A fortnight ago, this column carried an article on a women’s music conference held in Calcutta in 1954. The article seems to have intrigue...
A fortnight ago, this column carried an article on a women’s music conference held in Calcutta in 1954. The article seems to have intrigued and excited several readers because a programme focusing mainly on women performers was a novelty in that period. Some felt that this was the first occasion that a women’s music conference was being held, and there were others who pointed out that there may have been precedents to this.
Similarly, the mention of a female tabla player took many by surprise as this too was relatively unheard of in those days. But was she the first female tabla player to have performed in public?
Frankly, it would be hazardous to claim first position for anything in the Indian context given the fact that our long history always reveals a similar occurence in the past. For instance, innumerable miniature paintings depict women percussionists playing instruments that resemble the dholak and the pakhawaj, indicates that these instruments were played also by women.
Similarly, in the context of women’s music conferences, one such conference was organised at the Jinnah Memorial Hall in Bombay under the aegis of the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya way back in 1929. Contemporary newspaper reports do not mention the inclusion of any performances...
