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Friday, September 11, 2020

Social Change: Table of Contents

 

COVID-19: Beyond Biological Dynamics

Imrana Qadeer, Sourindra Mohan Ghosh
First Published July 24, 2020; pp. 359–384
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Anatomy of Stigma: Understanding COVID-19

Vinay Kumar Srivastava
First Published August 19, 2020; pp. 385–398
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Water and Violence Against Dalits in Maharashtra: A Multi-case Approach

Raju Adagale
First Published July 29, 2020; pp. 399–415
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Does Irrigation Mediate Inclusiveness in Education? A Study of Two Villages in Hyderabad and Karnataka

Suma Scaria
First Published July 24, 2020; pp. 416–429
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Customary Land-Tenure and the Poor: A Study of Jharkhand and Meghalaya

Ankita Goyal
First Published September 4, 2020; pp. 430–446
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Risk and Value in Benefit-sharing with Displaced People: Looking Back 40 Years, Anticipating the Future

Susanna Price, Warren A. Van Wicklin, III, Dolores Koenig, John Owen, Chris de Wet, Asmita Kabra
First Published September 4, 2020; pp. 447–465
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Social Change Indicators

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Types of Vulnerable Household across Social Classes in Rural India

Surajit Deb
First Published September 4, 2020; pp. 466–472
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Commentary

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COVID-19 Highlights, Fault Lines in China, India and the World

Manoranjan Mohanty
First Published August 17, 2020; pp. 473–478
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Review Essay

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Ashoke Kumar Sarkar and Abdus Samad Gayen (Eds.), Karl Marx, Bicentennial (1818–2018) Lectures

Vidhu Verma
First Published September 4, 2020; pp. 479–484
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Book Reviews

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Book review: Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, Good Economics for Hard Times

M. A. Oommen
First Published August 17, 2020; pp. 485–488
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Book review: Rama V. Baru and Madhurima Nundy, Commercialisation of Medical Care in China: Changing Landscapes

Vandana Prasad
First Published September 4, 2020; pp. 488–491
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Book review: A. S. Panneerselvan (Ed.), Uncertain Journeys: Labour Migration from South Asia

Akhil Alha
First Published September 4, 2020; pp. 491–493
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Book review: Chinmay Tumbe, India Moving: A History of Migration

Shubha Singh
First Published September 4, 2020; pp. 493–496
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Book review: Hem Borker, Madrasas and the Making of Islamic Womanhood

Shefali Jha
First Published September 4, 2020; pp. 496–499
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Tributes

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Yogendra Singh (1932–2020): The Indigenous Sociologist

B. K. Nagla
First Published September 4, 2020; pp. 500–502
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Lakshman Kumar Mahapatra (1929–2020): Gifted Scholar, Brilliant Teacher

Kamal K. Misra
First Published September 4, 2020; pp. 503–505
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Issues

Posted by TISS Guwahati Campus Library Blog at Friday, September 11, 2020
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Labels: Table of Contents

How Indo-China border dispute once split the Communist Party of India

 

The impact of the Sino-India war on CPI becomes understandable in context of the pressures that Communist ideology was facing worldwide in an era when colonial forces were being diminished.


The killing of 10 Indian CRPF personnel by Chinese forces on October 21, 1959 is known to have been the start of hostilities that finally culminated in the Sino-India war of 1962. The events that took place at the high mountain ranges of Eastern Ladakh, at a cold dry spot known as Kongka Pass, came as a huge setback to the Indian government. It was also the moment that caused the beginning of the fractures within the second most popular political party in the country at the time, the Communist Party of India (CPI). The war between India and China in 1962 was to have its strongest impact on Left politics in India, as it caused the split of the CPI.

Of course, one cannot disregard that all was not well in the party that came to become the face of Left ideologies in India, right from the time of the Independence of the country. Differing ideologies over the nature of Indian independence, and then over the fundamental character of Indian state and society, had caused multiple factions to arise within the party. However, it was the war of 1962, that was to play a crucial role in determining the final split.

