Violinist Kala Ramnath shares her plans to safeguard the rich legacy of Indian Ragas

Seventh generation musician and fourth generation violinist of her family, Kala Ramnath is a flag bearer of Mewati gharana that dates back to the Holkar Courts of 19^th Century. ‘Kala’ literally translates into performing arts in Sanskrit and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar awardee quite lives up to her forename by taking Hindustani Classical music to international platforms with renditions on her ‘Singing Violin’. The virtuoso was bribed with sweets into picking up the instrument by her grandfather Vidwan A. Narayan Iyer when she was just two, to follow the footsteps of her paternal uncle T.N.Krishnan and aunt N.Rajam.

A student of legendary vocalist Pandit Jasraj, she hasn’t only performed at prestigious global stages such as the Sydney Opera House, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Carnegie Hall but associated herself with the background score of Hollywood projects such as Leonardo DiCaprio starrer Blood Diamond. Her work has featured in the Grammy winning album In 27 Pieces, and she was the first Indian violinist to be featured in The Strad. We caught up with Kala ahead of her performance at The Royal Albert Hall with BBC Concert Orchestra in September, and spoke about her attempt to curate and document Indian Ragas under a website before most of them can only be found in the pages of history.

Do you think the Indian music scene is quite focused on vocals, and overlooks the repertoire of instrumental music Hindustani classical has to offer?

Yes, I do believe our ears are more accustomed to vocal based music because the underlying expression and the feel of a particular track is more comprehensible when there are words in it. Instrumental music on the other hand is the purest form of the art, which might seemingly be less engaging when compared to vocal tracks. Also, it is a prevalent notion in our country right from the olden times that vocal music is the best form of interactive entertainment, which is followed by instrumental music and then dance. I think this conception is extremely unjust and wrong as our own gods such as Saraswati and Krishna are visualised with the Veena and Flute respectively. Shiva is widely portrayed with a Damru in his hand, and Ganesha with a Mridangam. For dance, which is considered to be the lowest form of fine art, Shiva is conceptualised as Nataraja- the lord of dance. So I really don’t understand the deeply imbibed fascination Indian audiences have towards vocal music as it has to offer so much more. If we take a look at the West, both vocal and instrumental music reside in harmony and are equally appreciated. I recently had a discussion with Ustad Zakir Hussain on this and he said this is all man-made stigma that has trickled down from the past and holds very little relevance today.

Since instrumental music is popularly associated with live concerts and recitals, do you consider the post-pandemic digitisation a bane or a boon since it helps in faster propagation?

Digitisation has its own set of pros and cons. One pro that I can point out personally is, during the pandemic when there was no physical work I was still able to find work because of digitisation. I got an invitation to record some compositions for an Israeli DJ, and I did it all from the comfort of my home. This also pushed me to learn how to record with my computer and microphone. However, listening to music live is a different ball game as the excitement and joy of listening to somebody live is irreplaceable. Digitisation again, has made access much easier as we can navigate through global music at just one click and listen to whoever we want to at any point of time. To conclude, I’ll say the pros of digitisation weigh out the cons of it.

Speaking of digitisation, have you considered international collaborations and digital albums?

There are two things I would like to mention, one being my upcoming YouTube collaboration with the Leo Twins when I go to the UK. The other digital venture is a website that I have curated and launched in presence of Ustad Zakir Hussain last year. It is called indianclassicalmusic.com, and is an encyclopaedia of Indian classical music in all its diversity. The classical music treasure that we have will take me at least five to six years to unearth it all. Our music is one of the oldest forms of music in the world and has survived so many eras only through oral traditions yet there has been no proper documentation of any. We had over four thousand ragas originally, which has come down to a maximum of five hundred at this point out of which only about a hundred are in use. One of the main reasons behind this is decline in the number of live concerts that used to happen all night previously. There are many Ragas that are performed during specific hours of the day, and the lack of practice and platforms is making many of them vanish into thin air. Through this website, I wish to save at least what is left right now and document as much as possible from the past. I have been making 4K documentary videos on these Ragas for the past one year and I hope the website will become an online library where enthusiasts from all around the world can learn about the gems of Hindustani Classical Music. I wish to approach more and more musicians from nooks and corners of the country in order to delve deep into the lineage or Gharanas of classical music and I am on the lookout for some funding that will help me approach other artists.

You will be performing at the Royal Albert Hall soon. Can you take us through what the performance will be about?

I have already performed at the Royal Albert Hall last week for a concert that was designed to commemorate the birth month of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. I interpreted the work of the artist through my renditions on violin. I will be going back there on September 1 to perform with the BBC Concert Orchestra. I will also be performing at the World Harp Congress in the UK this month, along with harpist Gwyneth Wentik and saxophonist George Brooks.

Lastly, what according to you is the future of Violin in India?

The instrument is universally recognised and I don’t think any other instrument is as popular as the violin worldwide. So if you are going to ask me about the future of violin, these facts speak for itself. However, violin is not as popular in India as it is in other parts of the world especially when it comes to classical lineage as many find it extremely taxing and difficult because the instrument does not have frets. Techniques are also important and it is important to pass it on to the next generation. I believe if we pass down authentic techniques, the instrument will have many takers in the future.