Basheer Ahmed Sayeed, Habibullah Badsha and the Madras Music Academy

I spend as much time listening to as many lecture demonstrations about Carnatic music as I spend listening to the music itself. I do not understand everything that is discussed but even the little I understand has helped me appreciate the music and its evolution better. There are two friends of mine, incidentally both named Shriram / Sriram, who entertain and educate us through their presentations. 

Violin Maestro R.K. Shriram Kumar tends to explain the nuances of the compositions and music of different composers, while historian V. Sriram brings to us the history associated with the music and history, in general. I have no qualms in saying that my understanding and appreciation of Carnatic music has been greatly enhanced by what these two and a few others have shared. Sriram has also penned a number of books relating to music and history. 

 

Because of the social circles I am in, I am exposed to the current controversy in the Carnatic music field even if I try to actively avoid it. And I had come across one of the many missives that are exchanged in which the executive committee was accused of exclusively brahmin. It triggered a memory of one of Sriram’s lecture. This lecture was about some of Chennai’s lawyers and their cultural influence. 

 

In that lecture Sriram talks about Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed. Born in Mylapore, Justice Sayeed was a man of many dimensions. In addition to being a judge of the Madras High Court, he was a member of the Madras Legislative Council and played an active role in the management of New College in Chennai. After a tiff with that college, he founded the South Indian Education Trust, popularly known as SIET and the trust to this day has played a major role in education. He was also a long-standing committee member and an office bearer in Madras Music Academy. He was the founder Vice President of the Academy.  Sriram mentions that he was the longest serving Vice President of the Academy and had a tenure that spanned almost fifty years.

Justice Sayeed was instrumental in Music Academy acquiring the premises where its auditorium stands today. In 1945, when the search for land for the Academy was on, a small plot in Thiruvallikkeni was first identified. It was Justice Sayeed who pushed for the Academy to acquire a much larger, twenty-seven ground property to build its auditoriums. So, the very physical existence of the Academy is because of a Muslim office bearer. 

 

If it was Justice Sayeed who played his hand in the Academy acquiring this property, it was another eminent Muslim lawyer, Habibullah Badsha, who ensured that it remained with the Academy. During the late 1990s, there was a plethora of cases that were filed against the Academy threatening its very existence. It was the result of brilliant work done by Mr. Badsha in defending the Academy that it continued to function in its current form. He managed to prevent the taking over of the Academy by the Government and all the other cases against it disposed of. He too was a long-standing member of the executive committee and served as its Vice President as well. 

 

 

I am aware of the role played by these two gentlemen and their contribution through the lectures of Sriram that I had listened to. Am sure that there would be many other hailing from the Muslim and Christian community who were part of the Academy at various times. 

 

A cursory look at the current committee does show that it is not made exclusively of people from the Brahmin community, as claimed in the missive. Even more so if one considers the advisory committee. But there is a lack of diversity, which is seems to be of recent origin and this goes to the root cause of the current controversy. Making Carnatic music available to everyone through active outreach, would create interest among the sections of the population where the current interest levels are low. Only through active outreach can the transformation happen in both the creative as well as the management side of this art and not just by token representations.   

 

1. Sriram’s lecture, ‘Some Lawyers of Madras and their cultural influence’ - https://youtu.be/eCXWSr5clk8?si=qefsfrmoT8ULXonR&t=3072
2. A blog about Music Academy’s home – ‘The story of Sweet Home’ - https://sriramv.com/2020/10/26/the-story-of-sweet-home/
3. Biography of Habibullah Badsha – ‘When Mercy Seasons Justice’ - https://habibullahbadsha.com/Habibullah-Badsha-When-Mercy-Seasons-justice.pdf
4. The composition of the current committee - https://musicacademymadras.in/committee/