National Cultural Policy - A Need of the Hour

We the Indians must congratulate ourselves for completing the elections and electing a new government with some strong verdict. Political analysts may and will say that this Government has the mandate of only 31%. But let us also recall that no Government in the past had 100%mandate. Let us hope for good governance which benefits the country as a whole beyond the borders of cast creed religion language etc.

I have been a student of history and music simultaneously. There was a time when the kings would take lot of pride in having men /women of excellence in their court. They were called ASHTA DIGGAJAS/NAVARATNAS and so on. Bhojaraja had Kalidasa the great poet, Amarasimha a lexicographer. Akabar had Tansen the great musician, Birbal a court jester who would diffuse the situation whenever needed.

As late as in the last century the Kings of Mysore had Venne Sheshanna, Subbanna, Vasudevachar, Abdul Karim khan, Fayaz khan as their court musicians. Abdul karim and Fayaz were court musicians of Baroda too. The Mysore kings even invited Harikeshanllur Muttaiah Bhagavatar to compose kritis in Kannada. I am sure many more kings, principalities all over the country did have great musicians, scholars, sculptors who would/did contribute to the well being of the society and sometimes boosted ego of the patron king.

Now, gone are the days of Dynastic rule(?) We are the largest democracy. We have Economic policy, Foreign policy, Sports ministry (BCCI and Cricket taking preponderance over other sports/Hockey chess and other native games which deserve lot more attention) policy to protect the minority .backward class/tribal people and so on. Despite being secular democracy, we also have subsidies for a particular section for pilgrimage. Historically people also have paid a tax called Zaziya meaning anybody with shikha, (juttu) paid a tax to the state. That apart do we have a strong cultural policy in place to protect the interest of artists, poets, sculptors and men of letters?

We are aware that all these artistic pursuits have existed much before democratic Governments came into the fore. It’s the individual creative urge which drives you to sing/write a poem and so on. But should we leave it there? Are these people not a part of the main stream society? The HRD ministry, Tourism ministry tries to include few policies to promote art/food and so on. Here the focus is more aimed at selling it as a package to tourists rather than promoting true hard core art forms. Indian Council for Cultural relations sends and gets the delegation of artists. Unless this institution is decentralized this does not address the grass root needs of the artist community. The Sangeeta sahitya academies are content giving awards to achievers (the criteria can be varied for selection). Sawai Gandhrva the legendary guru of Bhimsen joshi, Gangubal hangal, Feroz Dastur did not have any award. Sometimes these awards are given so late, that the artist will not even be able to go and receive it. Pt. Bhimsen Joshi was conferred the highest civilian award Bharata Ratna in his house by a group of officials. Whereas “Mile Sur mera tumhara” sung by him and others stands as an epitome of national integration.

Tabla maestro Pt. Samir Chatterjee based in New York shared his thoughts with me on the cultural policy. He opines that “a nation is defined by its geographical and cultural identity. Since her formation into a nation, India has been devoid of a formulated cultural policy, leading the nation into a complete chaos. It is the internal and an eternal strength of the land that has helped her to sustain through such terrible failure from the ruling administrations. Such uncertainties can otherwise be devastating to a nation. It is usually the responsibility of trusted administration to make sure that such an important aspect of the nation's identity is maintained with proper care and understanding. In the case of India we see a continuous effort from common people and private sectors to somehow compensate for the government's failure.  

Just as a proper policy is needed to determine the needs and course of action in every other aspect of the nation, there is even a greater need for a proper cultural policy to uphold the image of India within and outside the land. We hope the new administration will put effort into a systematic identification of the cultural heritage of the country and take necessary steps towards its preservation and promotion.”

Dr. T.S. Satyavathi a renowned Carnatic Vocalist, scholar, writer shared her sentiments.

“A nation’s Progress is assessed not merely by its achievement in the field of science & technology but also by its cultural standing. The monumental efforts of the great Seers & visionaries of the past have successfully put our ‘Bharat’ on top in this regard.

Having withstood repeated attacks from external as well as internal forces our country, with its perennial current of human, moral and ethical values propagated through her art and literature has nurtured the cultural roots to grow from strength to strength.

However, an increasing trend in recent times to embrace indiscriminately anything and everything that is foreign is causing serious concern among the conscientious thinkers regarding the survival of this rich cultural heritage.

At this juncture, a highly balanced and strong cultural policy of our own will go a long way in preserving and propagating our traditional art and literature which shall certainly make the process of Nation - building all the more smooth. Hence it is the need of the hour.”

Very many young film personalities walk away with Padma awards in their mid thirties where as poets/writers and others are still to be recognized even at the twilight of their carriers. There work may have been translated into many languages but still,,,, One of the state Sangeeta academies annual budget is rs.45 lakhs which includes the staff salary, publication, concerts scholarships to younger artists and so on. Whereas recently one of the central ministers gave away rs.47 lakhs as personal cash award to the team officers which had a monthly salary.(as reported in national news channels)

All India Radio and Doodrdarshan which are the voice of the nation some times reduced to the voice of ruling govt. DD Bharati will televise a morning raaga in the night not once, many a times. (Raga Ahir Bhairav by Rakesh Chourasiya at 9PM on June 11th 2014. I am aware its not the fault of the artist). Do we have an exhaustive collection of all the maestros in the National Media archives, for more than 30 hours each? (some artists have lived for more than 60 to 90 years)

There is a stiff competition for the post of president of cricket association of all the states by several leaders. Some of them are sitting presidents too and few of them never played the game at the given level of competence. We want to see a healthy competition in the society to head the cultural organizations. Lobbying/political considerations for the appointment of academy president and members should go, merit should prevail.

We have not seen a day and night cricket match stopping mid way due to power failure. But several state and govt owned auditoriums have pathetic infrastructure and no power back up, the singing may continue without mike. Some private organizations have come up with minimum health care packages/schemes for artists. But there is no pension, social security for them from the govt . One time MP/MLA will get a life time pension not withstanding their contribution in parliamentary debates and legislation's.

Its high time that our new energy, new government paid attention to the needs of cultural fraternity. Let us come up with a strong cultural policy which will encourage everyone including the parents to support their kids to pursue fine arts and other art forms as their Carrier options. Lets recall five of the Bharata ratna awardees in music (most to a single discipline) M.S. Subbalakshmi. Bismillakhan, Lata Mangeshkar, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Pt.  Ravishankar (only Pt.Ravishankar went up to college). The rest conquered the entire world beyond borders just through their music.

We should be proud to have, two highly sophisticated, well developed systems of classical music coexisting in our country for ages. The richness of our folk arts coming from different geographical influences is another feature. While some countries are still struggling to find their roots in culture and music, given our Cultural Heritage, it’s high time we evolve a strong solid National Cultural Policy to preserve and promote the art and the artists.

We have seen a strong foreign policy by the present Government. It has another four and half years to go to fulfill the promises that our diverse population demands.

It is heartening to see that our present Honorable Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi Ji, had Pt. Channulal Mishra a Varanasi based Classical Musician along with him, when he went to file his nomination papers in Varanasi at the time of election. This symbolism should turn into a movement.