Women Played a large Role in the history of Indian classical Music: Vikram Lall

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An interactive workshop for FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) was recently held by Vikram Lall, award-winning architect, author and patron of arts at Park Hyatt, Hyderabad. The topic for the workshop was ‘Women in Indian Music Tradition’ in which all genres of Indian music across various time periods – Bhakti, Thumri, Ghazals, Khayal and film songs were discussed.

Vikram Lall said that women seem to have played a larger role in the history of Indian music. The discussion imparted great learning and inspiration to the audience who were made to understand the role of women in various traditions of classical Indian music. “Aankhon Ki Masti Ke,” the famous song was played during the theoretical descriptions for each of the genres being explained.

Begum Akhtar for Ghazals, Meerabai for Bhakti music, Gauhar Jaan for Thumri, Hirabai Barodekar for Khayal and Saraswati Devi for Film songs, were the five women representing each genre. The audience learnt that Thumri music is always in the first person female narrative.

“The 30s and 40s were certainly more modern than today. Before playback music, it was very important to look good as well as sing well,”said Vikram Lall, who has designed the famous Akshardham temple in Delhi, and the Buddha Smriti Park in Patna.

The workshop was very informative and the audience got to know a new insight of women’s role in classical Indian music.

Vikram Lall shared his connect with Hyderabad saying, “The only time I was in the city before was when I was involved with the architecture of the Indian School of Business. I like the Karachi biscuit and Hyderabadi biryani, which I tasted then.”

About Vikram Lall:

Vikram Lall is an award-winning architect, educator, author, and patron of the arts. He has more than 25 years of experience in architectural practice and consultancy and is the principal architect and partner of Lall& Associates. With a Master’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Design from Cambridge, he has designed several landmark buildings, such as the Akshardham temple in Delhi and the Buddha Smriti Park in Patna. He has been feted by the President of India, and his projects have been extensively covered in several national and international journals.