Transformation of Guru Shishya Parampara in Institutional Settings of Music-Dr. Mausumi Pal
ABSTRACT
The Guru – Shishya Parampara , an ancient Indian tradition of musical apprenticeship, is undergoing a transformation as it adapts to institutional settings. Institutions are incorporating elements of the Guru-Shishya Parampara. Many music schools and academies are attempting to blend traditional teaching structures. Institutions are developing structured curricula that incorporate elements of the Guru-shishya Parampara , ensuring a more systemetic approach to learning. While the personalized bond between guru and shishya remains crucial, institutions also provide formal assessments and certifications, offering students recognized qualifications. Institutions are offering flexible learning options, including part-time courses and online classes, to accommodate students with varied schedules and commitments. A key challenge is to ensure that the core values and principles of the Guru – Shishya parampara are not diluted or compromised as it is integrated into formal institutions. Finding the right balance between traditional teaching methods and modern pedagogical approaches is crucial for effective implementation. Gharanas, family lineages of musicians, play a significant role in preserving musical styles and teaching methodologies. In essence the transformation of the Guru – Shishya Parampara in institutional settings involves a dynamic interplay between tradition and modernity, aiming to preserve the essence of the tradition while making it more accessible and relevant in the 21st century.
The Guru – Shishya Parampara, an ancient Indian tradition of musical apprenticeship, is undergoing a transformation as it adapts to institutional settings. While the core values of mentorship, personalized learning, and cultural transmission remain, formal institutions are integrating this system with modern pedagogical approaches, including technology and structured curricula. This evolution aims to preserve the essence of the tradition while making it more accessible and relevant in the contemporary world.
Here’s a breakdown of the key aspects of this transformation:
1. Integration with Formal e Education:
Institutions are incorporating elements of the Guru-Shishya Parampara: Many music schools and academies are attempting to blend traditional teaching structures.
Curriculum development: Institutions are developing structured curricula that incorporate elements of the Guru-shishya Parampara, ensuring a more systematic approach to learning.
Formal assessments and qualifications: While the personalized bond between guru and shishya remains crucial, institutions also provide formal assessments and certifications, offering students recognized qualifications.
2. Technological Advancements:
Digital learning platforms: Online platforms and digital sources are being utilized to enhance learning experiences, offering access to recordings, tutorials and online communities or students and teachers.
Preservation of musical heritage: Institutions are using technology to record and archive performances and teaching of renowned musicians, ensuring the preservation of musical traditions for future generations.
Global accessibility: Digital platforms can make music education more accessible to students worldwide, regardless of geographical limitations.
3. Adapting to Changing lifestyles:
Flexible learning options:
Institutions are offering flexible learning options, including part-time courses and online classes, to accommodate students with varied schedules and commitments.
Addressing social shifts:
The traditional Guru – Shishya Parampara is being adapted to address changing societal values and lifestyles, making it more relevant to contemporary needs.
4. Challenges and considerations:
Maintaining the essence of the tradition:
A key challenge is to ensure that the core values and principles of the Guru – Shishya Parampara are not diluted or compromised as it is integrated into formal institutions.
Balancing tradition and modernity:
Finding the right balance between traditional teaching methods and modern pedagogical approaches is crucial for effective implementation.
Ensuring quality and authenticity:
It is essential to maintain high standards of teaching and performance to ensure the authenticity and integrity of the musical traditions.
5. The Role of Gharanas:
Gharanas as institutions:
Gharanas, family lineages of musicians, play a significant role in preserving musical styles and teaching Methodologies.
Evolving traditions: While gharanas maintain stylistic and teaching traditions, they also evolve as newer members add their own interpretations.
In essence the transformation of the Guru – Shishya Parampara in institutional settings involves a dynamic interplay between tradition and modernity, aiming to preserve the essence of the tradition while making it more accessible and relevant in the 21st century.
Guru – Shishya Parampara emphasizes the traditional oral transmission of musical knowledge from teacher (Guru) to student (Shishya) in Hindustani classical music. This is a traditional method of teaching and learning in Indian classical music, characterized by a close, connection between teacher and student, and the passing down of not just technical skills but also values and a way of life.
Intimate and personalized:
The Guru – Shishya Parampara focuses on individual attention, with the Guru guiding the disciple through the intricacies of music.
Oral Transmission:
Knowledge is primarily passed down through direct interaction, demonstration, and repetition, rather than relying solely on textbooks or notation.
Spiritual and reverential:
The relationship between Guru and Shishya is seen as more than just a teacher student dynamic; it’s a spiritual bond where the disciple shows deep respect and devotion to the Guru.
Holistic learning:
Beyond technical skills, the Parampara aims to instill a sense of discipline, humility, and the essence of the music itself.
Preserving tradition:
This system plays a vital role in preserving he purity and authenticity of Indian classical music ensuring that the knowledge and artistry are passed down through generations.
