Our story begins on the 1st of February 2018, at 5.45 PM (although it was scheduled to begin a good fifteen minutes earlier). It was a colourful evening with ladies in gracefully draped sarees and men in elegant kurtas, exchanging excited chit-chat over cups of coffee and tea. The stage was set. It was the evening of the inaugural lecture of the 7th Annual Academic Conference of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences.
The theme for this year’s conference was ‘Subjugated Knowledges: Other Forms of Knowing’. The phrase ‘subjugated knowledges’ was coined by Michel Foucault and refers to a whole set of knowledges that are hidden behind more dominant knowledges.
The evening began with the mandatory introduction of guests and dignitaries. Prof Umakant Dash (Head, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences) took the opportunity to introduce the Department and offered a glimpse into the achievements of the Department’s graduates and scholars.
The Convenor of the Conference, Dr. Mathangi Krishnamurthy ascended the dais to speak about her involvement with the conference and its theme. Terming the theme a subject of ‘contemporary academic relevance’, she said that the Conference intended to serve the purpose of explaining, illuminating and critiquing different forms of knowing. She spoke about the Conference as a stage to celebrate multiplicity and engage in dialogue about ‘the things that are not meant to be’.
The Institute Director, Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthy, also the chief guest for the evening, spent a few minutes to ruminate on what the theme of the conference – Subjugated Knowledges – could possibly mean. In his brief but light-hearted talk, Prof Ramamurthy canvassed a number of stories – of people involved in the healthcare sector, of women and men engaged in the hospitality sector and of his own tryst with music. Dr. Merin would later invoke parts of Prof Ramamurthy’s speech in her own address to talk about how the Department Conference provided a platform to tie different parts of myriad stories together- it is only in a space like the DoHSS Conference that one could discuss music, epistemology and idlis under the same roof.
The two guests for the opening lecture were Dr. Lakshmi Sreeram and Ms. Vidya Shah. This report will cover the proceedings of the first inaugural lecture-demonstration, ‘Singing on the Razor’s Edge’, delivered by Dr. Sreeram. Apart from being an accomplished classical vocalist, Dr. Sreeram is also a writer and academic, with a Ph.D. from the University of Bombay for her work in Alankara Sastra.
LECTURE DEMONSTRATION
Dr. Sreeram’s lec-dem began with a ‘lakshana geet’ in Raaga Behag. A lakshana geet is a piece that sets out the features and characteristics of a raaga. Dr. Sreeram then explained what a raaga is. She acknowledged that while a raaga can be regarded as a body of knowledge on its own, it is essentially a framework that sets rules and allows an artist to operate within those rules. In Dr. Sreeram’s own words, ‘a raaga allows and disallows things at the same time’.
On a more abstract level, Dr. Sreeram explained raaga as an entity that allows for expression of ‘colour’, saying that the word ‘raag’ is closely associated with the word ‘rang’, meaning ‘colour, hue or tint’. She went on to explain that the colour of a song can be extracted from an honest rendition of raaga. However, Dr. Sreeram also pointed out that the process of doing justice to a raaga is not as easy as one thinks – as much as one might know about a raaga, it is difficult to express that knowledge.
Finally, Dr. Sreeram addressed a lingering question: what was the immediate relevance of her lec-dem to the conference? In addressing this question, Dr. Sreeram traversed a number of topics including the role of notation in music, the transformative power of a raaga and the role of a rasika (or a discerning listener) in music. However, Dr.Sreeram’s lecture was more focussed on enlightening the audience about the knowledge of her art, than exploring the association between the art and ‘subjugated knowledges’. As both a student of humanities and an avid follower of classical music, I would have been interested in hearing about the association between social hierarchies and music. Or perhaps an exploration of the societal notions that dictate who can engage with what form of art – can Carnatic music be pursued by women and men from different sections of society? Is it possible for Carnatic music to shed the tag of being dominated by one community? These are some questions that would have added to the discussion in making it more relevant to the theme.
Here, I must hasten to point out that Dr. Sreeram’s lecture was not void of any engagement with ‘subjugated knowledges’. Her lec-dem included an insight to the intentional subjugation that occurs within the realm of melody-making: this involves the artist suppressing some notes in order to give prominence to other notes, thereby portraying the true essence of a raaga.
Her presentation was also interspersed with useful tidbits about the raaga epistemology: she helped the audience make the crucial distinction between knowing ‘that’ (which Dr. Sreeram termed ‘lakshana’) and knowing ‘how’ (termed ‘lakshya’). She went on to explain how the two forms of knowing are indispensable to each other. She also advocated improvisation and creativity in classical music, saying that there is no strict rule-following that exists within the schools (Hindustani and Carnatic) of music.
Dr. Sreeram concluded her lec-dem with an insightful observation. She cited a chasm in the ‘alankara sastra’ or the ‘science of figure speech’; she stated that there exists a lack of language in which to express and explain the nuances of classical music. She left her audience with a question: is it possible to come up with ways (within the realm of language) to engage with the emotive content of a raaga? One thinks, that perhaps, Dr. Sreeram would have found answers from the German poet, Heinrich Heine —had he been alive today— for he once said: “Where words leave off, music begins.”
Report by Ranjani Srinivasan.
Photograph by Olivia Joshi.
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