T.M. Krishna stir: The world of Carnatic music needs to open up further

livemint.com:

Carnatic musician T.M. Krishna has been known as a disruptor for nearly a decade now, and this time, his decision to accept an award from the Madras Music Academy has both his supporters and detractors in a huff. His detractors remain firm in their view that Krishna is destroying their carefully walled-in world of cultural superiority; his supporters are unsure about why he is returning to the fold when he has travelled so far.

While this debate animates a minuscule section of society, the Carnatic music ecosystem of Chennai could serve as an example to explain why inclusion is petrifying to some: Lead performers, concert organizers and even critics and arts writers come largely from the same caste, their centuries of social capital working to keep them in that position, even allowing them to keep others out. Until about a decade ago, journalists with the “wrong surname" who were covering the arts beat in Chennai were at times stonewalled by gatekeepers of the insular world of Carnatic music. The profiling can be sophisticated or direct.

As a cub reporter in Chennai years ago, I have been asked gently leading questions by both organizers and musicians about my background, or more direct ones about my caste location. In a few cases, they’ve chosen not to share stories about their art, experience and practice because I am not from the same caste or because I’d chosen not to answer. To be sure, these instances cannot compare with what performers from marginalized communities have said they face.