The impact of the Sino-India war on CPI becomes understandable in context of the pressures that Communist ideology was facing worldwide in an era when colonial forces were being diminished.

International communism before Sino-China war of 1962

The CPI was founded on October 17, 1920, in the city of Tashkent in Uzbekistan, which was formerly a part of the Soviet Union. The CPI is known to have been the first attempt made by the Communist International to create a Communist party in India from among Indian revolutionaries who had migrated to America and Europe. Given the international origins of the CPI, the party had an ambiguous stance, even when it came to the nationalist movement. A case in point here is the 1940s, when faced with Gandhi’s call for Quit India movement on one hand, and the Soviet Union’s appeal to back the British in the Second World War on the other, the CPI alienated itself from the freedom struggle.

In the period between the late 1950s and early 60s, an event that would have the most far-reaching consequence on Communist ideologies across the world is the breakdown of Sino-Soviet relations. The two Communist powers were at loggerheads over their interpretation of the Marxist-Leninist ideals. China decried the Soviet Union’s policy of international peaceful co-existence with the West.

At the same time, Soviet Union had found an ally in India. The USSR appealed to the CPI to lend its support to Nehru’s foreign policy, much against the wishes of certain sections of the party who had their animosities towards the Congress. Consequently, those who did not agree with the Soviet Union’s call for support towards Nehru, found themselves looking for guidance from the Communist Party in China.

The war of 1962 and split in CPI

It was in this atmosphere crisis within international communism, that the Dalai Lama escaped to India in 1959. When the Chinese brutally suppressed the Tibetan uprising, the CPI acted as a unit. “A Communist Party statement of March 31 praised the Chinese for leading the Tibetans from ‘medieval darkness’ and blamed the rebellion on Tibetan ‘serf owners’ backed by Indian reactionaries and Western imperialists,” wrote researcher Robert W. Stern, in his article published in 1965 titled, ‘The Sino-Indian border controversy and the Communist Party of India’.

Even when Nehru revealed that Chinese forces were in the Northeast Frontier Agency (NEFA) and Ladakh, the CPI remained largely silent and tried to minimise the importance of the affair. The situation began to change from September, when the Indian government revealed a note from China disputing the 800-mile long McMohan line as the Sino-Indian frontier. When the Central Executive Committee of the party met at Calcutta in September to discuss Sino-Indian relations, a group of leading communists from Bombay and Kerala openly dissented with the party, demanding it to declare support for Nehru’s border policy.

The Calcutta resolution though, was a defeat for the dissidents. “It equated the authenticity of the McMohan line with the authenticity of the Chinese territorial claims based on maps which had been roundly condemned in the Indian press and in Parliament,” wrote Stern. Nonetheless, party general-secretary Ajoy Ghosh managed to mediate between the two factions and retain a semblance of unity in the party. However, it was short lived.

A month later, faced with public backlash against the Calcutta resolution, and also the incident at Kongka Pass, a faction of nationalists from the CPI made public their disaffection with the party’s stance. Participating at a parliamentary board meeting of the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti (a multi-party organisation formed to demand a separate state for Marathi speaking people), the Communists in Maharashtra declared: “The McMahon line was India’s ‘natural boundary’ and China’s refusal to vacate Indian territory was ‘tantamount to forcible occupation’.”

Following the incident at Kongka Pass, S A Dange, one of the founding members of the CPI from Maharashtra, and representative of the party in Lok Sabha, condemned the Chinese unequivocally. “The whole country will stand behind Pandit Nehru in whatever steps he takes to avert such incidents,” he said. He was supported by A K Gopalan from Kerala, Hirendranath Mukherjee who was CPI deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, and Jharkande Rai who represented the party in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Voices of dissent soon started to emerge from Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Delhi Haridwar and many other places.

At the same time, a strong pro-Chinese wing remained within the party. It was strongest in Calcutta and Punjab, but was also present elsewhere. This group was largely satisfied with the Calcutta resolution and refused to lend more support to Nehru’s border policy. They were called the party leftists, while their opponents were called the rightists.

