Date:13/04/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/04/13/stories/2009041350760200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Sarod maestro honours musicians

Staff Reporter

Advent of keyboard has rendered several artistes jobless: Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Veterans meet: Ustad Amjad Ali Khan (right) with Director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Mathoor Krishnamurthy at a felicitation ceremony in Bangalore on Sunday. —

Bangalore: Padma Vibhushan Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, the noted Sarod player, on Sunday struck a chord when he spoke about how the advent of the musical keyboard had actually rendered several accompanying artistes jobless.

Speaking after honouring several eminent personalities including musicians, on the occasion of the Founder’s Day of the Sree Ramaseva Mandali in Chamarajpet here, the maestro said: “The keyboard has versatile features and can play everything. Thank God it cannot play the Sarod.”

Difficult role

Pointing out how accompanying musicians have a difficult role to play in any concert, the veteran musician, who shoulders the sixth-generation inheritance of the illustrious Bangash lineage, said the artistes had to adjust to the singer with a lot of patience. “All musicians belong to a single family that worships swaras and layas. Swar hi Ishwar hai (swara is God) for them. Karnataka has the distinction of producing doyens of Indian classical music and there are many organisations that are dedicated to music in South India. I wish there could have been some independent cultural organisations such as the Ramaseva Mandali in North India too,” he said.

Lauding the mandali for its efforts in promoting music, Mathoor Krishnamurthy, Director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, said: “In these times of imported culture, when Indian traditions are being displaced, institutions such as the Sree Ramaseva Mandali are like beacons that attract wandering generations back to the fold of our tradition.”

He advised politicians to speak good at least on the occasion of Ramanavami. “Your speeches can make or mar relations,” he said.

Violinist T.T. Srinivasan, Mrudanga players M.T. Rajakesari and C. Cheluvaraj, Harmonium player C. Ramdas and Nadaswara Vidwan Bangalore M. Kodandaram, along with Mr. Krishnamurthy and A.H. Ramarao, president of the National Education Society, were honoured in recognition of their services.