The ninth edition of the three-day Thumri festival aims to promote the beautiful blend of Hindustani classical music with traits of folk literature. Organised by the Sahitya Kala Parishad which is part of Delhi government’s Art, Culture and Language Department, we talk to Sindhu Mishra, advisor to secretary, Sahitya Kala Parishad to know more.
Excerpts:
It’s the ninth edition of the festival. Has the perception about thumri changed over the years?
Yes. In our first edition, we were finding it difficult to get six artistes for the three-day festival. We had to speak to a whole lot of people and tell them about the importance of this festival. Now, we have to choose artistes from a long list of people who sing thumri. Even the selection of artistes has become so difficult because each one of them is equally good. From the first edition until now there has been a dramatic change. Now we have nine artistes performing at the festival.
Can you shed some light on this year’s festival lineup?
This year we have Pt Channulal Mishra, who specialises in thumri and is a beautiful and amazing trained classical musician. There’s also artiste Girija Devi. When the audience comes to listen to such renowned artistes, they also get to listen to the younger ones. Many a times audience members have told me that the young talents we had selected were a great find. This is what makes a great difference and gives us the pleasure that our efforts are being appreciated. For example, Arati Ankalikarji sang in Sardaari Begum. So, through the film medium as well such genres of music reach the audience.
What are the challenges you face in terms of bringing thumri to people?
Over the years, thumri has gained a lot of popularity, we aren’t facing any difficulty, rather, there’s such a long queue outside the Kamani Auditorium that it becomes difficult to accommodate people inside the auditorium. Keeping the craze of classical music in mind, this year’s Delhi Classical Music Festival is being organised at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium’s rink.
With so much of Western influence, what future do you think the Indian classical music will have?
Classical music is still sustaining. With the kind of audience we have for the classical music festival, I am happy to say that the younger generation is also enjoying this genre of music as well. Also, our Deputy Chief Minister has decided that the classical music festival will now happen at Nehru Stadium. And I hope we can do that for the Thumri festival soon as well.
As a society, I believe, classical art should become part of each one’s life, because it teaches discipline, and saves society from any anti-social activities.
On: September 23-25
At: Kamani Auditorium, Copernicus Marg, Mandi House