Musician TM Krishna's concert in Delhi confirmed, singer to perform on Saturday

A day after the concert of noted Carnatic musician TM Krishna was called off, the singer on Friday confirmed that the programme will be held in the national capital on Saturday under the aegis of the Delhi government.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Krishna confirmed, "I am singing in Delhi tomorrow. The Delhi government is hosting the concert which is going to held in Garden of Five Senses near Saket at 6:30 pm. I invite everyone." 

Earlier, the concert was postponed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in controversial circumstances following vicious trolling on social media by rightwing elements.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia will inaugurate Krishna's concert billed as "a musical evening dedicated to the voices of the common man" at the Garden of Five Senses in south Delhi. The original venue was Nehru Park in the diplomatic enclave of Chanakyapuri in the heart of Delhi.

Krishna will be accompanied by violinist RK Shriramkumar, Anirudh Athreya on kanjira and Praveen Sparsh on mridangam. 

The announcement of the concert titled "Awam ki Awaz" came a day after a major storm brewed on Thursday following the postponement and the singer got the backing of the intelligentsia and voluntary organisations. Entry to Saturday`s event is free.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi then stepped in to organise a concert for the 42-year-old Magsaysay award winner on the same day (November 17), which Krishna has accepted. 

Unfazed by online trolls which led to the postponement of his concert organised by AAI in association with cultural NGO SPIC MACAY, Krishna alleged that "troll armies have links with people in power" and described the postponement as an attack on freedom of expression.

Krishna has carved a niche for himself by taking Carnatic music, long held as a preserve of the elite, to slums and masses. 

He equated art to activism on Friday and called for its politicisation. "When I say I have a problem with a composition, when I think that a certain community was erased from the identity of this (Carnatic) music and when I problematise the issues, I find something that I never found before. Is this art or activism," he asked, speaking at the Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest here at National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA). 

Krishna, who has carved a niche for himself by taking Carnatic music, long held as a preserve of the elite, to slums and masses, said that the most beautiful experience for him is that everytime he travels beyond the "socially created norms and controlled mechanisms", he finds something "precious". 

"I was told that the music I was singing is impure, it is completely destroying the Indian culture, the Carnatic culture". He said being alive means "being aware, being responsive and being an activist". 

"So I don`t understand how anybody can be alive and not be an activist. It does not make sense. If I am not going to engage with myself, if I am not going to engage with that which is around me which I see everyday then I am not alive." 

The renowned artiste went on to add that from the way a musician dresses on stage to the songs he or she chooses to sing, all of it is "a political conversation". 

"Art is political. What we need to do is politicise art because politics is not bad. It`s beautiful. To be political is to be engaged. To be alive is to be an artist and to be alive is to be an activist". He said when he began asking questions about art, he often wondered if the entire concept is a "maya", or illusion but soon realised that he was asking questions about gender, identity and community. 

"Once you begin asking such questions, it`s not about music alone anymore. That is when my work began extending beyond singing on stage," said the 42-year-old artiste.