Composers and Women in India – A Strange Combination

Indian music has come a long way from the traditional Carnatic to modern day westernized music. So does the way in which music is created, stored and sold. Gramophone replaced by music system and ipods. Even though we have so many advancements in the field of music and the music industry in India is worth billions; we have noticed that, predominantly men have ruled the music industry – at least as composers.
In the times when women have excelled in every field they have touched, why there are not many women who have succeeded as music composers? What could be the possible reasons that have not allowed women to scale great heights in the music industry as composers?

Generalizations

There has been a common notion that men are usually the creative and artistic type. Women are considered are the delicate and sensitive type.
Are women different?Even though biologically women are certainly different from men, artistically are the same. The gender of a human has nothing to do with music. Since music is believed to be derived from the soul, there is no one on earth who can differentiate between a male soul and a female one.

Negligence

When I was having a casual chat with one of my friend, I incidentally happened to ask that person, “if he knew of any female women composers India?” I was amazed to realize that there are no prominent women music composers in India and neither the history suggests that. I went online to find if the world had some and found quite a handful of them. Neither this field is physically demanding nor a low paying one, then what has prevented the modern day Indian women to make a mark in this field remains elusive?

Awareness

One probable answer for the above question is the lack of awareness among the Indian youth about this huge vacant space which needs to be filled up by young, talented and energetic girls of today. Talent hunts for almost any field has become a routine scenario in the film & media industry. Why not a one for women music composers?

Possible Hindrances

Lack of formal musical educationIn India, we are so focused on the mainstream academics that common people generally don’t tend to allow their children to take offbeat careers. Those who do, suffer from the lack of proper facilities and scope for survival.

Social attitude

The society does not accept change very soon, at least not in the case of the stereo type casted women behavior. If a young girl ventures into a field which not many women have tried before, almost she faces opposition from every quarter of her life.

Self-confidence

Unlike men, women have to think twice before they take any bold step in life (at least in the case of Indian women). Even though composing music is not considered as a bold job, but making a mark in the industry and survival without guidance is a daunting task.

Competitiveness

In the near future, perhaps the big musical compositions can be won by men; in the long term, if some girl of today makes an effort can definitely be one among the top music composers irrespective of the gender discrimination.

Asha Srinivasan – Modern day achieverAsha Srinivasan, a doctoral student at the University of Maryland, performed at the Celebration of Women Composers at the Notable Women Festival in New York, organised by Orchestra of St Luke's, America's foremost chamber orchestra, which has gained critical acclaim for vibrant music making. Srinivasan's composition, "The River Near Savathi", was commissioned after she beat 66 other American composers between the ages of 20 and 30 in a competition held in December 2006.With the honour, Asha has made it to the ranks of the top 15 women composers in America.Asha was born in Utah and raised in India as well as the US. Her musical compositions are greatly influenced by south Indian Carnatic music. Asha completed her DMA (Doctorate in Musical Arts) in composition at the University of Maryland, where she is also an electronic music teaching assistant.In 2006, Asha won an award at the Walsum Competition for her string quartet "Kalpitha" and the second prize in the Prix d'Ete Competition for her flute and computer piece "Alone Dancing", which was performed at SEAMUS (Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the US) 2005.

Optimistic

With Asha leading the women in the NRI society, let’s hope that we shall see good women music composers in the years to come!

A Simple Thought

"People find the right people when they commit a mistake,
When they do the right things; they lose the right people and commit a mistake."


Ironically, in life; a "mistake" seems to decide the destiny of people.

Pyar andha hai

Izhaar karna chood diya,.,
Iska matlab ye nahi ki...pyar karna chod diya,.,

Khud ke liye jeena chod diya,.,
Iska matlab ye nahi ki...kisi par marna chod diya,.,

Aapne hamara dil tod diya,.,
Iska matlab ye nahi ki...humne uumeed karna chod diya,.,

Ladki par vishwas karna chod diya,.,
Iska matlab ye nahi ki...khuda se humne muh mod liya,.,

Har aasun ko pee liya,.,
Iska matlab ye nahi ki...dard mehsoos karna chod diya,.,

Badnaam Aashiq

Hum aasmaan par kuch aise latke hain,

Jaise sirf hum akele tare hain,


Uunchaai hum se khafa hai,

Maut ham par fida hai,


Uunchaai pa lo to khudgarz kehlaayenge,

Maut ko apnaa lo to Kaayar kehlaayenge,

Har haal me.....

Badnaam ye aashiq rahega!!!

Gumnaam ye shaayar rahega!!!

Aasuoon ki barkhaa

Gham ke baadalon me kuch aise khoya hai,
Barkhaa hai aasuon ki aaj kuch aise hamne roya hai,

Badi kaatil mehbooba hain aap.........

Kal pal me patthar ko insaan bana diya,
AAJ....PAL me DIL ko SHAMSHAAN bana diya,

Peene lagen hain ham pani ko sharaab samajhkar....
Aur aasuoon ko pani samajhkar....

Gham ki parchaai bhi aapke paas na aane denge,
Dabaakar har gham bas yuhi has lenge....

Sirf aap ke liye!!!

