At the 8th Cross music festival the other day (Sept 3) Ella Venkateshwara Rao, accompanying Mysore Nagaraj and Manjunath on the mrudanga, spoke, after the main raga, a few words that was sheer music to my ears. He said, ''Right from the days of Veene Seshanna, Mysore Vasudevacharya, T Chowdiah to the present-day artistes, Mysore has produced many great musicians. But I wonder why Padma awards have not come there way. Even a doyen such as RK Srikantan has not been honoured. Why? I see only one reason for this: Kannadigas do not lobby. They don't assert their claim. In Tamil Nadu lesser artistes get the award because of the solid backing of the people. Lobbying is an important aspect."
Such words, coming from a senior artiste from outside Karnataka, should serve as a wake-up call to Kannadigas, notably, the government, politicians and, indeed, all music lovers. We have, besides RK Srikantan, a living legend; V Rama Ratnam, eminent Guru, Vaggeyakara and author of treatises on music; VS Sampathkumaracharya, a musicologist, author of an encyclopedia of music terminologies in Kannada, apart from other music literature; Ra Satyanarayana, a musicologist par excellence and an author of musical treatises in Kannada and English; S Mahadevappa, who is instrumental in keeping the tradition of the legendary T Chowdaiah and contributed two gems in Nagaraj and Manjunath. The list is not exhaustive
.Such men of merit, and many more, are still amidst us. As to why none of them has been considered deserving for the Padma award is a million dollar question.
"But I wonder why Padma awards have not come there way. Even a doyen such as RK Srikantan has not been honoured. Why? I see only one reason for this: Kannadigas do not lobby. They don't assert their claim. In Tamil Nadu lesser artistes get the award because of the solid backing of the people. Lobbying is an important aspect."
Not being in touch with the recent machinations associated with awards in India, I can only say with past knowledge that the lobbying from powerful politicians from a state has something to do with who gets the awards. Tamil Nadu's voice was always heard strong at the Centre right from the Nehru period to the present time. Music lovers like TTKrishnmachari and C Subramaniam holding key cabinet positions at the Centre meant rich crops of awards to Tamil Nadu artists. These two also held positions at that powerful institution Madras Music Academy which promoted Tamil Nadu artists. Today, DMK party is a partner in the coalition government at the Centre,and its ministers at the Centre safeguard Tamil Nadu's interests are as before. Unfortunately this says something about the ineffectual politicians of Kranataka.
I would be fairly philosophical about it. I would have enjoyed the heavenly music of Chowdaiya, GNB, Alathoor brothers, Madurai Mani and Doreswamy Iyengar irrespective of whether they received any awards or not. Good music touches the soul the way that awards do not . In my opinion a good musician needs no awards.
It is a very valid point raised by Mr. Krishnamurthy which was originally raised by a musician from outside the State. While it is generally true that artists perform for the sake of public and for their own internal satisfaction, like anybody else who choose a career (Promotions, increments) they also need encouragement from art lovers, The Society and the Govt. That's why we have the Oscars, the Man of the match, player of the year after a match, the Arjuna and Jnanpeeth awards and even lifetime achievement awards in some fields. Although majority of artistes do not themselves 'lobby' for the awards, The Associations and State Govt. do make efforts on behalf of artistes, players from their State so that people who have contributed at a National level do not miss out or get sidelined.
Viewed in this context, the Karnataka Govt. seems to have done very little. They seem to be so busy with their caste wars, plotting each others downfall, it appears, nothing else matters to them at all. Otherwise, how else one can justify R.K. Srikantan who is more than 80+, does not have even a Padmashree award, whereas people less than half of his age have been awarded! Dr. Manjunath and Mysore Nagaraj have won accolades all over the world, but have been ignored in India so far. These are only few examples.
It's not just this. Writing in Star Of Mysore on 8th September'06 under 'Centre's step- motherly attitude towards Kannadigas,' Dr. C.G. Narasimhan points out that among the first-day-covers, stamps on important personalities like poets, saints, scholars, historical events and places issued by the Postal Department, Karnataka's share is abysmally low. He mentions that already 9 firstday covers and stamps have been issued to glorify Tamil nadu so far while it is nil or a number close to zero for Karnataka.
If the State Govt. is strong and if it can threaten the CENTRE'S EXISTANCE, you get what you want. Chandrababu Naidu did that to NDA and Karunadidhi is doing it to UPA. ( Neyvelli lignite is a case in point). Till Karnataka gets a strong Regional Party which can give sleepless nights to Delhi, it will have to be content with what is thrown at it whether it is clasical language status, Flood relief fund etc. That is the bottom line.
It is very intersting to compare the attitudes of politicians in power in Tamil Nadu and Kannada. While AIDMK and DMK are regional parties and congress the national party their predecessor in power in that state in 1950s and 60s, the politicians belonging to these parties sink their differences when it comes to protecting and promoting Tamil Nadu interests. When the politicians of parties squabble there they do it by agreeing to uphold the interests of the state as a bottom line. In that respect they can be compared to the French in their cultural and language fervour. No wonder that Tamil has attained the grand classical status.
I am surpised that we are showing interest in securing awards given by a corrupt political set up. When a close friend of mine got one such award, I expressed my surprise to himfor his accepting such an award. I told him that he should have rejected it.
For some awards do matter. Perhaps you would think otherwise if your name was suggested for an award. It is to reminded here that politics and politicians are not alone tainted by corruption. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that almost all persons in authority and almost all institutions in all sectors in India are touched by corruption, Indian Style, in one way or the other.
It is rather a naive assumption that people do not care for awards and take a high horse position that since the awards come out of a supposedly corrupt political system, you are better off without an award! Try telling that to your colleagues, subordinates who wait for their increments and promotion at the end of the year!
Awards and rewards, are to some extent, equivalent of saying 'Thank you' to the efforts of an artiste and she /he definitely needs it like anybody else to perform better and better.
In this context, it is pertinent to remember, in India, at the end of most concerts, we do not even applaud the performers or their performance. Generally, we run towards exit to bathrooms or to start our scooters or whatever even as the last strains of music or the last scene is played out. Forget a standing ovation or a long claps at the end of a show which the performers richly deserve!
I am happy that there are seven replies to my blog, ‘Elusive Padma Awards’, as on today. The blog can boast of a good number of viewing too. However, the blog, in a small way, has created a ripple in the still and stagnant pool. Though it may be too much to claim that ‘it is due to this blog’, that the names of some personalities have been recommended for the coveted awards, it is also a fact that, as on today, RK Srikanthan’s name has been recommended by the Government for award of Padmashri. So is the case of Pandit Puttaraja Gavai and others. These things give us some pleasantness, in the otherwise bleak situation. My sincere thanks to the concerned authorities, who were responsible for recommending a big list for Padma awards, including two Bharata Ratna awards. I hope that the entire list will be honoured with the recommended awards. Let good sense prevail on the Karnataka members, who are in the scrutiny committee at the center.
Congrats SRK. At least now, the Karnataka Government seems to have awakened to the need to recommend some prominent names for Padma awards. Our officials have always lagged behind in recommending names of eminent personalities of Karnataka for these awards, while a few other states never miss the chance and hence collect a booty of the awards. Consequently, many stalwarts who have made significant contributions in their own areas have gone without due honours. We must build up campaign like these to put pressure on the Government on other fronts also.