The Guru’s Role:
The Guru is not just a music teacher but a mentor who guides the disciple in all aspects of life.
The Shishya’s Role:
The disciple is expected to show respect, commitment, and surrender to the Guru’s guidance.
What did the Guru – Shishya – Parampara demand of a disciple when learning Indian music from a Guru:
The pupil’s respect, commitment, devotion and obedience are defined by a code of conduct contained within the ancient tradition known as the Guru – Shishya – Parampara (code of manners between teacher and pupil) which stipulates that advanced knowledge can only be imparted within the context of a spiritual relationship.
Institutional Education of Music: Outcomes and Challenges: – An artist always feels glorified when he performs on the stage of an Institution. Guru – shishya – Parampara has its own limitations and boundaries. Music is the finest among all the fine arts viz poetry, architecture, painting and sculpture. All these four fine arts influence only the human mind but not an animal or plant. It is the art of music only which has power to charge an animal and has energy to flourish a plant. It is a talent gifted by God and chiseled with training and practice. During the day of yore, the art of music was used to be learnt individually by Gurus staying in the Gurukuls for years. In those days’ disciples, after serving and satisfying their gurus, would earn a chance to get training from Guru. In this way an art like music remained transferred from one generation to another generation. By the passage of time and with the strenuous efforts of the scholars like Bhatkhande and Paluskar, music entered the educational institutions. It was greatly welcomed along with education and got a respectable place even. Travelling a journey of about 100 years in educational institutions, music is again facing new challenges and difficulties in its way because of changing trends, western impact and lacking interest of our young ones. The aim of this paper is to focusing the contribution of the institutional education of music towards the growth of the art of music and discussing the challenging factors occurring in the process of teaching- learning of music in an educational institution.
Training of music takes place mainly in two ways:
1. Individual Training and
2. Institutional teaching-learning
The tradition of Guru-Shishya-Parampara is a centuries old system for individual training of music. In ancient times it was practiced in Gurukul, the Guru’s house where disciples used to reside all through the day and night for a number of years and take training of the art of music. It was around 1880 when Pandit Adityaram in Jamnagar, Maula Baksh in Baroda and Sourindra Mohan Tagore in Calcutta started institutions for training of music. But on a larger scale, it was only Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande and Vishnu Digambar Paluskar who started institutions for music learning. They both popularized music all around India by opening music learning institutions at various places. A large number of students started enrolling in these institutions. Vishnu Digambar paluskar, in 1901, opened his first music school at Lahore for imparting formal training in Hindustani Classical Music. This was a school open to all and first of its kind in India to run on public support and donations rather than Royal patronage and was named as Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. Within 25 to 30 years, many schools of this kind were opened all over India to quench the thirst of music aspirants. In Gurukul tradition, only selective as well as talented individuals could avail training. Disciples had to undergo through a long continuously residing in Gurukul for years. After a number of years, they could get opportunity of getting training from Guru. Doing Riyaz nbhgin front of the Guru and on the other hand Guru also gives to the fullest, takes responsibility to train them completely up to the mark to make his disciples artistes and to feed them also, in return the disciples used to furnish Guru’s household chores cleaning, washing and serving the Guru in many ways was the spirit of this tradition. There was no fixed syllabus, no organized examinations, no books etc. recommended like today’s educational system. A crucial moment in the history of music was in 1668 -69 when emperor Aurangzeb ordered a ban on music. This ban was being uncompromisingly enforced and a mark of Aurangzeb’s orthodox and repressive tendencies. After this incident, several paintings at the court of Udaipur depict musicians performing for Maharana Jai Singh and Maharana Amar Singh.
The emergence of Gharanas by the end of the 19th century, is reflexive of the kind of sociological transformations that music underwent during the final years of the Mughal Empire. Barlow and Subramanian write that in the course of this transformation, Hindustani Classical Music shifted from central north India to other metropolitan centers. The art of music kept on executed n Gharanas. Royal favoritism and family jealousies were part of this newfound system of music. Apart from Gwalior, some of the most popular gharanas for classical vocal music include the Jaipur – Atrauli, Agra, Patiala, Kirana, Indore, Mewat, and Bhindi Bazar. Traditionally a style of music had to be the existence for three generation for it to be declared a gharana. In recent times, the purity of the gharana tradition has diluted, and to be trained in multiple gharanas is often seen as an attribute of a good singer. However, many who strongly believe in the discipline of the gharanas have also expressed their disappointment at this intermingling.
