T&L Music and Language - Music, Language and Me

Meri aukat kya hai? What is my arugadai? How am I qualified to write about teaching and learning, both music and language? A fair question.

The latter is easy to establish. I have taught English and education  for over 40 years in four countries across three continents. I have published and edited about 85 books, chapters and articles, made 120 presentations, and conducted over 50 workshops for teachers. Most recently, I edited an English language textbook series, and co-authored 20 of the 32 books, published by Indiannica Learning. Google me if you want to test the veracity of my claims. Go on, feed my ego😑

My musical experience is both by heritage and as a student. I grew up in a family of dyed-in-the-wool Carnatic musicians. I grew up waking to and going to sleep with music, and dissections and analyses of music and concerts in the inbetween hours. 

My grandfather T.V. Rajagopal was a scholar of music and served as a Secretary of the prestigious Madras Music Academy and its music college for decades. My grandmother Rukmini Rajagopal and various aunts and cousins in the immediate and extended families were, and are, well-respected performers as well as A grade AIR artistes. Both my grandmother and my mother Indira Ramanathan taught music formally for 35 years of their lives. In fact, my grandmother was awarded the prestigious Sangeeta Kala Acharya award by the aforementioned prestigious Madras Music Academy. No, I am not mocking the MMA (well, may be just a tiny bit) but more seeking to establish the distinction of my musical heritage. I am not claiming any special cachet for this heritage but the cultural capital it bestows on me is considerable and I am merely acknowledging the reality of it. And the impact of cultural capital is incontrovertible as much as it is unrecognized.

As for my personal experience with music, like most South Indian brahmins girls, I had music classes ‘inflicted’ on me from the age of 4 or 5. I formally studied music under four different teachers in the early years. In my adulthood I saw the value of music and studied a few years with my grandmother and two years with the illustrious M.L.Vasanthakumari. I am a regular attendee of the music season in Chennai,  and have been  for 40 years, since I was a child, with a hiatus of about 20 years.

Music is in my blood. I love it. I am an enthusiast. I respond to it viscerally. I choose different kinds to mediate and influence my moods.

But I am not in any way, shape or form an expert, not even close. I cannot and will not identify ragas or match composers and compositions. I am flummoxed by complicated calculations and rhythms of talas. I refuse to dissect and analyse concerts. I have perfected the art of forgetting the contents of a concert the minute I walk out of the auditorium.

So for my comments and descriptions of music pedagogy I will rely on my own expertise of the art and science of teaching and learning. I will also call upon my extensive and continuing conversations and dialogues with teachers and students of Carnatic music.

If you feel I am overstepping my bounds, feel free to point it as gently or forcefully as you like . I promise not to block you - unless you overstep bounds of decency!

Oh, and the three links (hold down the text in green):
- A speech by my grandfather
- A viruttam by my grandmother
- A blog about my grandmother by her student, Sanjay Subrahmanyan