It has become routine for homemaker Prabha Shankar to drop in at the neighbourhood hall in Powai with her child in tow for a bit of classical music. “I don’t need to plan going for a concert,” says Shankar, who discovered the music circle after she moved to Powai.
Attending a well-organised concert is no longer a tedious trek to the NCPA or the Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre for many like her in the suburbs. Smaller cultural groups, set up by residents starved for quality entertainment, in most city suburbs offer a minimum of four classical music concerts a year. “There are about 25 circles that have come up in the last 20 years. Most were started by those who wanted to recreate the musical atmosphere in which they grew up in Bombay,” says Keshav Paranjape of Swar Mauli, an older circle. Paranjape is the convener of Music Organisation of Mumbai Suburbs, an association that was formed to connect old-timers with newer entrants from Kandivali, Virar and beyond.
Circles come up when neighbourhoods are far away from the city centre. “To hear a good concert we had to go all the way to NCPA or Shanmukhananda Hall. So a few of us started Powai Fine Arts three years ago,” says Ramesh Ramakrishnan, trustee.
Music lovers have come together in the city in the past too. The Suburban Music Circle and Kalyan Gayan Samaj were in existence by 1930s. “In the post-independence India, many such circles came up in Pune and Calcutta too,” says musician Satish Vyas. In Mumbai, the localities populated by Marathis, Bengalis and south Indians prominently patronised such circles, whether it is Dadar Matunga Cultural Centre (DMCC) or Vile Parle Music Circle. The scale of operations was modest to say the least. “DMCC used to rent out a room in the ChhabildasHigh school,” says Vyas. All the big names in Hindustani music, including Vyas’s father, the late C R Vyas and Bhimsen Joshi came there to entertain the knowledgeable audience. “The atmosphere was electric,” says Vyas.
Many newer circles start as informal groups. “We were seven families in Virar who did house concerts during pujas,” says Bhupen Jagtap. In 2006, they formed Saptak and have four to five concerts a year.
To students like Dhananjay Mhaskar, the circles provide a ready platform. “I was spotted by people connected to Yashwantaro Chavan Pratishthan at Swarankit circle in Nallasopara. They asked me to perform at the centre in the city. All this happened in the last two years,” says the 27-year-old.
The profile of the audience has evolved, according to Kamlakar Nene of Swarankit. “Along with older people, many youngsters and music students also come,” he says. Money problems plague circles as membership fee have not kept pace with the cost of organising concerts. Also, TV and internet keep away many young fans, says Arun Apte of Swara Vilas Foundation in Andheri.
But for artists like Mhaskar, live shows offer the hope of bringing new fans. “Two families, whose first classical concert was my show at Virar, went and bought Chaurasia’s and Zakir Hussain’s CDs to listen to more music,” he says.
Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2014-01-01/mumbai/45762858_1_music-lovers-circles-virar