In the ensuing months, while efforts were made to reach a middle ground, the disagreements within the party had become almost irreconcilable. Matters came to a head in 1961 when Ghosh passed away.

When Chinese forces invaded India in October 1962, Dange aided the Indian government in the arrest of thousands of those party members who aligned towards China.

The last straw though, that ultimately led to the splitting of the party, was the issue over a few letters written by Dange which were found by party leftist Dwijen Nandi, showed the former offering his service to the British intelligence. It culminated in the meeting of July 1964, when about 100 party leftists formally announced the creation of a new Communist party. While initially both parties insisted on being called CPI, due to necessities of election procedures, the leftist group registered themselves as Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI (M).

Sources: Indian Express, 10/09/20

Posted by TISS Guwahati Campus Library Blog at Friday, September 11, 2020
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Labels: Indo-China, International Relations

End gender-based discrimination in the Hindu Succession Act

 

The assumptions in HSA that govern the devolution of women’s property are no longer valid


On August 11, the Supreme Court (SC) of India ruled that a daughter has the same rights as a son in an ancestral property under the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, regardless of when the father may have died, which the principle law – the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (HSA) – originally did not grant. The 2005 amendment and the subsequent SC ruling are significant steps towards removing gender-based discrimination in HSA. However, the provisions of HSA which govern the devolution of property of a deceased woman are still firmly rooted in outdated assumptions.

These provisions treat the Hindu joint family, traditionally led by a patriarch and lineage traced through exclusive male relations, as central to all matters of inheritance. Therefore, HSA tries to retain property within the husband’s family as far as possible when a woman dies childless. This results in unfair discrimination against the woman’s natal family. Even when the woman has acquired the property through her skills and efforts, the husband’s natal family has a stronger claim over it than her parents. However, there is no reciprocal provision for the property belonging to the husband.

The notion that the law should preserve property in a Hindu joint family is based on two outdated assumptions. First, that the joint family is the most relevant and important unit of societal organisation among Hindus. Second, that women do not have the wherewithal to acquire and manage their property. Both these assumptions are out of touch with today’s reality.

The joint family is becoming increasingly irrelevant as an institution. According to the Census, the average family size of Hindu households reduced from 5.16 persons per household in 2001 to 4.9 persons per household in 2011. According to the Census, the median family size in urban areas has dropped below four. This is part of a larger trend of reduction in family size over the years and shows just how irrelevant joint families have become. Even the Hindu Code Bills committee expressed the same opinion in its 1944 report. BN Rau, the chair of the committee (and who would later play a pivotal role in drafting the Constitution of India), noted that the institution of a Hindu joint family is outdated and should be abolished.

The assumption that women do not have the capacity to acquire, hold, and manage their property is refuted by examining the socio-economic status of women today. The Hindu Code Bills committee, however, called this argument specious in its report. Proponents of this argument pointed to the low literacy rate among women as a justification. But the Committee refuted it by pointing out that the literacy rates among men were not significantly higher either. Regardless, HSA, as passed by the Parliament, included the problematic provision.

Today, far more women are employed than they were at the time when HSA was enacted. The workforce participation rates for women have increased from 12% in 1971 to 25% in 2011, according to Census figures. The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2015-16 reports that 28% of women (between the age of 15-49) own land – either jointly or by themselves – and 37% own a house (jointly or by themselves), 53% of women have savings accounts in banks. They own 21.5% of all proprietary establishments in the country, according to the Union ministry of statistics and programme implementation. Their literacy rate has increased from 9% in 1951 to 65% in 2011. They now represent 46% of the total annual enrolments in higher education, and are 53% of the total post-graduate degrees awarded every year.

This change in the status of women demands a fundamental change in the treatment of their property under the law. While some would argue that this provision only kicks in after their death, the lack of ability to provide for their natal family even after their death vis-a-vis a man’s ability to do the same impacts how women’s overall role is perceived in society.

