It is a fact that today, classical music is not the most favored form of music for the general populace which tends to listen to the more’easy to follow’ folk, and lately the pop form. But yet, there are countless Indian classical musicians and singers who are well respected and heard even in’modern’ times. There are many reasons for the survival of classical music despite the fact that it requires rigorous practice and devotion. One major reason was that the cult in India was to give a teacher the highest form of respect - like to a father or mother, and this was known as the guru - . Teacher-student tradition established a method of this tradition being passed down generations, with equal devotion from the teacher and the taught. Besides the other qualities that assisted Indian music in a fight for survival were a highly scientific structure within which a musician could operate with total freedom, the aesthetic appeal of the music, the melodies and the unmistakable spiritual aspect of the music.
But Indian influences had started traveling across the world. In the 60s, Pandit Ravi Shankar took classical music to foreign realms and appreciative audiences. He was also the first to experiment with mixing western music with the Indian classical form to arrive at what is called fusion. But classical music had lost the race to popularity to film music. Then came the real Westernization of Indian music -.
Just like Jazz, the popular perception of Indian classical music was that it was’too cerebral’ or’too heavy’. However, recent years have seen a resurging interest in the field. An increase in the number of artists indulging in fusion and a growing number of organizations dedicated to spreading the richness of the tradition has helped revive interest in classical music. Also, younger, media savvy artists have realized the potential of the’Channel [V]-MTV’ platform and are working more towards’getting them young’.
The Indian classical music tradition is still there, having survived so many metamorphoses. There are still teachers and disciples all over the country who dedicate a major part of their lives to the pursuit of this art, the sadhana of shastriya sangeet.