NAGPUR: Neglect of a region also has an impact on its art and cultural scenario feels classical vocalist Sadhana Shiledar who has compiled a book on works of Hindustani classical musicians from Vidarbha. “There is no tradition of a gharana in this region and none of the musicians here are identified with any,” she says.
It is only after spending a lot of time and even staying with your guru for years together that a person is recognized as the disciple of a gharana or a guru, she says and adds, “This was not possible for people living in Vidarbha as they could not leave their families and work to learn music nor visit the gurus at short intervals.”
Though there are impressions of various musical styles in the works of musicians here but there is also an effort to deliberately deny or hide these says Shiledar, who is also an associate professor in Vasantrao Naik Government Institute.
“The musicians here had only their disciples to show or share their work. They continued to improvise by themselves but there was nobody who was documenting these works,” she says.
In an era where marketing is required even in the sphere of music and art, these musicians though good, could not get the place they deserved in the higher echelons of music world. “My work ‘Kehat Gunijan’ is a compilation of works of 40 such Hindustani classical vocalists and instrumentalists. I have put together 200 bandish created by them in this book,” she says.