Further, there are three demographic trends that add to the urgency of this reform. First, according to the Census 2011, there were 49.5 million women in India who were or had been married, and had no surviving children, up from 24 million in 1981. Second, India’s total fertility rate declined from 5.91 in 1960 to 2.51 in 2017, which means that women have fewer children today than they used to in the past. Third, the number of widowed women in India increased from 24 million in 1961 to 43 million in 2011. The increase in the number of widowed women far outstrips the increase in the number of widowed men. This is likely in part because the average life expectancy for women is higher compared to men, and the rates of remarriage for women are far lower. Put together, this means that the pool of women who are widowed and do not have children will likely be higher in the future than it is today. It is this growing pool of women who are, and will continue to be, affected by HSA’s discriminatory provisions.

The assumptions in HSA that govern the devolution of women’s property are no longer valid. We must acknowledge the reality of society and treat women on par with men in all spheres of life, including in matters of property devolution.

Devendra Damle is a researcher with NIPFP

Source: Hindustan Times, 10/09/20

Posted by TISS Guwahati Campus Library Blog at Friday, September 11, 2020
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Labels: Gender, Law

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Quote of the Day September 10, 2020

 “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”

‐ Nelson Mandela

“शत्रु के साथ आपको शांति अगर चाहिए, तो आपको अपने शत्रु के साथ काम करना होगा। फिर वह आपका साथी बन जाएगा।”

‐ नेल्सन मंडेला

Posted by TISS Guwahati Campus Library Blog at Thursday, September 10, 2020
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US spacecraft named after late Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla

 

Northrop Grumman, an American global aerospace and defence technology company, announced that its next Cygnus capsule will be named the "S.S. Kalpana Chawla", in memory of the mission specialist who died with her six crewmates aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 2003.


An American commercial cargo spacecraft bound for the International Space Station has been named after fallen NASA astronaut Kalpana Chawla, the first India-born woman to enter space, for her key contributions to human spaceflight.

Northrop Grumman, an American global aerospace and defence technology company, announced that its next Cygnus capsule will be named the “S.S. Kalpana Chawla”, in memory of the mission specialist who died with her six crewmates aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 2003.

“Today we honour Kalpana Chawla, who made history at @NASA as the first female astronaut of Indian descent. Her contributions to human spaceflight have had a lasting impact,” the company tweeted on Wednesday.

“Northrop Grumman is proud to name the NG-14 Cygnus spacecraft after former astronaut Kalpana Chawla. It is the company’s tradition to name each Cygnus after an individual who has played a pivotal role in human spaceflight,” the company said on its website.

“Chawla was selected in honour of her prominent place in history as the first woman of Indian descent to go to space,” it said.

“While Chawla made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the space programme, her legacy lives on through her fellow astronauts and those she has inspired to follow in her footsteps,” it said.

“Her final research conducted onboard Columbia helped us understand astronaut health and safety during spaceflight. Northrop Grumman is proud to celebrate the life of Kalpana Chawla and her dream of flying through the air and in space,” it said.

The S S Kalpana Chawla capsule is scheduled to launch on the NG-14 mission atop a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on September 29. The spacecraft will arrive at and be attached to the space station two days later.

For the NG-14 mission, the Cygnus spacecraft will deliver approximately 3,629 kg of cargo to the space station.

Chawla was born in Karnal, Haryana on March 17, 1962. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College in India in 1982.

Chawla then moved to the United States to pursue her graduate education; in 1984 she received a Master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas, and a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado in 1988.

She held commercial pilot’s licenses for single- and multi-engine aeroplanes, seaplanes and gliders, and was also a certified flight instructor.

Chawla began her career at NASA in 1988 as a powered-lift computational fluid dynamics researcher at the Ames Research Center in California.

Her work concentrated on the simulation of complex air flows encountered by aircraft flying in ‘ground-effect.’

In 1993, Chawla joined Overset Methods Inc. as vice president and a researcher in aerodynamics.

After becoming a naturalised US citizen in April 1991, Chawla applied for the NASA astronauts corps. She was selected in December 1994 and reported to the Johnson Space Center in Houston in 1995 as an astronaut candidate in Group 15.

In November 1996, Chawla was assigned as a mission specialist on STS-87 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, becoming the first woman of Indian descent to fly in space.

