Nothing of note from Mysuru Music University, says Sarod maestro

Mysuru: Pandit Rajeev Taranath, a leading exponent of the Sarod, tore into the failing performance of the Gangubhai Hanagal Music University in Mysuru, as he addressed media persons in the city on Monday. Speaking at a programme hosted by the Mysuru district journalists' association which honoured journalists Meera Appaiah and Alfred Solomon, Pandit Taranath lamented the fact that the university, despite having existed for some years and received good grants, has little to show for it. "The music course offered at Mysuru University are also just 'for name's sake. Why hasn't a single noted musician come out of them," he demanded.

Having been born and raised in Mysuru, where he still lives, he has a close bond with the place, he says. "University of Mysuru was one of the top 10 English schools at one time. The standard has really dropped. The Music University here lacks adequate staff. Mysuru has given India some of its top musicians including Piteel Chowdaiah, Veene Sheshanna and many more, and some of them are still here. But why are they not invited in the Music University? The reason they give is that they don't possess degree in music. I don't have a degree in music but I was invited by California Institute of Art in America, to teach and I served there as the third Professor there, while Pandith Ravishankar served as the first professor in that institute. And they made use of whatever we could give," he said.

He added, "In today's society, people and the media mainly should stand as walls to protect democracy by bringing shortcomings to light and making constructive suggestions. Instead, we're concerned with death tolls and war. And we are bothered about who bribed whom. The media devotes more space to Virat Kohli than reviews on music and dance.Though some news papers have space for reviews on music, their quality needs to be improved," Pandit Taranath added.