I remember very vividly a story in my Malayalam textbook of class three about a king’s concern for the classical arts, artistes and artisans. The story goes thus:
Once upon a time, there lived a king called Dharmika, who was a patron of the classical arts and artistes and liberally paid them to hold concerts on music, dance and folk theatre, build temples with monumental sculptures, et al. The kingdom prospered and his subjects were very happy under his reign. But, as in all mythological stories, a wicked minister misadvises the king and tells him that the arts are draining the treasury and not bringing in any revenue.
The king nods sarcastically and says smilingly, “Very good advice, indeed. Let us stop all that arts business forthwith.” The minister, jubilant at having apparently successfully influenced the king, announces: “Henceforth, our treasury will not spend for any art activities and there will be no more festivities.”
After a few months, though, when the king called for treasury details, the minister stood scratching his head. ‘My lord, we could not collect much as taxes from the people, who cited non-productivity.”
The minister was told to investigate the cause for this state of affairs, and he stood humbled before the king: “The citizens have no motivation beyond a level, so the productivity has gone down; artisans have no work because the artists have been out of action; in the absence of festivities, all ancillary industries — such as weavers, instrument makers cosmetic makers — have closed down; with low incomes, tax income has fallen. It also appears entertainment and enthusiasm are inter-connected and productivity has dwindled with people becoming lethargic. Further investigation has shown that arts activities edified the citizens to better their lifestyle.”
The arts made a comeback in Dharmika’s kingdom, which prospered thereon.
Not surprising that arts connoisseurs of today were children who read from such textbooks that highlighted the importance of the arts and values-based education. With today’s textbooks carrying stories about corrupt politicians, it would be understandable for youngsters not to value the classical arts as much, as Anil Srinivasan says in his article, ‘Fitting a changing mould’ (December 11, The Hindu ). But I disagree.
The number of children learning classical music and natya is on the rise. As the electronic media — which offers listening pleasure at one’s beck and call — and other factors might be keeping the youth from thronging to the auditoriums, we cannot judge their interest by attendance levels at concerts. Other factors are the venues’ ambience , pre-publicity by the organisers and quality of event management.
Talking of ambience, Gopalkrishna Gandhi raised the question, in his article, ‘December mist and magic’ (December 10, The Hindu ) of the “banner culture” in sabha -s, wherein sponsors put up ugly hoardings around the stage and venue. Instead, the sponsorship could be displayed in an aesthetic manner in a visible corner of the entrance. An artist like V.V. Ramani, who helps sabha -s with stage décor, can be engaged to design a single board to put up all names & logos of event sponsors.
With the talent visible on TV reality shows, it is safe to say that the present generation of classical musicians is carrying on the tradition with much aplomb. There is absolutely no dearth of talent both in classical music and natya but care must be applied to groom these into full-fledged artistes.
It is not responsible journalism to sensationalise everything and politicising issues takes us nowhere. Indian culture, based on the classical arts of Bharata , believes that “art brings hearts together”.
The print media and their administrations have little thrust or trust on the immense value of allotting space for arts activities to educate, enlighten and entertain the populace. To relegate the arts activities to a corner is to deviate from responsibility towards society. The unique sabha culture in Tamil Nadu — Chennai in particular — should be supported by the media with subsidised advertisements. Commercial events can go well without their support.
Suffice to say, supporting the arts will certainly bear longstanding merits.
(V.P. Dhananjayan is a Natyacharya)
