Music for poor souls
Last month I had attended a classical music festival of Bengal Foundation in Dhaka. It was an occasion well attended by Dhaka residents. I was surprised to see that the stadium was full to listen to Indian Santoor Player Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma and Table Player Ustad Zakir Hussain. I have never seen such a great crowd even in India to listen to these maestros. However, soon I realised that the crowd was there not only to listen to these great legends but also to participate in some sort of outdoor activity. Many diplomats told me that there is hardly anything to do in Dhaka for recreation and hence any opportunity that people get they want to avail it.
This can be true as I saw the whole upper middle class and upper class people, dressed up for the occasion but there were very few who were paying attention to music. Most people were interested in having food or chatting with friends who they happened to meet in the event. Everyone could locate so many friends and acquaintances there that I felt that all of the Dhaka was there. How else would you explain that everywhere one looked someone was meeting someone they knew. However, this also shows that like any other developing nation Dhaka has a big divide between rich and poor people and it is more likely that small circle of people at the top are bound to meet at such events.
I thought about the rest of the population who does not have access to such events. How do they entertain themselves? Live entertainment maybe very expensive for them and culture of folk entertainment through songs, dance dramas (jatra)and street performance is fading so fast that I am not even sure that it even exists in villages anymore. That leaves the poor folks to turn to television or radio for entertainment. I can only guess but I think it should be through radio that most of rural population gets that entertainment. I guess music must be most popular way of entertainment. Well, radio connects rural people with the rest of the world.
I was wondering how much can you connect with music if it is not being performed live in front of you. Although live music is absolutely a different experience in itself but can music from radio give you as much pleasure as live music? Well, personally for me, the answer should be 'yes'. I like to listen to radio as music can entertain me in any form but listening to radio is sort of picking a chocolate piece from an assorted chocolate box where you don't know what you will find in it. I really like it when suddenly a number which is one of my favorite will start playing on the radio. It instantly uplifts my mood and I feel as if all my wishes will come true just like that. So as far as I am concerned radio is one medium which can connect me to my soul but so is not the case with others. I do hope that all those poor people who can't afford live entertainment are either like me who enjoy radio or are involved in keeping their folk traditions like 'jatra' alive.
This can be true as I saw the whole upper middle class and upper class people, dressed up for the occasion but there were very few who were paying attention to music. Most people were interested in having food or chatting with friends who they happened to meet in the event. Everyone could locate so many friends and acquaintances there that I felt that all of the Dhaka was there. How else would you explain that everywhere one looked someone was meeting someone they knew. However, this also shows that like any other developing nation Dhaka has a big divide between rich and poor people and it is more likely that small circle of people at the top are bound to meet at such events.
I thought about the rest of the population who does not have access to such events. How do they entertain themselves? Live entertainment maybe very expensive for them and culture of folk entertainment through songs, dance dramas (jatra)and street performance is fading so fast that I am not even sure that it even exists in villages anymore. That leaves the poor folks to turn to television or radio for entertainment. I can only guess but I think it should be through radio that most of rural population gets that entertainment. I guess music must be most popular way of entertainment. Well, radio connects rural people with the rest of the world.
I was wondering how much can you connect with music if it is not being performed live in front of you. Although live music is absolutely a different experience in itself but can music from radio give you as much pleasure as live music? Well, personally for me, the answer should be 'yes'. I like to listen to radio as music can entertain me in any form but listening to radio is sort of picking a chocolate piece from an assorted chocolate box where you don't know what you will find in it. I really like it when suddenly a number which is one of my favorite will start playing on the radio. It instantly uplifts my mood and I feel as if all my wishes will come true just like that. So as far as I am concerned radio is one medium which can connect me to my soul but so is not the case with others. I do hope that all those poor people who can't afford live entertainment are either like me who enjoy radio or are involved in keeping their folk traditions like 'jatra' alive.
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