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Jalsa all the way

Getting the youth interested in Indian classical music is the aim of IMA's Jalsa series of concerts

PHOTO: S. THANTHONI

CELEBRATING MUSICFor Durga Jasraj, attracting the youth to classical music is one of the chief aims

Durga Jasraj named the 12-city concert series organised by the Indian Music Academy Jalsa because it means "celebration of music". However, a lot of young women love the name for quite another reason — because Jalsa happens to be the name of Bollywood heartthrob Abhishek Bachchan's house. Durga has no problem with that. "It gets them interested in the concerts, and there's nothing wrong with that!" she laughs.

Indeed, attracting the attention of the youth and inspiring them to pursue Indian classical music was the reason why Durga launched the IMA last year along with Vikram Shankar under the auspices of her father Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Javed Akhtar, its founder patrons.

The list of the other patrons of the organisation reads like the who's who of Indian classical music, including Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, M. . Balamuralikrishna and Lalgudi Jayaraman. "It is time that we try and present Indian classical music to youngsters in a way that will appeal to them, without diluting the essence of the music," she says.

First step

The Jalsa series of concerts is a "baby step" in the direction of fulfilling the IMA's goals, says Durga, by promoting a new, up-and-coming classical musician chosen by the patrons of the IMA at every concert and pairing them with a grand master. The eighth concert in the series was held last week in Chennai, and featured Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and veena player Jayanti Kumaresh.

"Jayanti is a promising artiste," says Durga, "and we thought it important that the veena, one of the oldest Indian instruments, be included in the Jalsa series."

All these concerts are free and feature an interactive question-answer session with both musicians at the end, when the audience can ask the artistes questions on anything from advice on a career in music, to their opinion on Himesh Reshamiya, as was the case with Pandit Jasraj in Bangalore.

Already on the cards is the second Jalsa series this year, which will aim to promote folk music, ghazal, qawwali and bhajan, and the "Idea Madhur" programme to record classical cellphone ringtones in order to capture the attention of the youth. "We are not antagonistic towards the latest technology," says Durga. "In fact, we want to use it to interest the youth. All we need is to hold their attention for five minutes — the music has the power to mesmerise them."

But youth isn't the only focus of the IMA, which already has more than 1,000 members, including Sonu Nigam and Shankar Mahadevan. It also provides medical assistance to needy musicians by enabling a 50 to 85 per cent discount on their medical bills through tie-ups with major hospitals. "The best doctors in the country have come forward to help," says Durga. "We want to extend this facility as much as possible."

DIVYA KUMAR

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