T M Krishna Can No Longer Have The Cake And Eat It Too — Carnatic 'Musicdom' Stands Up For Itself

Last Sunday (17 March) when the exclusivist Music Academy announced its prestigious Sangita Kalanidhi award 2024 would be bestowed on agent provocateur and singer T M Krishna, many knew that it would open up the proverbial Pandora's Box. But little would anyone have expected that it may set the tone for a ‘Carnatic war’, as it were.

For, the disparate world of Carantic music in Chennai seems to be coming together for once and taking a stand against the conferring of the award on Krishna on the grounds that the controversial singer had far too often rode roughshod over the sentiments and sensibilities that are sacrosanct to the classical traditional music of these parts. 

Setting the stage for the same was the de facto top stars of Carnatic music these days, the sisters Ranjani and Gayatri. In a statement that pulled no punches, the duo said Krishna caused irreparable harm to the Carnatic music world.

"He has caused immense damage to the Carnatic music world, wilfully and happily stomped over the sentiments of this community and insulted most respected icons like Tyagaraja and M S Subbulakshmi. His actions have tried to spread a sense of shame in being a Carnatic musician and has been exhibited through his consistent denigration of spirituality in music," they said in their statement, which well and truly set the cats among the pigeons.

And they were precise in picking apart the problematic area of Krishna's social activism. "It is dangerous to overlook Mr TM Krishna’s glorification of a figure like EVR who 1. Openly proposed a genocide of ‘brahmins’, 2. Repeatedly called/abused every woman of this community with vile profanity, 3. Relentlessly worked to normalize filthy language in social discourse". 

And with that they also announced that they were withdrawing from participating in Music Academy’s annual conference. They also pulled out from presenting their scheduled concert on 25 December as it would be presided over by Krishna.

Soon Ranjani-Gayatri's announcement was followed by popular discourser Dushyant Sridhar, who also said that he was withdrawing from his scheduled performance at the academy on 1 January (2025). 

Another popular Hari Katha exponent chimed in with her views on the subject, saying that the Sangita Kalanidhi designate had a history of wilfully slandering and hurting the sentiments of many (in the Carnatic music field).

And then another leading musician pair, Srikrishna Mohan and Ramkumar Mohan, better known as The Trichur Brothers also said they were pulling out from performing at the academy. "To participate in a conference presided by Mr TM Krishna would make us outright hypocrites in our own eyes."  Touche!

Then the talented chitraveena player Ravikiran, who was once deemed a prodigy, went a step further and said that he was returning the Sangita Kalanidhi award conferred upon him in 2017.

"I’ve taken this step after careful consideration as principles much larger than all of us are at stake. However, I’ll always remain deeply grateful to the org for its role in my career from childhood,” he said.

Ravikiran's name, for the record, was mentioned when the #metoo allegations surfaced in the Carnatic music world a few years ago.

Carnatic Music World Is Aghast Against T M Krishna

Speaking with a section of Carnatic music fraternity in Chennai it is clear that many of them are aghast at the choice of Krishna for the award.

Though not every one of them has taken a stand publicly, they are fuming at Krishna for consistently badmouthing the Carnatic music world even while he was benefitting out of the riches of the very same industry.

One violinist said the Music Academy was his primary target when he decided to go ahead with the concert schedule in the aftermath of the Chennai floods of 2015. 

In a signed article in Open magazine, he specifically took the name of N Murali (the academy president) for being insensitive and impervious to the devastation all around. 

"Now Murali praising Krishna and him in turn claiming that this was the highest honour of his life are sickening jokes," he said. Krishna had described the academy as the 'prima donna among Chennai sabhas' and the import was decidedly pejorative.

“Now he is accepting an award announced by the same prima donna with glee. Such is his shamelessness and we are called to believe his activism," the violinist sniggered.  

In a sense, it can be claimed that it is a moment of reckoning in Krishna's contentious career and his clever by half approach is being shown up for what it is.

It is not anybody's case that there should be no social activism from Carnatic music artists. Nor can anyone claim that everything is hunky-dory within the confines of the Carnatic music realm.

Krishna’s Bluff Has Been Called 

But Krishna's activism is decidedly self-serving. But he presents them from a pulpit as if it is coming from a messiah who has seen and thought through them all. A creature of the very same privileged and rarefied world that he seems to be vehemently opposed to, Krishna's activism is specious and dubious.

That he chose to platform Hinduphobic EVR as a muse for his performance clearly established him to be no more than a performative showman looking for brownie points for signalling virtue among a cabal. 

But the ground under his feet is fast shifting. The traditional Carnatic music ecosystem seems no longer inclined to turn a blind eye to Krishna's gadfly methods. Enough is enough is their mood.

The words of Ranjani-Gayatri were indeed powerful and reflect the inner simmering for long. They are among the most respected and admired among the current crop of Carnatic musicians.

They were also the ones who came in support of #metoo victims and welcomed the actions taken against the perpetrators of sexual crimes in the Carnatic music world (That nothing came out of the action taken by the likes of Music Academy is a different point.)   

Of course, the Krishna corner will come with its own set of defenders and opinions. The man himself can be counted to brazen it out. He and his cohorts will ply their typical spiel.

Krishna, in a sense, had managed to ride two horses — enjoying the traditional base of the Carnatic 'musicdom' even while creating a market for himself among those who are not impressed by the Carnatic music on the grounds that it is closer to Hindu religion. He has been having the cake and eating it too.

Make no mistake about it, it can no longer be the case.

Also Read: Intellectual Honesty Demands That T M Krishna Decline The Sangita Kalanidhi Award