Perfect launch pad
S. RANGARAJAN
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For junior artists an AIR programme defines a moment of achievement while for stalwarts, it is a matter of pride and privilege.
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In certain areas what was truism 50 years ago or earlier remains true even today. The unchallenged success and reputation of All India Radio (AIR) in spreading Carnatic music at the grassroots level falls in this category.
Now, what a guru (instructor) imparts to the disciple (sishya) is knowledge (gnana). When the student takes leave of the teacher after completing his gurukula period of learning, he is equipped with talent, imagination and skill. But what he does not possess is a certificate or a degree as evidence of his vidwat.
Many Carnatic music students have turned to AIR as a gateway of opportunity for acquiring this much-needed credibility.
A successful AIR studio audition is followed by a radio programme of half-an-hour or so that gives the performer the appellation of "radio artist." The career of another musician is launched.
While for the junior artists an AIR programme defines a moment of achievement, for the established and famous stalwarts, the AIR programme of one-and-half hours is a matter of pride and privilege for the national honour it bestows on them. Every great Carnatic musician has given AIR programmes at regular intervals over several decades.
Eagerly awaited
The announcement "This is All India Radio. Here is the National programme of music," means the arrival of great music into the house for the benefit of young and old.
Decades ago, when not all houses had electricity connection or a radio set, it was quite common to see a group of underprivileged people gathered outside a tea stall listening to music. If a stranger asked somebody from this group as to what was happening, he would most often get the reply "Mani Iyer is singing saralivarisai." It meant that Madurai Mani Iyer was giving a performance on the All India Radio National programme keeping the audience spellbound with his magical, sizzling, tongue-twister kalpanaswaras.
How can one forget the lines from a Tamil movie of the 1950s when the comedian says: "Sangadamana samayalai vittu, sangeetham padaporen, All India Radiovil adiyenum padaporen -Giving up this difficult profession of a cook, I am going to sing, I am going to sing on All India Radio."
This only emphasised the appeal of a music performance over All India Radio, which is not confined to professional musicians only, but people in other occupations also.
For the large number of people of the South living in cities such as Delhi and Calcutta the AIR National programme of Carnatic music from 9.30 p.m. to 11 p.m. is an event of great joy, an occasion that cannot be missed.
Radios/cassette recorders are tuned and kept in readiness for listening and recording the music of a great performer.
For the next few days, the subject of discussion in the offices and the workplaces is the recently relayed AIR concert, which rivals the cricket gossip.
The TV, DVD and the i-pod are symbols of a new age in entertainment, but All India Radio continues to keep its hold on common people.
It is not unusual to see an elderly couple seated on a bench in a park, trying to get away from the stress and strain of the home, listening to music from a hand-held transistor — Carnatic music of a veteran of a bygone era, taken out of a vast collection of archives and relayed, courtesy All India Radio.
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