TELEVISTA
Hymns for the soul
Amita Malik

India is in some ways a deeply religious country. It is no accident that two of the great religions of the world originated in this country and we also have the largest population of Muslims after Indonesia, even more than Pakistan. I suppose that it is inevitable that we have at least three TV channels devoted to religion in Hindi—Shraddha, Aastha and Sanskar.

The beauty of it is that no matter to which religion one belongs, or even if one does not belong to any religion, one can certainly enjoy the religious music one gets on TV and radio channels. When I am in Kolkata, I get ecstatic about Bengali spiritual songs sung by famous exponents. Rabindra Sangeet also has songs for family and other occasions, such as weddings. It used to be common for families of my generation to gather around a harmonium or tanpura at home and sing these songs, with the whole family joining in. Personally, I love listening to shabad kirtan of the Sikhs, naats of the Muslims and, of course, kirtans and bhajans of the Hindus.

Our country has religions other than those that have made India their home. Most of us who have Christian friends join in with enthusiasm when they invite us to their homes over Christmas and sing Christmas carols. It is also one of those seasonal occasions when we hear international class carol singing in chorus from Meghalaya and other parts of the North-East and also from Chennai. There used to be a great exponent of western music in Chennai when some of us started our careers in broadcasting. His name, if I am not mistaken, was Emmanuel and we simply loved listening to him.

Apart from the amazing choice of religious music, not to forget the organs played in our big cathedrals, such as St Paul’s in Kolkata and the Church of the Redemption in the Capital, where we often go to attend the weddings and the christening of the families we know, there is also the Sunday singing in all big and small churches across the country. But there has been a change since British days.

Familiar hymns are no longer sung in English but in Bengali, Hindi, Urdu and even some of the North-East languages. Since the coming of television, we have also had the great epics being performed on the small screen. We have had both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and there is a new Ramayana going on right now on NDTV’s Imagine channel. I must confess I am a little disappointed in it. While all the nuances are correct, the production and the acting do seem a little lightweight. Frankly, not only the bit characters but also the main ones look like small players from the big screen. They are no comparison with the solid stuff which some of Bollywood’s most eminent movie houses have given us in years past. So the owners of those channels who believe that religion is always a sure fire formula, they had better think twice.

Going to the other extreme, as a student of literature and, therefore, of language, I have found fascinating the way new words are being coined by the sports media. The best part is they are readily accepted by everyone and are becoming a part of their vocabulary. First it was Chak De, which really became a great hit because it came from sport and, for once, not from cricket but hockey.

The second, and I love this one, is Aussi ki Taisie; and now we have an equally endearing one, Kung garoo (Kangaroo) for the Aussies. I wonder what animal the Aussies should call us in return. Obviously tiger, which is our national animal. So we cannot take that as an insult either and can remain friends.

Except that sadly, the tiger is in danger of extinction, while the kangaroo is not. In fact an Indian motoring couple I know is still feeling guilty because they knocked down a kangaroo on a national highway in Australia. The pity is they were not driving fast but the kangaroo was so used to cars on that road that it took it easy.