Had gone to Rangayana last night to see Girish Karnad’s Tughlaq. One reason was to keep up the New Year resolution of doing things I haven’t before (including starting a blog, for instance).
But the real reason was that the play was being directed by Chidambara Rao Jambe, the director of Rangayana.
Jambe (which is a tree in the Western Ghats, where he hails from) has been my walking partner, off and on, at the Kukkarahalli Lake, and I didn’t want to be stumped if he asked if I had seen his work.
Needless to say, Tughlaq was riveting stuff. Even at Rs 25 a ticket, it was a full house. And the mensinakayi bajji and hot tea at ‘Ranga Darshini’ was bombaat.
What my walking conversations with Jambe have really convinced me about is how bogus the State Government’s commitment to “Kannada and Culture” really is.
Not just this government but every government.
On the face of it, each Chief Minister lists his determination to make Kannada the administrative language as one of his major aims. And each new Chief Minister promises to give Kannada and Culture the kind of push they need in a globalising world. But once the TV crews have grabbed the soundbyte and left, it’s apathy as usual.
Rangayana’s plight epitomises the doublespeak of the average Karnataka politician.
The way Jambe puts it, it’s a hand-to-mouth existence for the brainchild of B.V. Karanth, and the miracle is that they even have the motivation to stage Tughlaq.
The State Government, believe it or not, pays only the salaries of the 34 staffers, comprising the creative and technical side of the repertory along with the administrative staff.
For everything else, says Jambe, they have to go around with the begging bowl.
That ‘everything’ includes power bills, which runs into a couple of lakhs every year. That ‘everything’ includes water bills. That ‘eveything’ includes promotion, publicity.
That ‘everything’ includes the cost of staging new plays. That ‘everything’ includes any new initiative Rangayana may want to take to take theatre to the masses. And so on.
Staging home productions like Tughlaq fetches some money (approximately Rs 10,000 per show). Renting out the theatre fetches some more. Still, the tragedy is that instead of thinking up great new ideas, instead of implementing those great new ideas, Rangayana is scrounging around.
An even greater tragedy is no one wants to help.
Jambe says he once went to the Mysore Urban Development Authority, which is splurging millions on signboards proclaiming MUDA’s ubiquitous existence, to donate some.
“I told them that a City’s infrastructure could not be laid with brick and mortar alone. They need to have a thick layer of arts and culture, too. But they said they did not have the provision for such donations,” says Jambe.
Result: once next weekend’s shows of Tughlaq end, Jambe will be back at doing what he has been doing for the last couple of years. Which is, to make ends meet.
I have asked Jambe why Rangayana cannot go in for corporate sponsorship.
The first answer is obvious. Rangayana is a government baby; it won’t like private players rocking the cradle.
The second answer is that Jambe and artistes of his ilk have seen what Hutch has done to Ranga Shankara, the theatre set up by Arundhati Nag.
And Jambe himself has seen what The Times of India did to the national theatre fest recently.
In other words, they are scared that the sponsors will take over Rangayana lock, stock and barrel and have them dancing to their tunes, forcing them to dumb down, sell their souls to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
I have been telling Jambe that a good solution may be to get a bunch of “Equal Partners”. Corporates who, regardless of the depth of their pockets, will all donate the same amount of money to a fund, the interest from which will go to pay for the electricity bills and water bills and promotion bills.
Jambe is interested, but are the corporates?
Infosys is in Mysore. BEML is in Mysore. Nestle is in Mysore. TVS is in Mysore. Wipro is in Mysore. ITDC is in Mysore. Reid & Taylor is in Mysore. AT&S is in Mysore. Bacardi is in Mysore. L&T is in Mysore.
You get the picture?
Some of India’s biggest, most profitable companies, are located in our midst. Imagine what five lakh rupees from each one of them can do to Rangayana in particular and to Kannada and Culture in general.
Who will get the message across?
