The university seems to be in the news all the time. And almost never for the right reason. In fact, many of my friends and family who call, invariably ask, "What's happening in Santiniketan? What's the latest on Visva-Bharati?" And I have to confess very often that I do not know the latest. Incidents of nepotism in recruitments, allegations of misuse of power, student indiscipline, violence on campus, have become such everyday occurrences that the shock value has waned and is now of little interest.
So, I was pleasantly surprised that in the midst of the vice-chancellor being gheraoed at his home, teachers and students boycotting classes to protest against the proposed abolishment of quotas in admissions to undergraduate courses, we got a mail invite for a concert to honour the artist K G Subramanyan on his 92nd birthday.
Subramanyan or Manida, as he is endearingly referred to in Santiniketan, was a student of the Visva-Bharati art department, Kala Bhavana, in the latter half of the 40s. He then returned as a teacher in the 80s till his retirement in 1989. Although he now lives in Vadodara, his students and admirers force him to spend many a birthday in Santiniketan. This year, too, Manida was here to spend February 5 in his favourite abode. While art lovers got a chance to see his recent works mounted at the university's Nandan Gallery, his students were just happy to have him in their midst.
So, in the middle of all the indiscipline that plagued the university, we were happy to know that Manida's birthday was going to be celebrated at the Kala Bhavana and Ranjani Ramachandran, faculty at the music department, Sangit Bhavana, was going to sing on the occasion. When we arrived at the venue, an open space surrounded by the many departments of Kala Bhavana, it was heart-warming to see that the students had turned up in big numbers for a classical recital.
So, as the accompanists tuned their instruments and the singer adjusted the microphone to suit her rendition, a cow appeared behind the open-air stage. While the cow remained silent, probably sensing the importance of the occasion, the same could not be said of the dogs that followed. Their barking drowned out the sound from the instruments, before one student volunteered to chase them out. At silly times like these, I feel so blessed to be in Santiniketan where performing arts can still be normal and not be hyped by blingy stage settings and unnecessary accoutrements.
The programme started, and Ramachandran was truly astonishing. It was so good to know that we had such talent in our midst (I came back and listened to many of her programmes available on YouTube). Students such as Veena Sahasrabuddhe, Ulhas Kashalkar and Kashinath Shankar Bodas gave the evening a magical quality. The audience sat riveted for over two hours, not a single mobile rang as Ramachandran mesmerised us with her rendition of khyal, ragamala, bhajan and thumri.
As I leaned forward to see how the man (in whose honour the concert was organised) was faring, after two hours of sitting on a straight-back chair at his age, I realised he was just making a request for another song. The world was well and so were we.