Memoirs of fifties Akividu or Akiveedu (ఆకివీడు), and neighbouring villages. Educational, geographical, historical, literary, philosophical, religious and social postings included. Copyright Raju (PD). (bondadaa@gmail.com)
Monday, September 30, 2019
Courtesan Contribution To Hindustani Classical Music —Lesser Told Histories
By Saonli Hazra - September 30, 2019
In the movie Devdas (2002) directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the protagonist played by popular actor Shah Rukh Khan says, “Aurat maa hoti hai, bahen hoti hai, patni hoti hai, dost hoti hai … aur jab woh kuch nahi hoti, toh tawaif hoti hai“. That incidentally is a summation of our attitudes towards the Tawaif or Nautch Girls…women who were accomplished and highly acclaimed singers, dancers and poets, honed to perfection under the Hindustani Classical genre, but who were later relegated to the depraved status of prostitutes, driven to near penury under the Colonial rule and thereafter.
Courtesan history documents that young girls were taken under the tutelage of eminent classical musicians, dancers and poets in the Mughal period, a time when art and culture received much attention and aesthetics flourished like never before. As the patronage of music, dance and poetry/Shayeri in the Mughal courts grew, performing arts became a viable option for many who had interest, potential, and skill set. For years the girls were trained to achieve the heights in this musical and literary tradition.
CourtesanImage Source: DESIBlitz
Courtesan history documents that little girls were taken under the tutelage of eminent classical musicians, dancers and poets in the Mughal period, a time when art and culture received much attention and aesthetics flourished like never before.
In the Mughal courts especially in the Doab region, the tradition flourished. Thumri, Khayal, Dadra, Tappa, Ghazals took on a resplendence that dazzled. The women called Tawaifs entertained high class nobility and tutored young Nawabs in the finer nuances of language, manners and cultural refinement. These women were looked upon with respect and they were under no obligation to sexually service their patrons. Of course they could choose to be with any man of their choice and this aspect made them quite powerful.
Women like Begum Samru, Ad Begum, Moran Sarkar, Binodini Dasi, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Gauhar Jaan, Akhtari Bai, Rasoolan Bai and several others held sway over the music scene in the country and took forward the tradition of Hindustani Classical music. These women were stalwarts who not only sang but also created musical motifs set to a raaga. They used folk songs and put them to more complex constructions and created semi classical arrangements like Chaiti and Kajri. Sublime couplets were set to ghazals and thumris.
Read full article: feminisminindia
In the movie Devdas (2002) directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the protagonist played by popular actor Shah Rukh Khan says, “Aurat maa hoti hai, bahen hoti hai, patni hoti hai, dost hoti hai … aur jab woh kuch nahi hoti, toh tawaif hoti hai“. That incidentally is a summation of our attitudes towards the Tawaif or Nautch Girls…women who were accomplished and highly acclaimed singers, dancers and poets, honed to perfection under the Hindustani Classical genre, but who were later relegated to the depraved status of prostitutes, driven to near penury under the Colonial rule and thereafter.
Courtesan history documents that young girls were taken under the tutelage of eminent classical musicians, dancers and poets in the Mughal period, a time when art and culture received much attention and aesthetics flourished like never before. As the patronage of music, dance and poetry/Shayeri in the Mughal courts grew, performing arts became a viable option for many who had interest, potential, and skill set. For years the girls were trained to achieve the heights in this musical and literary tradition.
Courtesan history documents that little girls were taken under the tutelage of eminent classical musicians, dancers and poets in the Mughal period, a time when art and culture received much attention and aesthetics flourished like never before.
In the Mughal courts especially in the Doab region, the tradition flourished. Thumri, Khayal, Dadra, Tappa, Ghazals took on a resplendence that dazzled. The women called Tawaifs entertained high class nobility and tutored young Nawabs in the finer nuances of language, manners and cultural refinement. These women were looked upon with respect and they were under no obligation to sexually service their patrons. Of course they could choose to be with any man of their choice and this aspect made them quite powerful.
