The recent furore over T.M. Krishna’s concert being cancelled (I am not mentioning the others since their cancellations have been brushed under the carpet) has brought up a melee of remarks over the artistic community and their lack of spine other than for the star vocalist. I am all for Krishna’s conviction in standing up for transgressions of freedom and will clarify that this essay is certainly not about him.
Whether trolling is only attributable to right wing activists or is in general a malaise of our polarised society is debatable. As is the notion that for some of us at least, true artistry is about placing art at the service of society and not the reverse. Pandering to one individual and his perceived indignation, and its inevitable political appropriation is not reflective of either what the collective thinks nor a reflection of everyone’s reality.
Severely trolled
Many of our readers may be aware that last year, I had the opportunity to host a show on a popular Tamil channel along with celebrated lyricist Madhan Karky. In one of the episodes, my friendly banter with stand-up comedian Alex was severely trolled by Tamil Christian groups from southern Tamil Nadu.
My joking with him was seen as upper caste derision by a few and that idea soon took the form of some incendiary comments directed at my caste and me. What would we term it? Left trolls? Let me point out that this neither stopped me nor Alex or my co-host from going ahead with the programme. As artistes we see these things from a larger viewpoint and answer these trolls through art. Not politics.
For many of us who do not subscribe to either extreme political ideologies, continuity and contribution is more vital than disruption and knee jerk ‘rectifications.’ We may all are on the same page, but do not believe that being the ‘agent provacateur’ is the only solution. That also does not justify remarks made against us of being a spineless lot.
Amongst the most scathing remarks I have come across in the past two weeks are the following and I shall present an artiste’s point of view for each.
“Artists are by and large a plant lot.” No ladies and gentlemen, we do not. We have to work on our craft and our art for our livelihoods; not always for political stances . For many of us, our monthly sustenance comes from continuing to perform in an environment which is fickle, prone to trends and populist ideas and dismisses as boring anything that is not cinema or popular entertainment. Not all of us have the privilege of the media at our doorstep for every act of courage we exhibit. Which is to say — just continuing our craft despite it all. We are all for artistic freedom.
“No artist other than T.M. Krishna has stood up to the various ills and wrongs of upper caste hegemony.” This is neither true nor is it fair. We all celebrate Krishna and his pursuit of social equity which we believe is his greatest contribution.
Every true artiste today is in pursuit of collaborative creativity. Every true artiste is being defiant in his or her own way and doing their best to engender a sense of empathy and harmony. We don’t talk about it all the time. Many of us still believe in restraint and do what we can with less shrillness in our tones.
“Artists are generally pro establishment”. You will find that many artistes are struggling to figure out where their next month’s income is coming from. Not all have the privilege of being born into upper class or upper middle class families where basic sustenance has never been an issue.
To an artiste, the very act of stepping out despite not being a ‘viral’ sensation and not being associated with the musical success of Kollywood or Bollywood is an act of supreme faith in people and society. We try to mirror what the community wants and what we want as a collective. We all equally oppose appropriation of art by politicians. We want to offer art to the community. Not prove a point about who is more wicked. The lexicon is different. For art or music to thrive you not only need a just society but one that has the ability to support diversity in thought and action and in artistic expression.
The writer is a well-known pianist and music educator based in Chennai .