Chawla’s second spaceflight experience came in 2001 when she was selected for the crew of STS-107. The flight was dedicated to science and research, with approximately 80 experiments completed.

Chawla lost her life during the STS-107 mission when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentering the Earth’s atmosphere

Source: Indian Express, 10/09/20

Posted by TISS Guwahati Campus Library Blog at Thursday, September 10, 2020
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Gharanas, the anchor of Hindustani music spawned by Mughal decline

 

The origin of the gharana tradition is traced back to the time when the Mughal empire was at its twilight, and art and culture of the court, disintegrated to find new homes in the princely states.

Bandish Bandits, a new Amazon Prime web series directed by Anand Tiwari, has opened up conversations around the tradition and discipline of Hindustani classical music and the kind of possibilities it creates upon fusing with more contemporary styles.

The series, while introducing millenials to the nuances of Hindustani classical music, also pours light on the politics of classical music in north India, in particular that of the gharana tradition. ‘Gharana’, derived from the Hindi word ‘ghar’ (house), is a system by which a certain style of music, unique to the particular unit, is handed down from teacher to disciple. For the longest time, a gharana consisted strictly of family members and music was preserved within its lineage, almost like any other property.

Interestingly, the gharana system of Hindustani classical music, though steeped as it would appear, in tradition, is barely two or three centuries old. Its origin is traced back to the time when the Mughal empire was at its twilight, and art and culture of the court, disintegrated to find new homes in the princely states.

Decline of the Mughal empire and emergence of gharanas

A crucial moment in the history of music in the Mughal empire was in 1668-69 when emperor Aurangzeb ordered a ban on music. Italian traveler Niccolai Manucci, who documented the event, wrote about a “great destruction in musical instruments”: “If any house or elsewhere he heard the sound of singing and instruments, he should forthwith hasten there and arrest as many as he could, breaking the instruments.”
Traditionally historians have understood this ban as being uncompromisingly enforced, and a mark of Aurangzeb’s orthodox and repressive tendencies. More recent scholarship, however, has noted that the ban on music by Aurangzeb was perhaps just restricted to his court, even as it flourished in the provincHistorian Katherine Butler Brown, in her article ‘Did Aurangzeb ban music?’, explains that the decision to ban music was primarily due to personal reasons of grief and religious piety. However, she maintains that there was no dearth of music patrons to make up for the loss of employment caused by Aurangzeb’s ban. “Several paintings, for example, produced between 1680-1710 at the court of Udaipur depict musicians performing for Maharana Jai Singh and Maharana Amar Singh,” writes Brown, adding names of several other such patrons both in Delhi and in the provinces.

A crucial moment in the history of music in the Mughal empire was in 1668-69 when emperor Aurangzeb ordered a ban on music. (Wikimedia Commons)es and under the patronage of Mughal nobles in Delhi.

In the decades following the death of Aurangzeb, a line of incapable rulers, a factitious nobility, and a number of agrarian uprisings had strained the resources of the empire. Soon, the artistic patronage showered by the empire also declined.

Musicologist Jon Barlow and historian Lakshmi Subramanian, in their article ‘Music and society in North India: From Mughals to the mutiny’, write: “It was in the period following Aurangzeb that the regional network of princely patronage had emerged.” They go on to add: “Classical music, before and after the mutiny, spread and survived the pressures of transition through these networks and these courts became the conduits for its passage into the world of modern urbanised India.”

From family preserve to fusion music: The development of gharanas

The emergence of gharanas by the end of the 19th century, is reflexive of the kind of sociological transformations that music underwent during the final years of the Mughal empire. Barlow and Subramanian write that in the course of this transformation, Hindustani classical music shifted from central north India to other metropolitan centres. “Moving between various courts, musicians were often at loggerheads, competing for patronage, and reluctant to share their musical resources outside their family circle,” they explain.

