated the obvious, that it is a yearly
farce. I guess that none of the reviewers wanted to mess with DCM.
Whereas people may have different views on the relative merits of the
Imdadkhani style and that of the disciples of Allaudin Khan, there is a
strong case to be made that Ravi Shankar has received disproportionate
amount of government recognition and media coverage in India.
Vivek.
Rajan P. Parrikar
>It seems to me that some people think that our artistes are showing poor
>form in criticizing each other openly. But Indian music scene has been
>vitiated by politics for a long time, and that the artistes are speaking
>openly, is a welcome sign.
<etc etc etc. Rest of Shri Sondhi's cant deleted>
Activities such as bitching, back-biting, behind-the-scenes
manoeuvring, breeding cabals and so on are not unique to the
Indian musical landscape or to Indians (of course!). In these
intensely competitive times, most worthy human endeavours have
contracted their own set of afflictions. This Padma* Awards spat
reminds me of a particularly delightful essay by Prof. David Mermin
of Cornell, reprinted in his book "Boojums All The Way
Through" (1990, Cambridge University Press).
Warm regards,
r
*****
What's wrong with these prizes?
by N. David Mermin
It seems to me evident that the system of prizes, honors and awards
in physics has run completely amok, absorbing far too much of the
time and energy of the community in proportion to the benefits
conferred. Yet nobody complains. Every month Physics Today
routinely announces the latest crop of winners, and the major
American Physical Society meetings have sessions to bestow prizes,
the APS directory continues to distinguish the asterisked from the
unasterisked, and nobody ever complains. Why?
To ask the question is to answer it. Indeed, merely by publishing
the above paragraph I have probably already irreparably blemished my
reputation in the profession, and if Physics Today has actually
printed this column I imagine it can only have been after heated and
prolonged editorial debate. Much of this essay, in fact, sat aging in
my computer in a directory with highly restricted access for almost
two years. It was finally sprung loose by the 1988 Presidential
campaign, which filled me with so intense a loathing for those who
hesitate to speak provocative truths that I can no longer restrain
myself. Here I go.
Why does nobody ever complain? Nobody complains because there
are two categories of physicists: those who have won prizes
and those who have not. Winners cannot criticize the system. It
would be rude to the donors of their prizes. It would be offensive
to the committee that selected them and the people who wrote their
behalf. It would be a vulgar display of bad taste. It would be unseemly
to criticize a system one has benefited from before oters have had
their chance to win.
But neither can nonwinners criticize the system. It is not that a public
attack on, for example, the absurdity of election to the National
Academy of Sciences might jeopardize one's own chances for immortality,
for this would be a noble sacrifice. What freezes dissent for the
nonwinner is that it would be perceived as sour grapes -an unbecoming
outburst of petty jealousy. The only respectable stance for the
nonwinner is warmly to congratulate each new crop of winners, a kind
and gentle response to be sure, but one that implicitly endorses the
system itself, preposterous as it is.
At this point you may well be distracted from my original contention
by the question of which camp you are being from. I have wrestled at
some length with whether to declare myself at the outset or force the
curious into a possibly quite lengthy perusal of various arcane archives.
The only solution I have come up with is to invite anyone wanting to
know to send me a stamped, addressed envelope, which I promise to return
with an up-to-date CV.
Interestingly enough, by leaving unspecified my own level of glorification
it seems to me that I am, at least with those readers who deem it as
likely that I am glorified as not, doing considerably less damage to my
reputation for courtesy, tact and simple decency than I would have done
had I declared myself explicitly to be either of the two (exhaustive and
mutually exclusive) types. This is as close to a demonstration of quantum
interference on the sociological level as I have ever encountered. But
I digress.
I realized that the honor system had become a destructive force after
having assumed certain administrative responsibilities. Before that I
had never thought much about it one way or the other, occasionally
submitting essays on behalf of deserving I thought had been overlooked,
noting with pleasure the good awards, and with irritation or amusement,
the bad ones. Only recently did I learn ("How innocent can you get!"
you will say, dear reader - you who have known the dark side of awards
longer than I, and yet have never spoken up publicly against the whole
business) that these things are systematically sought after by organized
campaigns, routinely consuming oceans of time and effort.
If we don't put up all of our guys, they'll win with theirs, seems to be
the guiding principle. No point in disinterestedly recommending the
most deserving, irrespective of institutional affiliation, for such people
are already being backed by their own teams. Conversely, if we don't
push our own, nobody else will. The folklore in my corner of physics
is that it's the industrial laboratories that put up the most massive and
systematic campaigns, but in my experience the universities have
been quick to acquire the bad habits of all whom they deal with, and I
wouldn't want to say who are the worst offenders.
