From dealing with sexism, to lack of performance slots, and attention, life is not easy for a female Carnatic instrumentalist, says violinist Akkarai S. Subhalakshmi to PARSHATHY J. NATH

The art of accompaniment has died today. It is very unfortunate that people do not give it enough value. An instrumentalist has to adapt to the music of the vocal artiste. But that does not make it any less creative. Even though they recreate the vocalist’s style, they come with their own individuality.

For instance, late Lalgudi Jayaraman had his own stamp, but also adapted to stalwarts like GNB for the success of the concert. That’s why an instrumentalist’s job is a nuanced one.

You need to put in your heart and soul. A lot of hard work goes into bringing out the essence of the gayaki style on the violin. There are different schools of bani. It is important for an accompanist to adhere to that tradition.

Earlier, people would go to a concert for the combination or the team of artistes than just one performer. And, artistes performed for the overall success of a kutcheri. It was more of a team effort. When I was a child, I would go by my favourite combinations such as Alathur Brothers and Lalgudi Jayaraman or S. Kalyanaraman and M.S. Gopalakrishnan. It was a treat to listen to their music. There was healthy competition among the artistes. They were inspired by each other’s ideas. It was not about a person, but more about the music. However, now, the audience goes by the name of the main vocal artiste. As a result, the pakkavadyam quality has gone down.

Many of the vocal artistes prefer a one-man show. The sense of a team is lost.

Sabhas should reserve at least 25 per cent of the slot space for instrumental concerts. Now, it is hardly one to two per cent. For them, it is just a question of ticket collection. They assume that the audience prefers only vocal music.

The audience should strive to be better educated about the instrumentalists’ role. Sabhas should focus on instrumental music as a subject for their yearly lecture-demonstrations, so that the audience is aware of the effort that goes into an instrumentalist’s performance and his/her technique during a kutcheri. For that, the organiser should be musically inclined. He should be someone who understands that a concert is not a competition or race, and that it is all about enhancing each other’s performance.

We root for equal rights for women, but male chauvinism is deeply embedded in the world of Carnatic music. Except for a few such as Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Shashank Subramanyam, T.M. Krishna, and Abhishek Raghuram, many artistes are gender-biased.

Over the years, for various reasons, it has become fashionable to say “I do not want to play for a woman artiste”. Male instrumentalists also do not want to play for female vocalists. Even a female vocalist prefer a male violinist.

Even the most respected and senior artistes who are ready to play for upcoming male artistes will not play for a female artiste, even if she is established. They are role models for the next generation of musicians. I revere these artistes; they have motivated me. But, they are setting a bad example for the next generation. I also feel disrespected while performing in our sabhas, when the audience gets up for coffee breaks the moment the accompanist starts performing. Nowadays, the concert duration is down to two hours. The audience can easily sit through the entire kutcheri. If they want to take a break, they can always go in-between the songs.

Instrumentalists are treated better abroad. We recently returned from a very successful tour of Scandinavian countries. The audience, which consisted of mostly locals, sat through the three hours of the concert. We were overwhelmed by the response after a raga alapana for 15 to 20 minutes.

When people who don’t have any background in Carnatic music appreciate our music, why can’t our own people do the same?