Indian music being as multifaceted as the koh-i-noor, pinning down a specific genre is as elusive as capturing a glint from the famed diamond, and when it comes to defining national music, the task is even more difficult. If one considers the sheer number of listeners, nothing except popular hindi film music will be worth considering. If one considers the number of practitioners of the genre, popular hindi film music will never even be considered. Though the industry belts out hundreds of numbers every year, they are created by a very select group of musicians.
Hence, the only reasonable definition of national music is the music, which is enjoyed beyond its region of origin. That is why, after wading through the waves of the indian ocean of music, one finds only four genres that can proudly call themselves national. They are hindi film music, ghazals, hindustani classical music and indipop, while hindi film music enjoys true pan indian popularity, ghazals have their devotees in the north and south. Hindustani classical music softens the hearts and moistens the eyes of almost the entire nation except the extreme south. Indipop finds its fans amongst the english educated populace of india.
This collection ` encyclopedia of indian music` collected by saregama is an exclusive pack, which would give the listener a flavor of indian music.