Traditionally, in gharana system disciples were bound to sing only according to the specific training of their gharana. The disciples were not allowed to follow even the good practices of other gharanas. Due to the shortcomings inherent in the system and with the effect of time, the gharana system started to fading. Institutional training in music came into existence with the efforts made by Pt. Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande and Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. Institutional training in music started in two ways:
1. The institution which gives exclusively music training and
2. The mainstreams academic institutions which provide music as a subject of study along with other subjects.
The institutional system gave a respectable place to music learners. It gave at par place to music along with other subjects. Due to the efforts music teachers could get at-par remuneration and status to other subject teachers. The talented ones need not to wonder here and there for music training, rather they should get admission in any educational institution, take music as a subject to fulfill their desire and get an academic degree. Though all of the educational institutions are not having music as subject but still there are sufficient numbers of institutions which provide music as a subject of study.
Outcomes:-Music is a talent and the embodiment of one’s internal instinct. A teacher makes an artist only if a learner is talented. Musical expertise can be achieved after a long journey of learning process. Institutional training in music is oriented to enlightening the students about the subject of music, to instill love for Music, to make the students aware of updates in classical music from time to time. The objectives of Gurukul system of teaching – learning was to create good singers and performers whereas the objective of institutional education of must is not only creating singers of classical music but also to create music thinkers, listeners, musicologists, music lovers, researchers, critics and analysts. We should never limit ourselves to focus on creating singers only, music researchers and analysts are equally important for the growth of Indian classical music and its awareness. For example, we should not forget the contribution of Bhatkhandeji and Paluskarji through their writings of Indian classical music. The Gurukul system, though created Indian classical music singers but were marred with a number of demerits such as the narrow – minded approach of keeping the classical treasure of their art hidden which restricted the flourishing of the art of music. It was the great strides of Bhatkhandeji and Paluskarji who wrote the notations and prepared musicology for coming generations to learn music. For an individual to become an artiste, a natural instinct and passion is needed. Famous Artistes of different stream are born with the art. Training in schools and colleges occurs in groups while it is not possible in group training to give special training to an individual for creating artiste. So the educationists believed that it is more advantageous that all school and college students sing or play various instruments than that a Gurukul producing a few professional musicians at the national level.
In 1952, the secondary education commission in their report stressed for the need of including music as a subject of study in the school curriculum. Music is one of the God – given gifts to humanity. A course in musical pedagogy is absolutely essential for those who wish to take to the teaching of music in schools or colleges. Even those who wish to give private lessons in music at homes and academies will also be benefitted with these courses in music pedagogy. It is desirable that schools and colleges should engage qualified teachers of music to teach the subject and they should not be asked to teach other subjects even if they are qualified to do so. This will help music teachers to give their individual attention to their subject and they can also practice for further upgradation of their singing and playing instruments. According to P. Sambamoorthy the aims of music teaching are,
- To create an interest and enthusiasm in the mind of students for the study and practice of music,
- To cultivate the formation of correct and sensitive taste in music,
- To develop the musical instincts and the sense of musical appreciation,
- To get a soft, clear, round, melodious and sweet tone,
- To help in the intelligent and cultural enjoyment in the musical concerts
Challenges: – Changing trends in music, influence of western music, competing with other subjects, lack of interest in Indian classical music, strength related norms of the institution, semester system, shortage of time due to various functions and activities, increasing number of absentees, changing lifestyles, lack of occupation and above all ability of the teacher are some of the factors which are accountable for affecting teaching – learning process of music in an institution.
Conclusion: – Aristotle says children must learn music because it charms them, purifies their soul and occupies the vacant hours. Music is perceived as a very respectable stream of study today. Equal weightage is given to music among the array of subjects. Music teachers today possess equal qualifications and salary grades. From mere profession and enjoyment, the status of music has been uplifted to global heights. Music is considered by the educationists as a mandatory subject for imotional and spiritual growth of mind. It is a key to cultural and extra – curricular achievements for many institution and for its students. Fetching prizes in musical activities, institutions raise their levels in the society. The creating performers is concerned though it is true that the institutional training has its own limits and course of curriculum, yet it has produced many music scholars as well as music lovers and even chiseled the art in many ways. It has provided platforms and stages to many artists. Guru – Shishya parampara has its own limitations and boundaries. It has limited resources. Every child does not have access to gurukul and every child cannot leave his home and reside at gurukul. Gurukul can produce artist only in a limited number; only a talented one or born artist can develop his art in gurukul but at large it is the educational institutions only which can help the art of music grow and develop globally. A talented one can flourish all round the world through an institution. He can grab a job of high repute by fulfilling the required qualifications. Learning music in an institution can provide all round development of personality of an individual. The aim of education is not merely creating the book worms, but to create enlightened souls who have taste for knowledge and interest in art forms, love for nature and tendency in appreciation of beauty; the one who is grow aesthetically and intellectually both. This is possible only when education is combined with art forms like music.
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Author’s Specifications – NAME: DR. MAUSUMI PAL, DESIGNATION: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN MUSIC, COLLEGE: PURNIDEVI CHOWDHURY GIRLS’ COLLEGE, BOLPUR, BIRBHUM, PIN CODE: 731204, PH. NO.: 9830353952, Email Id: palkundu.mausumi9@gmail.com