Savai has always had no late nightly restrictions but this year's terror paranoia has curbed that free running spirit of musical camaraderie somewhat. Events that used to go till 4 am now get done by 1 am. Trying to nudge artists off the stage or telling them to stick to a time slot is like telling a new born pup to flush after it poops. Won't happen. Still, not as bad as it could have been.
The thing with Savai is that it allows knowledgeable people to come to a place where good music is guaranteed. No populist non sense to please the ears of those who care for nothing more than a fast beat or shockingly nasal romantic crap. Take for instance the Idea heartbeat concert where the lineup read like this: Zakir Hussain, U.Srinivas, Selvaganesh, Taufiq Qureshi and Shankar Mahadevan. Now all these musicians are of an extrememly high caliber whose instrumental skills can only be described as God like. Like good wine, they can only be appreciated by those with an idea of what classical music (or just plain good music for that matter) is.Unfortunately, many of the ticket holders were under the impression that Shankar Mahadevan would be singing Bollywood songs with the other chumps playing something or the other. Bollywood songs. Yes indeed. With Zakir??With Srinivas??With Selva and Taufiq?? Obviously the music sailed over their heads with the result that all that musical tightness, the excellent taanams from Srinivas, the ripping kanjeers solos, the brilliant vocals strained with Carnatic classical influences-all went unnoticed. What's worse, they went unapplauded. Taufiq was reduced to doing some nonsense mimmicry and that finally elicited hearty applause from the crowd. The son of Allah Rakha, brother of Zakir Hussain, scion of one of Indian music's first families-reduced to doing something as ridiculous and demeaning as that. This is a man who blows collective brains abroad for his amazing timing, odd time magic and sheer percussion ingenuity. Why then does he down grade for us, his own people? These are artists who have a tremendous following worldwide. In fact, most of their concert dates are abroad. And its not just the dollar rate that makes them play outside. Its the sheer apathy of our crowds.
And that lends Savai its magical touch. The knowledgable crowds. 25000 people, lots of them classical enthusiaists or plain lovers of music with a certain quality. Artists confess that there is a certain pride in being invited to play at Savai because a discerning audience immediately demands quality of artistry with the result that only the best get a chance to rock at Savai. Just like Woodstock.
The artists get the appreciation they deserve, not for their popularity, but for the quality of the work they show on stage. The Savai audience is generous when it needs to be. It recognises the finer points and niceties of instrumental, vocal and dance performances. Pune is what makes the Savai. The long tradition of the Savai is rooted firmly in the audience. Try something similar in another town and you'll end up with a hall emptier than a bar right after a police raid. Pune, Chennai and Bangalore are the centres for Indian music. Everything is more conducive to good music in these places. The 'good' is highly subjective of course.
The atmosphere at Savai is absolutely indicative of the 'music first, everything else later' spirit that we miss dearly and lack completely in today's world of corporate sponsorship. Everywhere else, the paw prints of money sploshing companies are evident in the arrangements and even in the show strucure with their names popping up everywhere. Savai does has corporate sponsorship. But they DO NOT show movies of the God damned companies at Savai! The whole atmosphere is music oriented. People can go right upto the front row on the lowest ticket. If you do love your music enough you might just wait outside the whole night, freezing your ass off just to get a place up front. Just like Woodstock.
There are people all over the place spread out, eyes closed(don't be fooled: the noveau fan might be asleep), savouring the music. Artists put out their best performances and make sure they're perfect when they're performing at Savai. Afterall, it does have the patronage of one of the world's greatest musicians-Pt. Bhimsen Joshi.
You just can't go wrong after that.
Savai even has its own rock stars analogous to woodstockers like Hendrix, Santana or even The Who.(Its another matter that Pt. RaviShankar and Ustad Allah Rakha have also performed at Woodstock 69). Indian classical music is seen to be boring and elitist by many. Not so. Just look at all our Pandits and Ustads. Rock stars in their own right with stage presence rivalled only by Hendrix. They can hold an audience with their swagger and charm as much as with their music.
Ravi Shankar was a Beatles favorite, teaching George Harrison to play the sitar. He was in on the flower power trend and was a womaniser too. Apart from being a God on the sitar of course. Zakir Hussain has killer stage presence and a crowd capturing ability that would make quite a few rockers jealous (along with being a huge Doors fan). Also, he's probably the best tabla player alive. Pt. Bhimsen Joshi was a huge drinker in his middle age. He also loved driving cars fast and had a liking for them, a-la John Bonham. Kishori Amonkar is famous for the high handed in manner in which she walks off stage for decidedly petty reasons until the organisers and audiences beg her to come back. Apart from being a sublime vocalist. Who says our musicians aren't rockers in their own right? That's even before we come to their music. Listen to it. It'll blow your brains out your butt.
So, this more of a romantic analogy for those of us who weren't around during Woodstock '69. This is our chance to relive the the magic...year after year. Only this is better.
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