Royal favouritism and family jealousies were part of this newfound system of music. A case in point is the Gwalior Gharana, which is believed to be the reference point from which other gharanas emerged. The traceable line of Gwalior gayaki begins with Ghulam Rasool, who in the 18th century performed in the courts of Delhi and Lucknow. Shakkar and Makkhan, his nephews from a widowed sister, became disciples. The intense rivalry between the two brothers is carried out over the next three generations, comprising instances of treachery, revenge, and a fierce musical competition that is believed to have led to the death of one of the descendants.

Apart from Gwalior, some of the most popular gharanas for classical music vocalists include the Jaipur-Atrauli, Agra, Patiala, Kirana, Indore, Mewat, and Bhendi Bazaar. Traditionally, a style of music had to be in existence for three generations for it to be declared a gharana.

“Until 50-60 years ago, one stuck to the style in which you were trained. One did not even hear music of any other tradition,” says Shailaja Khanna, a journalist who writes on music, about the discipline of the gharana tradition of music. She explains that the trend of teaching students outside one’s family, was also something that began fairly recently.

“Take the case of Alladiya Khan from the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana. He had three sons. From Jaipur, Khan moved to Maharashtra and performed in the court of Kolhapur. He was open minded, so he decided to take students from outside the family, like Vidushi Kesarbai and Vidushi Mogubai, who was the mother of Kishori Amonkar,” says Khanna.

In recent times, Khanna explains, the purity of the gharana tradition has diluted, and to be trained in multiple gharanas is often seen as an attribute of a good singer. However, many who strongly believe in the discipline of the gharanas have also expressed their disappointment at this intermingling.

In a recent interview to anchor Sadhna Srivastva, Ustad Alam Khan speaks of the relevance of maintaining the gharana tradition in modern times. “I think there is something very honourable and powerful in spending one’s life, studying one particular style. That is not to say that other styles are not valuable. I think it’s your job to know very well your style, and build upon that foundation, before you go and start taking things from other gharanas and building on to your house,” says Khan, the son of legendary Sarod Maestro Ali Akbar Khan who has been in the trained in the Maihar Seni Gharana since the age of seven.

Nonetheless, the intermingling of gharanas has produced several stalwarts in the field of classical music such as Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, Arati Ankalikar-Tikekar, and Gauri Pathare.

In the last two decades, the trend has shifted further and the blending of classical Hindustani with modern and western variants of music has emerged rather strongly. The popularity of fusion music is what Bandit Bandish to tries to capture in its attempt at enticing a young audience towards classical music.

Abhijit Pohankar, one of the most popular names in the field of fusion music, believes that “while gharanas have a very important place in Indian classical music, any good artist would have to learn the nuances of different gharanas.” The 45-year old traces his roots in the Kirana Gharana and Patiala Gharana, but has been trained by santoor player Shivkumar Sharma. Pohankar made inroads in fusion music in 2002, with the album, ‘Piya bawari’. “Back then, the term ‘fusion music’ did not exist at all. But the idea of it goes way back. Great artists like Pandit Ravishankar have done fusion music with American violinist Yehudi Menuhin and others as well. But the most popular fusion music has been created in the Hindi film industry by artists like O P Nayyar and R D Burman,” says Pohankar.

A strong believer in innovation, Pohankar emphasises that one has to create one’s own style. “You cannot simply imitate what has been taught to you and become a well known artist.”

Stalwarts of classical music reflect on the emerging trends with both skepticism and appreciation. Renowned classical vocalist Kaushiki Chakraborty explains the changes in the traditions of classical music through the socio-economic evolution that has affected everything else as well. “If you observe, the gharana tradition has a geographical reference. They are named after a place. A particular style of music was developed in a particular area as a community culture. That was a time when there was no communication among places, and so the music also developed without any outside references,” she explains about the social dynamics of the time when gharanas began.

“But today at the click of a mouse we know what is happening anywhere. At a time like this, it is impossible for a living tradition like Indian classical music, to stick to an ideology that was developed at a time when no communication was possible,” she says adding that in these changed times, the strictness and restrictive nature of gharanas is impossible to be relevant anymore.