Dear Sir,
When you talked about the government’s bad decisions or indecisions, the first example, which hit my mind, was of Mohammad Tughlaq, probably because you mentioned this name in your artcle, which clicked the image of one of my history teacher Mr. Rajesh Kumar. He use to anger on the earlier historians for labeling of Tuglaq as an unrealistically autocratic ruler. He preferred to call him as ‘Misunderstood Ruler’ and strongly emphasized on the vision of Tughlaq, which the emperor had behind his ‘Notorious Four Decisions’
According to him, one of the decision was the transfer of his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (Deogir in south India) in 1327, is often misunderstood. His analysis says that it was an intelligent and the boldest ‘cultural decision’ ever taken before Akbar (Akbar was the one who started the policy striking the matrimonial relations with the Rajputs, in order to gain their confidence and support, which became one of the basic pillar on which the Mughal Empire stood enact for nearly 200 years)
His analysis says that Tughlaq’a decision of shifting his capital was yet another example of his brilliant and visionary mind. It was the solution for a problem, which Tughlaq’s predeccors were never able to solve; the problem of ‘How to gain a better hold of sultanate over South India’
The Sultanate rulers before Tughlaq were never able to gain full control over South India, mainly due to the distance from the capital of Sultanate. The local rulers use to stop acknowledging the suzerainty of Sultunate, and declare themselves independent as soon as there was a problem in Delhi.
It was M. Tughlaq who identified the problem and decided to strike at the root of the problem. He came to the “right conclusion” that the problem was due to the complete absence of Muslim religion and culture in the South India. Thatswhy he ordered the sufi saints of Delhi and near by areas to march to Daulatabad (in South) along with the merchants, traders, elites and accompanying low class population.
Although this decision was severly resented by the Delhi’s population and the emporer received hate-mails after he mercilessly forced the Delhi’s population to march towards his second capital. But Mr. Rajesh Kumar argues that his decision allowed the Muslim religion and culture to take roots in South India with the help of sufi saints and the merchants and traders. Infact the Muslim religion and culture flourished afterwards in South India and the result was the Bahmani Kingdom, a full-fledged muslim kingdom in South India, which was established only few years after the death of M. Tughlaq.
So at last, Tughlaq’s bold decision of cultural crusade (but not a violent one. His predecessors either feared to follow or were not successful in the violent cultural crusade) through the help of sufis, traders and merchants, was successful. It not only resulted in the spreading of Muslim religion and culture in the streets of South India but also it resulted in the creation of several new cultures, the biggest exemplification was the completely new style of architecture in the Golcunda tomb.
Thatswhy I completely support your argument that if the government wants to promote Kannda language and culture then it should begin taking bold decisions. And I think the business empires would be ever ready to invest in the culture, because it is the traders, merchants, business class which profits most from ‘Cultural Expansion’, as it happened during the Tuglaq’s adventure. The British merchants actually pursued this policy almost religiously; they flooded the Indian market with the English style clothes, manufactured in the machines in industries of Britain and sadly these clothes were made out of the cotton which were produced by half-naked hungry farmers in India.
nimish
Dear Sir,
Mr.Jambe’s effort fot revitalizing Rangayana is worth joining our hands together (apart from appreciating). me being born, brought up and educated in mysore, understand the importance of an art and cultural theatre like rangayana. I have been on and off stage several times at rangayana during my school and college days… for continously 9 years i have been a part of the school annual day’s celebration.
It has also given many many talented stage, TV and Cinema artists….. So let us join our hands together and support Mr.Jambe and see rangayana as a mirror reflecting karnataka and mysore’s rich art and cultural heritage.
Prasad,
While I join you in ridiculing the state government’s efforts to promote Kannada culture, such as they are, I can’t say I agree with your (or was it Jambe’s?) reproach of corporate-sponsored art and culture. I have two words – actually six – for the both of you the next time you saunter alongside KKere’s sublime shores, “Wake up and smell the coffee!”
Nothing exists in a vaccuum. Kannada art and culture is no exception. Like it or not, you’re not going to get any money for anything, in any country, by appealing to politicians’ or corporate consciences. That just isn’t how it works. You get money by creating an incentive for these folks to break open their check books. And for that, you need to enlist the services of someone that empathises with your cause and morph your message in terms the money-laden will understand – someone like Mr. Narayana Murthy for instance. In short, its time Mysoreans stopped crying foul about apathy and learnt the art of fundraising, American-style.
Here’s the idea. Find one sympathetic bigwig, who knows other bigwigs. Organize a fundraising party/dinner and call it something nice and euphemistic, “The 1st Your City, Your Culture Dinner Invitational” or something like that. Invitees are to pay, say Rs 1000/-, per plate. And let your bigwig reel in his/her comrades. I’ve been to a few of these here in DC and its just an eyeopener to see how well this works. And you know what the incentive is for these blokes to fall in line to hand over their money? Simple peer pressure. Yes, the same kind that made you want to score more runs (or jump higher/longer etc) than the other chap.
