The Guru-sishya relationship is an exclusive one; among the ancient schools of teaching, the Srauta tradition (Sruti) has been acclaimed to be the most accurate. It was purely oral handing down of knowledge, say acoustic and of course visual, since the guru was visible and present in front of the pupil(s). Today, we have come back to basics in a more sophisticated style in keeping with our technological universe. ‘Sky-peer-to-peer’ software, ‘Skype’ for short, is an urbane boon for the teacher and taught especially in specialised subjects like classical arts if not academics. The long and short of it:
Votaries: Well-known Carnatic vocalist Raghavachari, elder of Hyderabad Brothers, known to be an able teacher says, “I take up quite a number of Skype lessons. But most of them are not beginners; they’ve been my students earlier but geographical distance is a hindrance these days. We can’t ask girl students to come from far-flung places in the evening after college hours due to reasons of security in metros. It started with those who have moved abroad but still insist on pursuing music from me. With Skype you can learn from one guru; earlier every shift in place of residence entailed new guru and the gamaka shaili (style of oscillation) is bound to differ from guru to guru and you are nowhere at the end of the day. The only hiccup is Internet speed and unforeseen cut in power supply. In that case those abroad come on Vonage phone and I can complete the day’s lesson.”
Young dancer-teacher Smitha Madhav says, “In this age and stage, Skype teaching is indeed a feasible via media. Internet speed is also good these days and with an UPS there is uninterrupted power supply. Working parents, working dance students can’t just afford to make a presence on daily basis even if provided with transport (as I’m doing). The slight disadvantage is the time lag between the teacher and the taught which counts for the ‘tala’, but I manage this by providing pre-recorded pen-drives to which they adhere. It can’t be totally virtual learning and performing; the pupils do have to step in here so that the teacher-taught chemistry flows in. With small kids, usually the mother is to stay beside them so that my instruction peters down.”
Moderates: Dancer Ananda Shankar Jayant neither condemns nor condones the use of Skype. She finds it like a probiotic, “For music it may be all right and straight since there is no movement but with dance, the camera may not be able to pan the various angles as the teacher keeps moving. Still some are on it since it perhaps is convenient in more than one way.”
Hardliners: Y. Ramaprabha, musician and principal of Andhra Mahila Sabha Music College is vociferously against Skype teaching. “For beginners it is problematic; technically there is an inherent flaw that doesn’t work for Carnatic classical music. Our musical form is a perfect metre of measurement and there is a fraction-of-a-second gap on Skype teaching that is bound to mar this accuracy. Network disruptions, like server being down, spoils the mood of the teacher. More than all this, Skype has totally infected our system of music. It is a blow to our future repertoire. Earlier we would identify a vidwan by his nadopasana; his early morning practise sessions that would culminate in a breathtaking performance. Today, that very vidwan wakes up with the lark to switch on his PC and log into Skype to impart music!
Again a few more chosen classes running into evening! A class abroad virtually is dollars multiplied into rupees. The only talk these days in latest music circuits abounds in bank lingo - IFSC code, electronic transfer of funds and so on. Skype has also spawned spurious pseudo-teachers who advertise on Facebook and garner students by scores. In turn, the students who are no less smart, shuffle gurus but not before the damage is done. Music students turn up late to college, confident of having acquired greater skills from Skype classes! Famed gurus are falling prey to targets of arranging arangetram within a year abroad with a free trip, accommodation and what not. It has gone viral; only the vaccine has not been produced so far,” she laments.
Victim: Like cyclone victims, we have Skype victims too! An NRI from Chicago, Raghavi Janaswamy says, “I have learnt veena the traditional way and presently I’m in the city for contact classes. Out there in the US, we have no way of verifying a music teacher’s abilities. There are a few advertised musicians who have a pool of teachers on Skype. I fell for this for my daughter. The teacher from the pool is to be paid $20 per class of sharp one hour duration. The pitch (sruti) matching is overlooked and there is an urgency in teaching the ‘sarali swaram’, ‘janta varasa’ and to ‘geetam’. And if a music-educated mother like me is hovering around, well obviously we tend to complain about the tutor and alternately we are shuffled by the pool head to another teacher who is no better.
There is no way in which the beginner gets to know her pitch fluctuations, if any, the importance of gamakam (oscillation) even by the time she comes up to the Varnam level. Not knowing Indian languages is another hindrance; the pupils are unaware of the lyric. But the Skype teacher has no time for such nuances. With the senior gurus, the NRI music aspirants’ purses are ripped apart. They mouth upon the divinity of music and hike up service charges for their ‘divine’ art. A metro norm is a must if we are to learn on Skype because of the technical lag. Skype classes in India are eating into traditional classes. Now I find none of the gurus free to teach one-on-one; they are way too busy with online teaching. The quality of the arts will definitely dip with the third generation since Skype has no way to ensure perfection in learning and performance in traditional classical arts.”
Final bow: Ben Johnson who is in Canada after a stint in the city Hyderabad is aghast that classical music is being taught on Skype. “Here in Niagara City which has a population of 80,000 boasts of nearly 40 qualified music teachers! And till last year, there is no single teacher or institution that encourages contemporary music, now there is an option; if it comes to learning music, well, it has to be classical all the way. We can just about think of a math class over Skype; music? Never.”