Equally important to note is that the princely patronage earlier available to the gharanas has long gone, making it necessary for artists to monetise upon their music through concerts and corporate events.

Does this mean that gharanas have lost all relevance? Chakraborty does not believe so. She says that the gharana in which one is trained is just as relevant as one’s home. “Though you can take a flight and go anywhere these days, the relevance of home does not cease to exist. To belong to a gharana is to belong to your home. It is where you come back. It’s like an anchor, without which one would be lost.”

Source: Indian Express, 4/09/20


Posted by TISS Guwahati Campus Library Blog at Thursday, September 10, 2020
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Labels: Hindustani Music

Movement of peoples in South Asia calls for building solidarities, collective action

 

Shared-destiny of migrants in the region has become all the more prominent during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The failure of state mechanisms to provide a modicum of income support, social security benefits and healthcare to migrants was glaring.


Labour migration is a central phenomenon in South Asia, where a large number of citizens of various countries in the region (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan) are continuously on the move, essentially in search of a living. While a good chunk of these job seekers move within their countries, some of them travel across borders.

The countries in South Asia have many commonalities in their migration profiles. Internal migration is a striking feature for all South Asian countries. In recent decades, intensified poverty and widening inequalities have been propelling large-scale urban-bound migration from rural areas. Though employment prospects and higher wages boost such migration, the most palpable driving force is the deepening employment-crisis in rural labour markets. The recent spike in rural distress throughout the region is destabilising the erstwhile rhythms of seasonality in rural-urban migration. Landlessness, debt-bondages and farmer suicides have increased considerably. In some countries, socio-political tensions, climate change and resource-depletion have compounded the agrarian crisis.

Familial/societal norms based on deep-rooted patriarchal values shape the patterns and trends of women’s migration. The governance frameworks of migration in South Asian countries are also influenced by gendered notions. The controls imposed on women’s migration range from banning migration for certain categories of employment to keeping job-specific age-restrictions for women. Even in countries like Sri Lanka, where women migrants outnumber their male counterparts in the international migration stream, the situation is not different. The recently introduced Family Background Report (FBR) system in Sri Lanka stipulates that the women obtain clearance from a local official. Due to restrictive practices, women’s migration (especially international migration) is considerably low in countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan. In other countries (Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) such restrictions are found prompting employment-aspiring women to take illegal routes. Often, these undocumented migrants fall prey to pernicious practices of illegal recruiters, including trafficking and sexual abuse.

GCC countries are the most prominent migrant destinations for most South Asian countries, with the exception of Maldives and Bhutan. In the Gulf countries, migrants from different parts of South Asia are found competing for jobs by mutually under-cutting wages and accepting deplorable working and living conditions. In many other destinations (for example, Jordan, Singapore), workers from different South Asian countries share work-conditions and worries.

Inadequate support from the state to facilitate informed and rights-based migration is yet another feature of South Asian countries. Most of these countries do not even have reliable data on migrants. Inadequate social security systems, absence of effective protective legislations and regulatory systems are also common features.

Shared-destiny of migrants in the region has become all the more prominent during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The failure of state mechanisms to provide a modicum of income support, social security benefits and healthcare to migrants was glaring.

Large scale migrant-receiving countries in the region like India, Pakistan and the Maldives can ensure that immigrants from their South Asian neighbours are provided fair conditions at work. Ensuring dignity to intra-regional migrants also requires considerable efforts in terms of establishing peace within the region and finding amiable solutions on long-standing disputes around legality and citizenship of cross-border migrants within South Asia.

These countries could collectively negotiate with major migrant-receivers like the GCC countries. For this, there is a need for reviving larger solidarities in the line of SAARC. Strengthening of protective frameworks, including labour laws, and signing/honouring of relevant international labour conventions and guidelines on migration are equally important.

This article first appeared in the print edition on September 10 under the title “We The Migrants.” The writer is Dean, School of Development Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi and lead author of the recently released ‘SAAPE South Asia Migration Report, 2020’.

Source: Indian Express, 10/09/20

Posted by TISS Guwahati Campus Library Blog at Thursday, September 10, 2020
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