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Sangeeta Jeevana
Tapasya by D.S. Garud
Sangeeta Kalabhavana
Vidyarthi Vrinda, Rs. 250
Thrown into the whirligig of life, Dattatreya Sadashiva Garud, lived each day with the lingering uncertainty of tomorrow. He travelled from one place to the other, tried his hands at various things, met several people but a steady life was far from c
lose. What compounded matters was an unbending self-respect, even when hunger, poverty and despair loomed large.
Sangeeta Jeevana Tapasya, the autobiography of the 95-year-old tabla maestro Pandit D.S. Garud, is replete with incidents and anecdotes of a life full of “struggles”. If you are expecting to find a scholarly treatise on music and life, in sparkling prose, then this is surely not the book for you. If you are particular about literary canons and yardsticks of what makes a great piece of writing, then look elsewhere. However, if you are willing to go along with a committed musician’s simply-told tale, of a man who sought no fame and name, but stuck to music like penance, it is absorbing. The book offers interesting glimpses into both the pre-and post-Independence era. Born to the doyen of theatre, Garud Sadashiva Rao, who built the Dattatreya Sangeeta Nataka Mandali in 1919, D.S. Garud spends much of his early life on and off stage. An innocent childhood, exposure to the best of musicians and actors and the travails and joys of a drama company are interesting. What is really fascinating is the intense relationship that drama had with music. Sample this: “Our drama company once travelled to Mudhol. Neelakanta Buwa who had returned to our company, started singing a song in Durbari. I was on the tabla. He was unwilling to stop. Alaap, taan… he went on. My father indicated for the curtains to be dropped. Three curtains came down and he kept moving ahead, but wouldn’t stop. Finally, when the song got over, it was over 45 minutes!” In his own simple way, Pt. Garud speaks of the World War, Indian Independence, Partition and Gandhi’s assassination. Since most of these episodes in history are a close-up on his own life and how it was affected, you will not find a larger picture. At a time when the company had suffered huge losses and Pt. Garud was desperately trying to track down their corrupt manager he received a letter from his father: “What we have lost seems trivial compared to what the rest of the country is suffering from.”
How Hindustani music came to be established in Bangalore, and how Pt. Garud, Ramarao Naik and Sheshadri Gawai played crucial roles are important details.
While there is no doubt that the book is an articulate narration, the sudden shifts from linear to stream-of-consciousness mode is irksome as are the spelling errors. Nevertheless, it is an earnest enterprise (edited by Shankar Melukote and Soumya Bhat).
It’s only in stories of the past that one has to find commitment and dedication of this order.
DEEPA GANESH
Bannada Buguri by B.M. Haneef
Samvahana, Rs. 105
Nowadays there is a growing tendency to bring out collections of columns, in quick time. Considering the fact that a book lasts longer than the newspaper, one has to pause and ponder whether all the stuff is relevant as well as remarkable.
The publishing house, though not much known, has brought out over 350 books in three decades. The author, presently a staffer in a Kannada weekly, is quite versatile. After reading the 32 pieces, what impresses one most is the writer’s sensitivity and capability to go in search of little things even while he is on routine assignments.
Buguri, the toy, rotates on its axis – how long it does, depends on the balance and the surface too. It can move a bit away, but that may shorten its ‘sleep’ time. Colour lends attraction – but that does not mean it is strong, capable of standing for long.
Haneef takes us to a variety of places and people: Daily travellers of Tippu Express between Mysore and Bangalore, old bookshops, soothsayers, the Parsi Community, Koragas, Brass Bandset boys and even homosexuals. With catchy captions “Yello Jogappa” “Meri Pyari Bahaniya…” “Yaava Mohana Murali…” and simple language, the author holds the interest of readers.
However, only 25 per cent of the pieces can be termed good, significant literature: “Majestic Maanigala Vijaya Vrittantavu”, “Lathi Bootugala Lokadalli ‘Number’ Manushyaru”, “Iruvudellava Bittu Iradudaredege”, “Onti”, “Ontiyagiruvudu Boru Boru?” – to name four.
Majority of the articles suffer from predictability and monotony, which the author himself admits.Prof. Aravinda Malagatti in his Foreword terms Haneef’s style as the middle path – between the serious approach of literature and the popular style of Journalism. “He comprehends and sketches freely, doesn’t interpret and leaves it to the readers to infer and contemplate.”
The author has not only observed people with interest, objectivity and patience but has also posed questions. His pieces on inter-religious marriage, casteism, status of Madarasas… are quite bold.
With more depth and prudence in selection it would have been a better book.
H.S. MANJUNATHA
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