NAGAPATTINAM: Concert musicians, videographers, photographers and studio owners are seeking relief as their livelihoods have been affected by the lockdown. 'Kalyana Muhurthams' in April are passing one by one. Concert musicians who play for them are anguished at the number of commitments they missed out on in the past
one-and-a-half- months. Their livelihoods are dependent on the 'Kacheris' they play for weddings and temple festivals. "We earn a little above Rs 2,000 for temple festivals. We are largely counting on weddings. We earn around Rs 25,000 per group and we split the amount among ourselves. Those of us who are underprivileged are struggling to survive. We request the government to support us at this juncture," said S Govindan (46), a Nadaswaram Vidwan from Nagapattinam.
Concert musicians are different from folk artistes. The folk artistes have a welfare board governed under the Department of Tamil language, Tamil Culture and Archaeology Board. But concert musicians are just limited to their associations in districts and areas and unable to convey their demands. They mainly belong to the 'Isai Vellalar' community. A 'Kacheri' group consists of players who play instruments such as nadaswaram, tavil and cymbals.
The Tamil Nadu government has prevented the gathering of crowds under Section 144. While some weddings took place in early March without guests, those scheduled to take place on the 'Kalyana Muhurthams' have been postponed indefinitely. Bookings of musicians have also been cancelled. Vidwan 'Kalaimamani' N Ganesan (79) from Kilvelur said, "I have played about 2,000 concerts in over 50 years of my life. Our community of musicians has never been this affected. The lack of programmes due to the lockdown hurts out chances of survival. We request the government to help us manage to pass this period."
Videographers and photographers, too, are feeling the pinch. They have requested livelihood assistance to survive through the period as they are not getting any commitments. "We are dependent on programmes such as weddings, engagements, puberty attainment, ear piercings and anniversaries. We are solely dependent on the income we receive from the programmes. We have become home-bound due to lack of commitments. We request livelihood assistance in order to survive," said S Kumar from Mayiladuthurai and president, Nagapattinam Videographers and Photographers Association.
Photo studios are also shut in the lockdown. "We request our studios be included in businesses that can function from April 20. The survival of our families depends on us. We cannot continue to live with a lockdown anymore," said M Mohmmed Kous, a studio proprietor and representative of Studio Owners Association in Nagapattinam.