Once you start down this path the process acquires a crazy
momentum. If you have put across a winner you can't sit back and
enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done. Can one rest after X gets
prize A? Certainly not; 65% of all winners of the A Prize go on to
receive the B Medal, half of the B Medalists become fellows of the D
E of F, and it would be an irresponsible administrator who didn't go
for the whole pile. Worse, as even the slightest aura of glory becomes
attached to routine professional activities - for example, giving a talk
at a meeting - the point of selecting people for such jobs flips from
finding the best to supporting the team (which in the case of my team
[but not yours] amounts to exactly the same thing).
This stampede after glory, foreign and domestic, would be a piece of
harmless silliness, did it not involve such a substantial expenditure
of human energy. Most of us are asked to make other judgments that,
unlike the cosmetic decisions in the glory game, are of vital
importance to the professional survival of our colleagues. We are
asked to review grant proposals, we are asked to referee manuscripts,
we are asked to evaluate colleagues for appointments to new positions
or promotions. No responsible member of the profession could refuse
to do these things, but most of us do so many of them that we don't
do a very good job. We simply haven't the time.
I maintain that with all these serious demands on our attention, this
childish scramble after glory is a frivolity we can no longer afford.
How to relieve ourselves of it is less clear. It would be too much to
hope for the abolition of all prizes and self-perpetuating honorary
societies. The child in each of us cannot, and probably should not, be
entirely obliterated. Baseball understands these things, and does them
much better than we do, conferring the Most Valuable Player Award
by decision of the sportswriters, leaving the players themselves to get
on with more serious business. A moment's reflection on the
spectacle of even the top science writers voting to select, say, the
Physics Rookie of the Year reveals that this won't work. As a
spectator sport, physics is a complete bust. The rules are too
complicated, and the science writers can't really judge performance.
My guess is that it is up to the people who make these distinctions to
save the rest of us from this frenzy of unproductive effort. It would
be unfair to ask selection committees to refuse all external
nominations and do the entire job themselves, though whatever else
one might think about the MacArthur Awards, they do have the not
inconsiderable virtue of wasting the time of relatively few in the
selection process. But could not the bestowers of prizes limit to one
the number of people they were willing to hear from in support of
any given nomination? Suppose it were specified that there would be
a preliminary screening of all letters nominating a candidate to
determine which single one was to be retained, the others being
destroyed without keeping any record of them or their authors.
Presumably any qualified observer can Summarize the nominee's
accomplishments. Stirring up the Mighty of the Earth to bombard
committees with letters of their own repeating these data is a ritual it
is high time to set aside. Let the Committee make a few phone calls if
it wants confirmation of the one letter.
Better yet, why can't people nominate themselves? Indeed, why
not insist on it? Who, after all, is better qualified to prepare the
case, and more likely to do it with verve and enthusiasm? We are
already, with only a few unfortunate exceptions, the only ones
who nominate ourselves for research grants or our own prose for
inclusion in prestigious journals. Should I die wealthy I will
endow an APS prize (probably for Theoretical Contributions to
Statistical and Low-Temperature Physics by One with a Fine
Prose Style). The Mermin Prize will be available only to
applicants who submit an essay of no more than 500 word
demonstrating explicitly and implicitly why they qualify, a list of
no more than eight relevant papers, and the names of two people
the committee might or might not want to consult in a phone
conversation of no more than three minutes' duration. The names
of all applicants will be published in the APS Bulletin to
discourage the frivolous and install a proper humility in the
serious, for the point of the Mermin Prize will be not glory but
money - $750 000 sounds good. Applications will remain valid for
four years, no updating permitted, after which unsuccessful
applicants will become ineligible. People with no interest in the
process can go on peacefully doing physics.
I offer these views in the hope that having thus shot myself in
the foot, I may encourage others to voice their opinions on what,
if anything (hold on for a breathtaking swerve of metaphor), this
particular emperor is or ought to be wearing. Can't we discuss
this business out in the open? Or is it too much like explaining on
prime-time television that it's wrong - never mind unconstitutional -
to force people to pledge allegiance to a flag?
