The
Trouble with T.M.Krishna
T.M.Krishna
is a good man. Has his heart in the right place. An extremely talented and
proficient musician, he has made a name for himself in the rarefied sphere of
classical Carnatic music. His concerts are well attended and he has a devoted
fan following which is enviable and is envied. It is obvious that TM is also a
committed humanist who wears his concerns on his sleeve. Like many liberal
minded people, TM feels that divisions in society based on class, caste and
other factors are abhorrent and unjust. TM is horrified that Classical music
especially Carnatic music has become the monopoly of the upper classes and is
being denied to the Hoi Polloi and he wants to do what he can to correct the
injustice. How can the denizens of Cheries not have the opportunity to
listen to and savour Carnatic music, he asks?
What
TM is doing with his obviously good intentions is opening the Pandora’s Box of
age old debates about the conflict between Elitism and Populism, Meritocracy
and Social Justice. Also, unfortunately, being blind to the natural order of
things. When Monarchies, Dictatorships etc. gave way to Populism resulting from
the Knowledge and Communication explosions, the casualty gradually was Meritocracy
with the growing belief that all the men are capable of doing and achieving all
things, not just the Elite. As Democracies took root the strong sense of social
justice further suppressed the importance of Meritocracy. Not only Democracies,
even Authoritarian regimes suppressed Meritocracy in the name of Populism. The
classic example of this is Nazism and the raise of Hitler fighting the so-called
dominance and consequent cornering of riches by Jews and resulting in the horrendous
Holocaust eliminating millions of Jews. The spread of Populism in Europe was fueled
by the hatred towards the control established by bureaucracy run by the well
educated, accomplished and capable Elite of society. Another horrifying and
disastrous example is the Cultural Revolution led by Chairman Mao in China where
Intelligentsia were made to do manual work utterly disregarding the natural
order of different abilities of different people.
Donald
Trump used Fake Populism proclaiming his intention to help the less educated
White population in the US who had lost jobs mainly because of Globalisation
and succeeded in getting elected to highest post in the strongest nation in the
world. All the time, it was obvious that he only wanted to help himself and his
rich business cronies as evidenced by his tax proposals. The words written by
H.L.Mencken in 1920 have become prophetic.
“As democracy is perfected, the office of the president
represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some
great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s
desire at last, and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and
complete narcissistic moron.”
At
home, there is the resentment towards Reservation being extended forever even
against the wishes expressed by Dr.Babasaheb.
To
quote a cliché, all the five fingers are not the same. Due to hereditary,
genetic, social and other factors, we are all endowed with different abilities
in different fields. It would be senseless to assume that everyone is capable
of everything. This is especially true in the field of the Arts. All Classical
Arts need effort, inclination and repetitive exposure on the part of the
follower to become a connoisseur. Even among the so-called forward classes, it
is only a small percentage that appreciates classical music, painting,
sculpture or literature. To assume that the Cherikkaran will appreciate
classical music if only he is exposed to it is a fallacy. Some among them may,
but the majority would rather enjoy Tappankuthu,
Among
performers, how many of the Janata can sing like Lata Mangeshkar or even TM?
