Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated July 19, 1953: Music and All India Radio

Dr. B. V. Keskar, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, addressed a distinguished gathering of radio artists in Bombay on the 17th. Those present included Y. S. Mirashibuwa, Anant Manohar Joshi, Ali Akbar Khan, Pannalal Ghosh, Daggar Brothers, Krishna Udyawarkar, Laxman Prasad Chaube, Yeshwantrai Purohit, Gayaprasad Pathak, and Chidanand Nagarkar. Replying to speeches by Mr. Gajananrao Joshi, Prof. A. Lobo, and Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan who congratulated him for encouraging classical music, and deprecated the disruptive tactics of some radio artists, Dr. Keskar appealed to musicians to revive and popularise classical music. The Minister said, "Classical music has fallen on bad days and is on the point of extinction in North India. Classical music has lost touch with the masses, not due to the fault of the public, but because of historical circumstances. In the past, it was patronized by Princes and Sardars, but that support has almost ended. During the last 150 years we were under the British whodid not understand and support Hindustani music. As a result, the number of musicians is dwindling, and the number of listeners going down further. Without listeners to appreciate them, musicians cannot thrive. We have been trying to revive interest in classical music and help artists. The main problem before musicians and All India Radio is to revive public contact with classical music. We must make them familiar with our traditional music, and make them more intimate with it; then more and more will learn classical music. Artists must whole-heartedly co-operate in this task of restoring classical music to its original glory. That cannot be achieved if there are personal quarrels and jealousies. Musicians owe a great debt to A.I.R. which has made unremitting efforts to popularise classical music.

``A number of people who never knew about classical music are now beginning to like it. The system of auditioning benefits artists. As a result , artists have come to be paid an additional one lakh rupees by way of fees. With over 5,000 artists on A.I.R.'s register , it is not possible to feature them without screening and classifying. Politics should not be brought into music. Those with genuine complaints of injustice can always bring them to the notice of Government. As regards folk music, we are trying to collect songs and prepare a library of folk music. There is an inextricable link between folk music and classical music; both are manifestations of the cultural genius of our country."

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