Well-known classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj has expressed deep concern about the plight of aging musicians who’ve earned national and international recognition but spend the twilight of their lives in near penury and oblivion.
Citing the example of late Ustad Bismillah Khan who didn’t even have enough money to pay his hospital bills Pandit Jasraj appealed, “I think if someone needs money right now, it is Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. He hasn’t been able to perform for the last few years as he hasn’t been keeping well. He is almost 90 years old. We artists don’t get any pension. Great musicians, at least who the government has conferred titles like Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan, should get some support.”
What Pandit Jasraj is proposing is that artists who have won such awards should get an annual pension (Padma Vibhushan—Rs 1 lakh; Padma Bhushan—Rs 50,000; Padma Shri—Rs 25,000). “Imagine how these great artists feel when they have such awards but no money. Does it look good when these greats go around begging for money when they become too old to perform? The government needs to adopt us,” says Jasraj, a Padma Vibhushan himself.
His efforts for getting the government’s attention to the problem have been on for some time now. Last April Pt Jasraj had even met president Pratibha Patil to put forward the proposal. “She said ‘you’re asking for too little’. Nothing has happened since, but we need to keep raising it till it is addressed.”
Pandit Jasraj who is scheduled to perform at a spiritual concert called Anahat on December 19, says he’s equally unsure about his own future after he stops performing. “I am going to be 81 next month. I have a bungalow and car right now but don’t know what will happen once I’m unable to perform. Artists don’t retire voluntarily — they are forced to retire because of either their health or the public. So we who have served the world with our music need some sort of support from the government.”
Says noted Bollywood musician Shankar Mahadevan, “We musicians perish of insecurities. After a certain age, if I don’t have money in the bank, what will I do? Musicians who take Indian culture to the world deserve some benefits from the government. If they have security, it will do wonders for their creativity.”
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