In short, get real.
Affectionately,
~alfred
Dear Sir,
I see a posting by one shankar prasad. I too usually post comments and am tempted to post one on this subject. But I wonder who this shankar prasad is. I am also shankar prasad and people and my friends may mistake eachother. In the intrest of both of us I suggest, that shankar prasad to change his virtual identity. If he is fake and posting with ulterior intensions kindly I request the webmaster to delete him immediately.
I agree with Alfred Jones. It is indeed time to wake up and smell the coffee. Thats the way the World turns. If you don’t catch up, Rangayana will get caught into a time warp that it cannot extricate itself from.
Money cannot really help if passion is not present.
Why should an L&T or an Infosys pay to preserve Kannada art & culture? The passionate Kannadiga in my mum would find many reasons. However, the dispassionate Kannadiga in me asks, loud and clear, WHY SHOULD THEY?
Maybe that is because I have been born and brought up in the vile streets of Mumbai. In that city, everyone learns – the sooner the better – that it is every man for himself. If you have nothing to offer, you have no right to ask for something. It is the survival of the fittest and the rest can die unmourned.
And yet, there is a vibrant culture in Mumbai. This is a culture that has been thriving since ages – unthreatened – by the myriad hordes who flush themselves into the city’s sewers everyday. They do not destroy – they assimilate, adopt and enjoy. That is why Mumbai’s motto is “… we’ll adjust.”
And herein lies the essential truth of what we call ‘culture’. She is not immortal. She is born, she grows, she dies. In most cases she dies a natural death. Her grandchildren’s love will no doubt keep her happy, but she has to die one day. The last thing she wants is charity from people who are not interested in keeping her alive.
So, for all those seeking to preserve Mysore’s art and culture, lay before your young people the beauty of the culture you speak about. Let them view it through your eyes. Take the time. Make the effort. And, finally, let THEM choose to preserve it, or allow them to move on.
Only recently I wrote about this issue elsewhere so, at the risk of repetition, let me write again, because KP has rightly raised the issue again.
I spoke to Jhambe soon after he assumed charge of Rangayana as its director and suggested that a Rangayana production be webcast once every year. I briefed him on how to go about it and offered to put it on my own portal (which is due for a full-fledged launch anytime now). I had suggested the same to his predecessor and reminded him recently when he was in City to host “Cupid’s broken arrow”. He said a good production would cost about Rs. 20 lakh. I replied that that kind of money could always be raised.
When I made this suggestion, I was guided by the fact that with the launch of Akka, the theatre festival conceived by Prasanna, the previous director, Rangayana was making a distinct departure from the past and was appreciative of private participation in such events. In fact, I observed in an article that Akka was as much a marketing success as it was a cultural triumph for Rangayana and Mysore. It was important that Prasanna, despite his ideological leanings, had (perhaps like successive governments in West Bengal) understood the importance of going with the current of liberalisation and privatisation. I am not one that easily faults communists for their latent shift and I myself have certain reservations against the new economic regime. However, in the interest of survival of our cultures and their identities, it is essential that loosened our ideological moorings and whether we like it or not adopt a policy of running with the hare and hunting with the hound. It is not escapism or hypocrisy, but sheer pragmatism. It is important that we are not swept off our feet by the overwhelming currents of a change that we want to oppose but cannot for reasons of wherewhithal. Prasanna must be congratulated for perhaps understanding this and getting private sponsorships for Akka.
In suggesting that a play be webcast by Rangayana annually, I never meant any disrespect to theatre and its multihued tradition. The medium after all has its own sanctity and staging one play for the world audience would mean no such harm. The richness and talent of Kannada theatre will get introduced to the global audience, besides helping to augment Rangayana’s resources. The attempt itself would be novel, for, I am not aware of any such attempt being made elsewhere (I am not a theatre buff, and I may be lacking in information on this). In fact, the programme could be ticketed to further generate funds for Rangayana.
My grievance is, I have not even heard “no” for an answer to my proposal from the present director.
A very nice write up.And very good comments.
Thanks to Mr. K. P. for his letter about Rangayana. We also thank for the comments made by others. The concern you are showing about Rangayana is welcoming. We request you to kindly meet us personally and have more concrete dialogue for the betterment of Rangayana. Once again we thank you. I request you to kindly come to Rangayana and see the plays and respond to it.
Yours
C. R. Jambe
Director
Rangayana