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When life ceases to be a song
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Ustad Bismillah Khan's plight highlights the condition of several artistes who are now struggling in the twilight of their lives. RANEE KUMAR examines the scene in the city.
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UMRE KARAZ maang kar; Laaye they chaar din, Do aarzoo mein kat gaye; do intezaar mein? (We live on borrowed time and waste half in desire and the rest in waiting) laments the poet in Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last of the great Mughals in abject dejection - imprisoned, abandoned and courting death.
Today, the one and only shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan whose prowess was world acclaimed, is facing a financial crisis. Once upon a time, the ustad was the uncrowned king in the world of Hindustani instrumental music.
Many were the shagird (pupils) of his benevolence. Where are they today? Why can't they come forward and show their guru bhakti? Bismillah Khan's plight is not the only case in the present scenario. There are several artistes who have suffered the same fate and are still suffering.
So, where do the practitioners of these classical arts stand in the globalised world today? Poised precariously on the precipice, desperately trying to survive and make the art subsist either by compromise or by compulsion.
For all those who were born in an era which taught them to live and die by their art, for whom there was no dearth of patrons then, for whom material wealth seemed meaningless and dedication to art was the only life support system - for these artists, does the new millennium spell doomsday?
Nataraja Ramakrishna, a doyen in the arena of dance, the pioneer of Andhra Natyam, summarises the pathetic predicament of all those of his ilk. Sitting in a room devoid of anything but bare necessities, he says, "we were never taught to value life in monetary terms. We were brought up with the idea of supreme sacrifice of life (thyaga) at the altar of art. It never occurred to me to stash cash (bhoga) and material presentations to enrich myself. Now at this stage of my life, it is impossible for me to get cash conscious and worry about my later age. I have enriched myself with my devotion to my dance. It is another thing that I was conferred titles and awards and recognition came its way without my effort. But then when did these mean anything to me? I am fortunate to have a few family friends who still believe in my dedication to my dance and lend me the minimum material comforts like a roof over my head and food for sustenance. What I earned in my heyday, I burnt up in the pursuit of art. I have no regrets. But there are a lot more artistes who have given their lives to the cause of natyam and yet remain in the shadow. I want these dancers to get their due respect."
If the 90 year-old Saride Manikyamma - a scholar who had imbibed the Panchamahakavyams, whose Adhyatma Ramayanam dance could bring the entire village to a standstill - is eating humble pie under her grandchildren's roof with the last vestige of self-dignity, it is no news.
What can one expect at that age! At least a dignified death for having danced her life to the presiding deity Venugopala swami of her village Ballipaadu (West Godavari). She was acclaimed the most committed artiste of her times.
Panthulamma Radhamma of Gopalapeta Samsthanam (Gadwal) and Poda Lakshmikanthamma were dancers with purity of form and content and above all pure in body and spirit. One felicitation would bring a glimpse of their existence and then they are forgotten, buried in the past.
To imagine that these non-descript dancers were not mere artistes but were reputed pandits in Agamasastras, Purana-ithihaasas and had the sanku-chakra-nama emblems tattooed on their shoulders to proclaim their proximity to God is beyond us!
Tirvallur Thattai Seeta, was fondly classified as the MS of Andhra by many a critic of the Sixties. Her concerts then spread across the length and breadth of the State. "Actually I never thought of a career in Carnatic vocal in that sense of the word. It never struck us to mould a career out of the music knowledge I had acquired from my father, the late Maadabhooshi Varadachari, a veena expert of those days. Perhaps egged on by financial commitments somewhere down the lane I made a start with AIR and kutcheris followed. I was lost in my music world and was happy with whatever remuneration offered which was meagre by today's standards. I had neither guidance nor godfathers to push me up to strengthen my talents commercially. So when the curtain drew on its own (with age) I bowed out,'' says the intensely sensitive artiste.
Seeta prefers to live a simple life. Years after she withdrew from stage recitals, Seeta was recently felicitated under the worthy aegis of Sri Sivananda Trust. Earlier the State government had honoured all the former artistes and Seeta was presented with a Rs. 116 cash gift! All in the name of culture. Few care to ask how she manages to keep the hearth burning living all by herself.
The name of Rao Balasaraswati rings a bell among those who had heard her during the 1930s and 1940s. This singer of light and film music was also a woman of distinguished breed and beauty. Wedded into a royal zamindari family (Kolanka estate of east Godavari), she had struck a wonderful balance between the demands of an orthodox family and an avant-garde playback singing career. Today at 74, shorn of royalty and the luxurious lifestyle, she still remains a beauty with poise and self-esteem.
"I found the going difficult and planned to sell a part of my left over `unsurveyed' land to the Endowments department of Annavaram Devasthanam. Not well-versed in real estate dealings I had given away 850 acres mistakenly as 150 acres which came to light after a survey of the exact amount of land was done. I pleaded with the government for compensation and till today my pleas have gone unheeded. I put up a written request for the allotment of an acre of land somewhere in the city premises so that I could open a school of arts and live on the income I may generate. Even that came to nought. I do not have the physical and mental strength to run around courts and lobbyists to look into my case. I feel humiliated, cheated and depressed. Compliments and felicitations in public cannot compensate lack of assured livelihood,'' she says sadly.
These artistes are but a handful of the many who are living in unimaginable conditions having lost a glorious past, unable to come to terms with a confusing set of values and perplexed at the future. Any number of yesteryear film stars are wallowing in poverty too proud to come out into the open. The artistes' inherent weaknesses may be blamed for lack of a financial foundation for the future. The role of the artiste, man or woman, should be seen in the light of his/her enhancing the culture.If he/she dies in neglect, it means the culture of this land is left to perish. It is not just the governments' duty to take up social causes. A co-operative effort by industrial/corporate houses, artistes and others in establishing a corpus fund will help in reviving the financial fortunes of all the artistes.
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