Out of sight, out of time

The past two months have dealt a double blow to Hindustani classical music, following the demise of Annapurna Devi on October 13 and Ustad Imrat Khan on November 22. Both were renowned practitioners of the rare surbahar, or bass sitar, though they represented different gharanas.

Devi had stopped giving public performances in the early 1960s, whereas Khan continued till much later. After the latter’s death, many on social media were quick to declare that the surbahar has now become extinct, even though Buddhaditya Mukherjee, Shahid Pervez and Khatn’s son Irshad play it.

That brings us to the focus of this column. We often talk of musical instruments becoming obsolete or extinct, not only in India but everywhere in the world. An instrument that was popular a century ago is not to be heard today. It's a vast and much-discussed subject: some musicologists have written research papers, crafted articles and even developed presentations, but most are barely accessible to the public. If one looks online for ‘extinct or obsolete Indian musical instruments’, the results throw up about ten websites. The information is usually restricted to the peacock-shaped mayuri; the brass instrument nagfani; the Manipuri pena; the stringed yazh, bulbul tarang and esraj, surbahar, ektara; and the Sikh instrument saranda. Some of these had become obsolete before any of us was born.

Nobody mentions the rabab or sursingar (bass sarod) but strangely one finds the veena, sarangi, sarod, morchang and mridangam, which are still played today. Yes, there are fewer exponents of the sarangi, but that has always been the case. The next generations have players like Aruna Khalle, Kamal Sabri, Sabir Khan, Dilshad Khan and Harsh Narayan.

The different veenas — Saraswati and chitra in Carnatic; and rudra and vichitra in Hindustani have far fewer players, but there are a few concerts. There are many young sarod players today. The mridangam and morchang are regular accompanying instruments in Carnatic music — the former’s role undiminished. Where’s the question of becoming obsolete? And if these instruments can be named, why not the shehnai? After Ustad Bismillah Khan, who else will take on the mantle? Then there’s the Carnatic mandolin, that U. Rajesh has been taking forward his brother's legacy but that's about it. Plus, there’s pakhawaj, whose earlier popularity has been replaced by the tabla?

It’s safe to say two things can be inferred. First that a lot of information online is thoughtless improvisation. Secondly, many follow blind extremes: either an instrument is extremely popular or it is obsolete. There is no middle path.

The popularity or fading fame of an instrument depends on factors. For instance, the number of people taking up the instrument, avenues for learning it, availability and quality of teachers, audience acceptability, concert opportunities and so much more. Its relevance in different genres and styles like dhrupad, khayal, instrumental, folk and film music also play part. All this requires thorough research and analysis. Hope the hardcore musicologists are listening. Now, some may say that’s also a category that’s slowly becoming obsolete.