Women like Begum Samru, Ad Begum, Moran Sarkar, Binodini Dasi, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Gauhar Jaan, Akhtari Bai, Rasoolan Bai and several others held sway over the music scene in the country and took forward the tradition of Hindustani Classical music. These women were stalwarts who not only sang but also created musical motifs set to a raaga. They used folk songs and put them to more complex constructions and created semi classical arrangements like Chaiti and Kajri. Sublime couplets were set to ghazals and thumris.
Read full article: feminisminindia
Thursday, September 05, 2019
Mob attacks on rumoured child lifters are back with a vengeance. What will it take to end them?
Mob Justice
In July and August, frenzied mobs have killed three people and thrashed dozens more after viral Whatsapp rumours about child abductors.
A file photo of protests in Ahmedabad against mob lynching in 2018 | Amit Dave/Reuters
Aarefa Johari
Mob violence over child-lifting rumours is back with a vengeance. In 2018, angry mobs killed at least 24 people between January and July in a spate of incidents across the country, on the suspicion that they were child abductors. The suspicions were fuelled by rumours that had spread like wildfire on WhatsApp and other social media platforms, about gangs of kidnappers who were out to snatch children and harvest their organs.
Reports about these rumours and the mob attacks they triggered died out in the latter half of 2018, even though mob lynchings by cow protection vigilantes continued to make headlines. But in the past two months, social media rumour-mongering about alleged child lifters have resurfaced in several states, fuelling mobs that have killed at least three people so far and injured dozens more.
Like last year, state governments and police forces are once again struggling to find new methods to counter rumours about child lifting bogeymen and prevent mob violence. The Uttar Pradesh government, for instance, is making arrests under the National Security Act to deter mob assaulters from taking law and order into their own hands.
But in a country where mob justice is rapidly gaining societal acceptance, will any of these efforts prove to be effective?
Mohammed Naeem was one of the seven people lynched by villagers in Jharkhand in May, 2018, over rumours of child kidnappings. Credit: Manoj Kumar/HT Photo
......
In July 2018, Union minister Jayant Sinha garlanded eight men convicted of lynching a meat trader in Jharkhand when they were out on bail.
Read article: scrollin
Other stories on the subject ...
New hate crime tracker in India finds victims are predominantly Muslims, perpetrators Hindus
On a perilous path: India is being unmade, a lynching at a time
From Dadri lynching to storming of Kerala House
In July and August, frenzied mobs have killed three people and thrashed dozens more after viral Whatsapp rumours about child abductors.
A file photo of protests in Ahmedabad against mob lynching in 2018 | Amit Dave/Reuters
Aarefa Johari
Mob violence over child-lifting rumours is back with a vengeance. In 2018, angry mobs killed at least 24 people between January and July in a spate of incidents across the country, on the suspicion that they were child abductors. The suspicions were fuelled by rumours that had spread like wildfire on WhatsApp and other social media platforms, about gangs of kidnappers who were out to snatch children and harvest their organs.
Reports about these rumours and the mob attacks they triggered died out in the latter half of 2018, even though mob lynchings by cow protection vigilantes continued to make headlines. But in the past two months, social media rumour-mongering about alleged child lifters have resurfaced in several states, fuelling mobs that have killed at least three people so far and injured dozens more.
Like last year, state governments and police forces are once again struggling to find new methods to counter rumours about child lifting bogeymen and prevent mob violence. The Uttar Pradesh government, for instance, is making arrests under the National Security Act to deter mob assaulters from taking law and order into their own hands.
But in a country where mob justice is rapidly gaining societal acceptance, will any of these efforts prove to be effective?
Mohammed Naeem was one of the seven people lynched by villagers in Jharkhand in May, 2018, over rumours of child kidnappings. Credit: Manoj Kumar/HT Photo
......
In July 2018, Union minister Jayant Sinha garlanded eight men convicted of lynching a meat trader in Jharkhand when they were out on bail.
Read article: scrollin
Other stories on the subject ...
New hate crime tracker in India finds victims are predominantly Muslims, perpetrators Hindus
On a perilous path: India is being unmade, a lynching at a time
From Dadri lynching to storming of Kerala House
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