*****
fird...@my-deja.com
100...@poincare.math.rochester.edu>,
Vivek Sondhi <vi...@math.rochester.edu> wrote:
> It seems to me that some people think that our artistes are showing
poor
> form in criticizing each other openly. But Indian music scene has been
> vitiated by politics for a long time, and that the artistes are
speaking
> openly, is a welcome sign.
couple of points :
no problem with speaking openly ,
is'nt refusing awards playing out petty jealousies and
a component of their way of playing petty politics .
only reminds me of the barking and howling of a pack of
street dogs when only the top dog gets the bitch ! and furthermore a
pack of street urchins enjoy breaking up the hook !!
genuine artists stay out of these claims of so called lineage
and do not sully their gharana by stooping to such carrion !!
don't have to go far ; look at Nikhil Bannerji , minded only
his music making , not even the business of it . Incidentally , he also
learned from the " band master" !
As for Indian reviewers , no sane person gives a hoot ; the
blurb writers of --- child prodigy -- tender age -- fame !!
What Satish Gujral does in Delhi, perhaps same visual pollution
is being perpetrated on the people of Mumbai by M.F. Hussain !
cheers
firdausi
> > The plot thickens with the entry of Banditji's comrade-in-arms,
> > the six-generations-teentAla-ONLY gharAnA panjandrum Vilayat Khan.
> >
> > Warm regards,
> >
> >
> > r
> >
> > ps: Germany has just announced a new malhAr prakAr - Gustav Malhar.
> >
> >
>
>
kartik...@my-deja.com
bdixit <bdi...@pitt.edu> wrote:
> As far as I know he might have refused to discussed the "Bharat
Ratna"
> controversy, but most recently on a TV show called "Janata ki Adalat"
he
> made additional charges against Pandit Ravi Shankar, and the letter
by Mrs.
> Ravi Shankar, that was published in Hindustan Times of April 27th,
is in
> response to these new charges. I do not know when these "musical
> stalwarts", like Pandit Jasraj going to show some cerebral maturity
and
> behave in a responsible manner and stop this game of mud
slinging. ....
> Balwant Dixit
So what was the verdict of the judge(Who was he?)
Was is the usual ".....and Panditji has answered all questions put to
him very well and the adalat does not find him guilty ."
------------------------------------------------------------------
By the way do netters know of any rivalries in carnatic music or do
carnatic musicians behave in a slightly more responsible manner.
Bye
Jay Jhalla
Shankar rather than Vilayat Khan then I am sure it was only after exhaustive
independent scientific testing
which proved that Ravi Shankar's sitar (or should that be sarod) music is
superior in every way to the 60 per cent modified genuine six gharana new
created traditional style of I'm not bitter Khan.
Must have been one hell of a talented band master!
Jay
Rajan P. Parrikar <parr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:8ej6en$11...@drn.newsguy.com...
Warren Senders
>Ravi Shankar rather than Vilayat Khan then I am sure it was only after
exhaustive
>independent scientific testing
>which proved that Ravi Shankar's sitar (or should that be sarod) music is
>superior in every way to the 60 per cent modified genuine six gharana new
>created traditional style of I'm not bitter Khan.
>
>Must have been one hell of a talented band master!
I acknowledge the wry sarcasm of the cited post; let nobody assume that
I respond on the basis of a flatly literal interpretation. Here's my 50 p:
When the Beatles were awarded their MBEs (OBEs? I forget), it was the
singularly named Paul (the cute one, remember?) who commented that
they were honored not for their contributions to music, but for the
effect they'd had on the British economy.
All arguments about musical quality aside, Ravi Shankar's advocacy
of Indian music was a significant element in the *economic* revival of
the music; record companies issued HMV lps in the West, and while
Raviji certainly came in for the lion's share of the royalties, the rising
tide certainly lifted all boats, including Vilayat Khan's. Whether VK likes
to acknowledge the fact or not, Ravi Shankar laid a lot of the promotional
groundwork which enabled Vilayat, Imrat and all of their multifarious
spawn to undertake exhaustive and successful tours of the West.
Awards are principally about politics, secondarily about economics, and only
tertially (and a poor third at that) about music. Look up Charles Ives'
comments
when awarded the Pulitzer Prize for music he'd composed fifty years before.
WS
Keith Erskine
: The plot thickens with the entry of Banditji's comrade-in-arms,
: the six-generations-teentAla-ONLY gharAnA panjandrum Vilayat Khan.
Good observation - RS has far more mastery of taal than VK.
: ***********
: The Express Magazine
: February 13, 2000
: Q: Panditji has been awarded in recognition of excellence in
: sitar and for his contribution to the world of music...
: VK: One minute, one minute. First of all Pandit Ravi Shankar
: is not purely a sitarist. The instrument he plays is structurally
: more akin to the sarod. It has all of the sarod's features.
I think Vilayat Khan has now gone senile as well as insanely jealous
with this absolutely absurd statement. I play both sarod and sitar,
and I'm very familiar with the distinctions between VK & RS sitar types.
