Spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy once said, “India is not just a people. India is the celestial music, and inside that music, anybody from any corner of the globe, can find the real significance of life.”
And for me, today’s urgent need is to start a TV channel devoted to the country’s folk music, which is full of vibrant vividness and can easily become a symbol of unity in diversity. In fact, it is the need of the hour when some forces are trying to thrust parochialism on our secularly mingled society, and raise walls among our vibrant communities.
Nonetheless, such a channel will also help us switch to something fresh from the boring 24/7 news channels, and low-budget movie channels which show the same movies, again and again.
In America too, folk music came back to the people’s psyche when Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama were knee-deep in fighting terror and Americans wanted to unite and sing peace. Folk music, a part of the collective consciousness, has the power to connect thousands by just the striking of a few notes or singing out of a verse.
If they can have a channel that just shows and talks about jazz, why can’t a music lover with resources in India start a channel that features India’s rich folk music and also talks about its histor; so that our youth can learn and take pride in the richness of our musical history. It can feature music from Himachal, Punjab, Bengal, Rajasthan, Assam or from other regions.
I think channels that repeat movies and have dwindling TRPs and revenues, should take a hint from Bollywood music directors, who are reviving folk musicfrom the days of Bulle Shah and Baul or old Rajasthani folk singers, into popular film songs that are minting money for them. They know that the folk music has powerful beats, so all they have to do is hire someone to write “double entendre” lyrics and they have the best item song. And the more genius music directors such as AR Rahman are using folk songs not just for item girls to sing but throughout the movie, depending on which region the story takes place. In all his movies, right from Taal to Jab TakHai Jaan, you can enjoy one or two or sometimes even more compositions based on India’s rich folk music.
For the past two years I have been doing my personal surveyamong friends and acquaintances to find out how many people, especially youngsters, know about the history of the Indian folk music. I was amazed that most of our youngsters don’t even know who Baul or Bulle Shah or Baba Farid was, forget their lyrics or music.
This channel can show how folk music was more like a daily ritual without affecting the daily lives of people. People take it up since childhood and grow up on these songs. Most songs are performed in small village functions like weddings, births, etc. This music is learned by the villagers almost by osmosis or through a process of gradual or subconscious assimilation of ideas. Some experts may differ or even laugh at the proposition, arguing that there is no money in starting a folk music TV channel. But I beg to differ. The whole thrust of today’s Indian industry and business and even foreign investors in India is on capturing the rural markets. My contention is that when viewers will see the respect and recognition the folk music of their region is getting, and also learn about music of other regions, they are bound to be glued to that channel and provide the necessary TRP. Then the businesses that want their brands to become popular among India’s rural regions, will happily give their ads on that channel to reach the remotest regions of India.
Also, I believe the content for such a TV channel will not be a problem because along with music, we can educate our youngsters about the history of India’s rich music, its traditions, its people and the reasons why India is proud of its unity in diversity.
(Author/news analyst Ravi M Khanna is currently freelancing after a 24-year stint with Voice Of America in Washington DC, as South Asia bureau chief)
Feedback: ravimohankhanna@ gmail.com
