The Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari said that the music does for the soul what yoga does for the body and mathematics for the mind. Music transcends the barriers of culture, class, ethnicity and other divisions as it carries within it the seeds of all that is pure, exalting and, indeed, divine. Since all traditional belief systems hold the priority of the soul, the centrality of music is beyond dispute.
Delivering the inaugural address of the 82nd Annual Conference and Concerts of the Music Academy in Madras at Chennai today he said that There is one other point about music that is noteworthy in the Indian context. It transcends barriers of caste and creed and is a unifying thread. All sections of our very diverse population have contributed to it, and all enjoy it in equal measure.
The Vice said the creativity and spirituality associated with music is well known. Less appreciated is the linkage between music and technological innovation. This manifests itself in the development of musical instruments. The modern age and the technological revolution have given new instrumentalities to understand music, create music and reproduce it. It has made the task of popularizing music across physical and ethereal media much simpler.
The Vice President presented the Sangeet Kala Nidhi M.S. Subbalaxmi Award to renowned music maestro Shri A.K.C. Natrajan for his determination in pioneering the use of western instrument clarionet in carnatac music on the occasion. The Grandfather of Vice President, Shri M.A. Ansari was actively involved in the foundation of the music academy and was the President of the academy eighty years ago.