The controversy over the prestigious Music Academy in Chennai giving its highest Sangita Kalanidhi award to rebel musician TM Krishna has exposed the divide in the Carnatic music fraternity. It has also opened up an ideological debate between the Dravidian point of view and the Brahminical order. In election season it is inevitable that political parties will also cash in on the row to appease their respective constituencies. A slew of musicians have threatened to boycott the Academy during music season in December this year while a previous recipient of the Sangita Kalanidhi, Chitraveena exponent Ravikiran, has returned his award. Krishna, himself a Brahmin, has fought relentlessly against the upper caste hegemony in Carnatic music. He has taken his music to slums and Dalit strongholds, incorporated Christian and Islamic elements in his performances and has sought to universalise Carnatic music which has hitherto been insular and confined to a privileged few. That the Music Academy, itself a product of Brahminical hegemony, rose above its biases and decided to award Krishna, who had ironically criticised the Academy in no uncertain terms some years ago, is commendable. It has stood by its choice rejecting the charges made by a popular singer duo and said Krishna was selected purely on the basis of his musical prowess.
Krishna’s work as a social reformer and environmentalist has ruffled many feathers, especially among the purists in the rarefied world of Carnatic music. He has been outspoken in his views against casteism and the saffron brand of Hindutva. He sparked a row when he pointed out the irony of Brahmins playing the mridangam which is made of cow hide. His praise of Periyar, the most strident anti-Brahmin proponent of the Dravidian movement, made his peers in the Carnatic music fraternity see red. Now the DMK and BJP have taken diametrically opposing viewpoints on the issue. While DMK leader MK Stalin has commended the award for Krishna, the BJP led by K Annamalai in Tamil Nadu has taken the side of the aggrieved musicians accusing Krishna of denigrating Sanatana Dharma. In this cacophony of voices, music is the loser.