If RS sitar was fretless with a stainless steel fingerboard, played
with a jaba, used taut goatskin as soundboard, and used a downstroke as
primary da stroke instead of an upstroke, he might have a point.
Too bad for VK none of those elements are true.
The only smidgen of veracity in VK's words might be the 4 playing
strings of RS sitar, _S _P S m, are akin to that of sarod, _S _P S m,
while VK style sitar only has S m. But to an unbiased, lucid observer
it is patently obvious these additions are fashioned after surbahar.
The rich deep resonance and wonderful low meends these _S _P strings
afford RS are a significant contribution to sitar baj, imo, whether
it was initially conceived by AK or NB or RS. Additionally, the
bass string clip and techniques employing plucking both the S string
and the clipped _P string are powerful, artistic, creative additions
to sitar baj.
RS style sitars also have a gourd at the peghead at the end of the
neck for additional resonance, unlike VK sitars. It is debatable
how much resonance this adds, but I personally find it does add
a good deal of moment of inertia and thus added stability to the
neck, making fast linear taans with many position shifts easier
to realize accurately.
maha...@my-deja.com
Express talking on the same line after Pt. Ravishankar won the Bharat
Ratna. The main reason for the award is his unparalleled contribution to
ICM as a music ambassador. ( and certainly not b'cos he plays his gats
in different tals or his execution of alap in lower octave)
Regards,
Maha
Jay Jhalla
be totally fair or objective. Just because RS has received an award 2 or 3
years before VK is offered that award does not mean that VK is musically 2
or 3 years behind.
The fact is that these are all great musicians who have added to the
richness of Indian Music with their diverse styles.
Each of them has a place in the hearts and minds of listeners. It is just
sad to see that these great musicians can be such little people in other
areas of their lives and insult the intelligence of listeners by referring
to past masters as "band masters".
Warren Senders <war...@aol.comqwerty> wrote in message
news:20000501143001...@ng-cr1.aol.com...
> >If a fine institution like the Government of India has decided to award
> >Ravi Shankar rather than Vilayat Khan then I am sure it was only after
> exhaustive
> >independent scientific testing
> >which proved that Ravi Shankar's sitar (or should that be sarod) music is
> >superior in every way to the 60 per cent modified genuine six gharana new
> >created traditional style of I'm not bitter Khan.
> >
> >Must have been one hell of a talented band master!
>
Sajjad Khaliq
Rajan P. Parrikar <parr...@yahoo.com> wrote in article
<8ea5gi$p...@drn.newsguy.com>...
>
> From Hindustani Times, April 27, 2000
> (Go to http://www.hindustantimes.com and do a search on "Jasraj")
>
> Pandit Jasraj should apologise’
> New Delhi, April 26
Tried to do search as instructed above and got the following error:
[Error "The content index is corrupt. " encountered while processing the
query
"(Jasraj) & #vpath *\*\det*.htm".]
Just too much corruption!!! When will it ever end!!
Vijay Kumar
>
> Q: What was your first reaction when you received the award?
>
> VK: Let me make one thing clear. If you receive something
> both courtesy and custom demand that you are informed. But till
> today I have never received any kind of communication from
> the government.
Isn't that odd? One would think there would be all kinds of
protocol.
Jasraj certainly know of his own Padma Vibhushan well in
advance, BTW. At a Chaturlal memorial performance on
Jan 18 (a week before the title was announced), he was
introduced as "Padma Vibhushan Pt Jasraj".
As for his entertainment value, I don't know what to say --
on this as well as another occasion I heard him sing Jaijaivanti,
which he does unusual things to. His makes his intentions clear
from the start, embarking on violent gamaks and superfast
taans, and generally presenting Jaijaivanti in a something of a
new light.
Vijay
ps: somebody menitoned TOI's music critic. Raghava Menon
doesn't write anymore it seems, and the peerless Ratnottama
Sengupta is TOI's current resident critic. She emphatically
declares that we while classical music isn't quite her thing, we
Indians must all listen to it since otherwise there's nothing to
be proud of.
Daniel Fuchs
Daniel
Warren Senders wrote:
>
> >If a fine institution like the Government of India has decided to award
> >Ravi Shankar rather than Vilayat Khan then I am sure it was only after
> exhaustive
> >independent scientific testing
> >which proved that Ravi Shankar's sitar (or should that be sarod) music is
> >superior in every way to the 60 per cent modified genuine six gharana new
> >created traditional style of I'm not bitter Khan.
> >
> >Must have been one hell of a talented band master!
>