Mumbai's tryst with classical music

In September 1952, the 15-year-old All India Radio got into a spot of trouble with some musical greats. The audition policy, part of a new initiative spanning 400 musicians, led to protests and a boycott by many prominent musicians.

- Dhamini Ratnam

MUMBAI: In September 1952, the 15-year-old All India Radio got into a spot of trouble with some musical greats. Ustaad Shakoor Khan, a disciple of the great Ustad Abdul Waheed Khan and a remarkable Sarangi player himself, was asked to audition as part of the state-run radio service's new policy that spanned 400 musicians. What's worse, he ostensibly failed.

Within months, protests against the procedure spread across the country as musicians felt slighted. Maestros such as sitarist Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan, his disciple Pandit Arvind Parikh and Jaipur Atrauli Gharana vocalist Vidushi Kausalya Manjeshwar, formed the Bharatiya Sangit Kalakar Mandal to coordinate with other musicians. Many decided to stop broadcasting on the radio. "[For many days] some 15-20 of us including Kishoritai Amonkar and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan sahib, sat in our cars outside the gate of the AIR building on Queen's Road (now, New Marine Lines in Mumbai) and requested the musicians walking out to stop working for Akashvani," recalled Parikh, now 97.

"The agitation ended in 1955 and a settlement was reached. The audition policy was altered to incorporate a screening process, which was not demeaning to performers," wrote music scholar and tabla player Aneesh Pradhan in his book, Chasing the Raag Dream.

This story, parts of which are likely apocryphal, showcases how Mumbai functioned as the beating heart of classical music in the country since the 19th century. Among the brightest stars of that tradition, Ustad Zakir Hussain, died earlier this week. Hussain, born in Mumbai's Mahim, was the son of Ustad Alla Rakha Khan, a tabla virtuoso, who accompanied sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. Simla House, Hussain's home in Mumbai, was witness to over 50 years of this history.