Technology and tradition unite in this picture book to inspire confidence in a little girl. Priya lives in the western world but is ethnically a Kodava from Kodagu in the lush rainforests of the Western Ghats. She has a dance recital coming and will perform as a ‘jungle dancer’ thanking
The range of books on music reviewed brings into question the category of music itself, for it is difficult to define music in singular ways. Grappling the plurality of music has generated a range of approaches. The hermetic field of musicology has had to shed its exclusivity. Gone are the days when it was thought that the proper study of music and music criticism should address classical music only.
Apart from the vocation of (formal and informal) teaching to which she remained devoted her entire life, Sadhana Bhattacharyya cultivated, not always without the usual familial and related difficulties though, her keen interest in art and culture, literature and most importantly, music. In this, she had her husband’s support who was equally invested in reading, writing, calligraphy, painting, sculpture and music. Music, in particular, meant the world to both. While she was not trained formally in it, her husband was (in Indian classical music).
The author has explored the relationship between psychology, aesthetics and pedagogy throughout the book. The relationship between the self and aesthetics according to her is a condition of stability and conformity where values of family and context are important. Humility plays a big role here. Her teacher Savita Devi told her that ‘the original tune and lyrics of a composition exist unaffected by time and space’.
Is Deshpande’s musical thought antithetical to the above? Like Tembe, Deshpande too is critical of the scientific method of classifying and categorizing musical knowledge. For example, the mathematical discussions on the microtones (shruti) in music. But, unlike Tembe, Deshpande celebrates the analytical attitude of Maharashtrian musicians. He interprets the last segment of the Punjabi proverb as a belittling of the analytical efforts of the musicians in Maharashtra. In a nutshell, his musical thought may be summarized as the celebration of individuality-identity framed by and simultaneously made possible by the musical form and its elements.
However, the last few decades have witnessed an unprecedented interest in the words and philosophy of these medieval poets. Today, multiple Kabir yatras are held throughout the country, flocked mostly by an English-speaking urban crowd. They gather to listen to the folk voices singing Kabir. More importantly