Khud se Sangharsh

haar to hamaari har mod par hogi,
use sajaane ke liye tumhaari berukhi kaafi hogi,
zamaane se haar kar jee lenge hum,
khud se haarkar ghutega dum,

Kisi ko paa kar naa paana kya ye sazaa hai kam,
Kisi ko apna maan kar naa maanna,.,ye manzuur nahi hai sanam!!!

ma dream eve,.,.,.,ground work-- 17th feb--->07

17th February…

Well it was a Saturday n we had planned the schedule for that day,.,, we had decided to meet at misba’s place around 10 am in the mornin.,.,but I had to get invitations done,.,.,I was tellin ma mom tat I had to get it done,,.,.,probably at the menaka card outlet in thiruvanmiyur.,.,.incidentally the owner of tat shop happens to be my mom’s customer at office and she knew her very well,.,.,.then I asked my mom to intro me to the owner n then get goin to office,.,.we left together…
All of a sudden god seemed to be pourin mercy on chennaites,.,.,guess wat it was rainin,.,.oh this is the last thin I wanted to happened,.,.,but I dint stop coz of rain I kept drivin ma bike,.,.probably wit a hope tat rain ll stop sooonnnn,.,.,(usually I don pray so….i love rain n drivin in rain is the best experience on earth,.,),.,as I reached the outlet of menaka cards my mom reached along with me in an auto,.,she introduced me to the proprietor of that shop.,.,.n started to office,.,. I drafted the content n designed the card in a hurry,.,.placed the order,.,.while I was doin this I received a call regardin the tickets n luckily,.,.the place was also thiruvanmyur,.,.i was very much happy tat our add in suriyan fm was creatin waves in the city,..,the gal who called archana n she wanted me to come near a oddessy outlet in the e.c.r. road,.,.in the happiness I started to drive,.,.n guess wat,.,I drove the other way round….then I realized tat I was in the opposite direction I took a 180 degree turn n reached the place.,.,I found no one waitin ther so I decided to call up,.,.while I ws gonna mak a cal a gal arrived in a grey scooty n asked me whether Im asim,.,.oh god I thanked my fortune tat such lovely gals r gonna come for our show,.,,then she started enquiring abt the shreya ghosal show in the music academy on Saturday,tat eve,.,.oh god she dint wanna come to our show but the shreya ghosal show,.,.then I told to enquire in oddessy n left the place,.,.,wit a word from her “sorry”…errr I hate this word,.,.i was cursin myself for being so stupid n had made funn of myself,..,dreamin n imagining,.,.hahaha,.,.then I had to get goin wit my work as time waits for none,.,,I went to misba’s place,.,.there I go n find out that krithika was yet to come,.,.i got really bugged n frustrated n called her up,.,.n this was the last thing I would expect,.,she was not feelin well n she had would coz of some accident two weeks ago n it had started bleedin,.,.,oh my fate!!! With only a day left all this had to happen,.,.all my anger flew away n asked her to make herself comfortable n consult a doc n do whatever is requied,.,. I started scriptin work all alone again n I had to loads of work,.,.,meanwhile Krishna n misba were doin their work,.,.
I dint ve proper costumes for the show for which I decided to buy some,.,.,.i asked my mom to call me after her work n I join her in the shop….. “$ & £”…. My fav place,.,. I left misba’s place without having the lunch,.,though aunty(misba’s mom) insisted me to have n then go,.,.so sweet of her,.,.but time was the constraint n I had to get goin.,. I went to the shop n as usual I was not able to decide between two.,..took quite a while to decide abt the trousers,.,.moved to the t-shirts section…quickly grabbed one,.,.then left the place as soon as possible,.,.as I had to collect the invitation cards at 4pm…while I was headin to the shop I received a call sayin that the cards would be ready only by 5pm….i had to wait but where,.,.dint know.,.so decided to go home n have lunch…while I was near srp junction Krishna called me up n asked me to come to adyar mosque to deliver the tickets,.,drove back again to adyar,.,.had a little supper in the restaurant n was waitin,.,Krishna turned up ,.,.,delivered the tickets…some money had been pendin from one contact of Krishna so we called him n went to his place to collect the bucks,.,.collected it,.,.then Krishna had to give back his bike to his mom so I asked him to go home while I collected the cards..,.,.
Again I go the shop exactly two min past five and I asked for the cards,.,.they were ready,., I asked for the bill but the owner refused to give it,.,.i insisted her that I will pay the cash but she dint take it….(kind hearted ppl r still alive in this dirty world….may god bless her n keep her happyàalways),.,.then again started to Krishna’s place, picked him up from home,.,.,n boy I had to go all the way to porur,.,.i already asked krithika n misba to go there n they were waitin for us,..travel travel travel,.,.,n finally I reaced the porur around 7pm I guess,.,. we(asim,Krishna,yousuf,misba,krithika) were feelin hungry,., we all went for a walk n went to a bakery first,.,.had some snacks n then we decided to have some refreshments,.,.went to a small tea shop nearby,.., again had some snacks n tea,.,.tat time we were chattin,..probably wat we can say some adult stuff,.,but no non-veg,..hehehe,.,.again went back to practice,..,it took us lot of time to get the things right,..,final list was prepared n the compering was also prepared based on tat,.,.n god those last minute changes,.,. had to meet the ppl n explain things tat this is it n no more changes,.,n told tat we r gonna ve ss music coverage as well,.,.god nobody seem to be aware of tat,.,.then they realized the seriousness of the whole issue n accepted that…the list was final n no more changes though had to make a few minor changes,.,.gosh it was already ten!!! We ppl had to leave,.,myself,Krishna,misba n krithika left at late hours,,.,I was bit afraid for the gals but then dint show anything to then(now after reading this they ll bug me I guess,,,,hahaha),.,.dropped krithika at her home n decided that we ll meet next day morning sharp 7am in the morn(I knew tat was not gonna happen) at misba’s place.,..,I even asked her to come with her costume,make uo kit,,etc etc directly,.,.,then dropped misba at her home,.,.by then it was 11pm.,..we told her that we ll come the next mornin as we were damm tired to script anything at nit n left the place,..reached home around 11.45pm,.,.the all imp day was jus 15min away,.,.then,.,.jumped into the bed,..,.,zzzzzzzzzzzz….