Where dawn breaks, musically

IT WAS a morning concert in a romantic garden. But the overcast skies brought faint light and drizzling dawn. The first notes of the raag had barely been sung when the Rain God decided to attend the event.

The singer was Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, who, not being in the best of health, was seated on a chair. The makeshift pandal over the dais afforded him little protection from the draught and rain. Nor was the umbrella held over his head of much use. As he sang, he made his characteristic gesticulations with hands that glistened with raindrops. But no drawback could stop the veteran artiste from singing, or even to cut short the allotted time (6.30 to 8.30 a.m.).

His doughty spirit was contagious, making the 5000 strong audience stay put despite the drenching, some under umbrellas, most without. The same scenario was to be repeated on another day when Hindustani violinist N.Rajam performed a jugalbandi with Carnatic flautist N.Ramani, in the same venue and time slot at Nehru Park, New Delhi. Since 1999, such monthly recitals have become part of the cultural scene in the capital.

But you will be surprised to know that the series is organised, not by some erudite akademi or corporate body, but by the city's Municipal Council, in what can only be described as a pioneering adventure into a wholly new terrain of public service.

I learnt about this venture through the ecstatic descriptions of friends in Delhi. Some of them are not really music buffs, but have come to enjoy classical music in this new ambience and avatar. "The Shivstuti was gorgeous, and so apt for Shivratri," remarked one. Another was enchanted by the colours of raag Basant as Rajan and Sajan Mishra portrayed it on Vasantapanchami day. A third regretted that I missed an idyllic recital by Vasundhara and Kalapini Komkali, the wife and daughter of the late legendary singer Kumar Gandharv. But all my efforts to get in touch with the Delhi Municipal authorities to find out more, failed to connect.

Serendipity achieved what planning could not. At the Asia Pacific Performing Arts Network seminar in the capital, I sat up when I heard Dr. B. P. Mishra, Chairman, New Delhi Municipal Council, speaking about art and civic discourse. "Municipalities get bogged down by civic duties like garbage removal," he began. "That's important. But the underlying principle of governing a city has to reckon with other factors besides sanitation, to improve the quality of life."

One of the ways to do it was to invite eminent musicians to perform in open, public grounds, for the people who may not get the opportunity to hear them in more exclusive centres and auditoria. Of course park concerts are not a novel idea, they happen in many cities across the world. In this country too many festivals are held in open spaces - as at Khajuraho, Gwalior and Tiruvaiyaru. I particularly recall an arts festival on the ruins of the Golconda Fort, and on the remote Gangavaram beach in Visakhapatnam.

Mishra reiterated that such efforts must be regularly, nor sporadically made, as the larger public in this nation had lost confidence in their own art and culture. Those aspects of life had to be brought back into the folds of public memory and on accessible platforms. It is with this idea that music and dance shows are presented by the Delhi Municipal Council in Nehru Park. Likewise, an "Artists' Corner" has been allocated for young talent. This leads to a lot of interaction between the painters who work on their canvasses in the garden, and the visiting public.

Any negative reactions? Attacks? "They came from colleagues who questioned the entry of the Municipality into what had hitherto not even been thought of as its areas of operation. Some declared that the Municipal Council was abandoning its duties and getting sidetracked into elitist avenues. "Our objectives were different," said Dr. Mishra. "It was to generate an interest in the classical arts among the common people."

That is how the Council thought of revitalising space, as at the shopping complex in Connaught Place, which became a venue for performances and visual displays. "We also started classes in music, dance and painting in every colony where we had community centres." In conjunction with the ICCR, the Municipal Council began to take foreign cultural troups to put up shows in schools and indoor stadia. That's how a hundred and fifty thousand children got to see Chinese acrobats and Croatian dancers.

Mishra is aware that such expansions of the Council's role, from the mundane to the imaginative, is not easy. Nor can they depend on the efforts of a single individual like himself, holding a transferable post. An advisory committee has to be set up to sustain and steer the cultural course. "When I go out, the next man in should not be allowed to give up the programme. A public outcry should force him to keep it going."

The Delhi experiment has kindled interest in other cities as well. Chennai, Bangalore and Chandigarh have approached Delhi for advice and suggestions to start similar activities in their own parks and gardens.

If Chennai succeeds in launching this scheme, it would be a restoration of the classical performing arts to their original locations of village square and temple courtyard. In the past, it was in such open spaces that the general populace relaxed to the strains of music and the rhythms of dance. The arts, as well as the ambience, rejuvenated heart, mind and spirit.

New Delhi, Chandigarh and Bangalore have gardens galore. Where can Chennai find tranquil parks unaffected by the noise pollution of highway traffic? All its open spaces have been gobbled up by concrete jungles. Even the Sittrarangam on Island Grounds had to endure the shrieking din made by the children's train during the evening performances that used to be held there.

The museum grounds offer possibilities. The Gandhi Mandapam amphitheatre would make a perfect venue. And of course, the Chennai beach could become an ideal setting for public concerts, as dawn blooms, or as dusk melts into starlight...

GOWRI RAMNARAYAN

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