Sebastian and Sons: A Brief History of Mrdangam Makers
By TM Krishna
Kindle edition Price: Rs 562.40
It is a good book for Karnatic musicologists. TM Krishna as a musician,
he wrote about the caste and social status of he mrdamgam makers. But
the readers are not musicologists and their interest may vary. Readers
are many types and I am one of them with many interests including
political view. Sure caste is a problem, and as a person I am well aware
of that. A reader trying to be politically correct, sure, he/she may
aware of this caste issue. For them the book is nothing. But it do
explain in details the history and making of mrdamgam. His First book
Southern Music a Karnatic story was well written. About the controversy
surrounding the book, I think, the book is for musicologists from higher
caste. :)
Some quotes from the book:-
Contradictions emerge and, if we are looking for clear right or wrong political positions to adopt, we may never get one.
And rarely will they publicly and unambiguously acknowledge the mrdangam maker’s contribution to the improvement in their own playing or performance—or, indeed, to the development of the instrument’s calibre. These people are not acknowledged as equal creative partners in the process of this artistic engagement.
Palghat Mani Iyer is an etched memory in the national cultural consciousness, but Parlandu, Antony and Selvaraj are always on the periphery, if at all they exist there.
These are people who have been barred from the memory of culture and society, looked at as tools, their entire intellectual and emotional being reduced to the service they provide. They too are socialised to believe in this contract.
Mrdangam artists often say that no animals are killed specifically for the instrument. In an interview to S. Anand in Outlook magazine in 2003, Sivaraman had this to say: ‘Cows are not killed to make mrdangams. They are slaughtered anyway and we merely use the hide.’ In that same article, Rajamanickam had responded with: ‘Have these people ever been to a slaughterhouse to see what we do? We examine cows and choose the healthy ones that have good, lustrous, soft skin. The cow should have given birth at least a couple of times but shouldn’t be too old.’ This holds true for the buffalo or goat as well.
Some quotes from the book:-
Contradictions emerge and, if we are looking for clear right or wrong political positions to adopt, we may never get one.
And rarely will they publicly and unambiguously acknowledge the mrdangam maker’s contribution to the improvement in their own playing or performance—or, indeed, to the development of the instrument’s calibre. These people are not acknowledged as equal creative partners in the process of this artistic engagement.
Palghat Mani Iyer is an etched memory in the national cultural consciousness, but Parlandu, Antony and Selvaraj are always on the periphery, if at all they exist there.
These are people who have been barred from the memory of culture and society, looked at as tools, their entire intellectual and emotional being reduced to the service they provide. They too are socialised to believe in this contract.
Mrdangam artists often say that no animals are killed specifically for the instrument. In an interview to S. Anand in Outlook magazine in 2003, Sivaraman had this to say: ‘Cows are not killed to make mrdangams. They are slaughtered anyway and we merely use the hide.’ In that same article, Rajamanickam had responded with: ‘Have these people ever been to a slaughterhouse to see what we do? We examine cows and choose the healthy ones that have good, lustrous, soft skin. The cow should have given birth at least a couple of times but shouldn’t be too old.’ This holds true for the buffalo or goat as well.
