In India, the Guru Shishya parampare is the traditional way of learning or acquiring knowledge. Even if it is the vedas, music or medicine, the knowledge was passed on by the Guru to his/her disciple in small amount for a long period of time. The Guru always has the capability to understand the capacity of a student and decides how much a student can learn. If a Guru is unhappy with his/her student, he/she might not teach anything but give an opportunity to assist them. A disciple completely surrenders to the Guru and offers "seva" in return for the knowledge.
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"Vidya" or "knowledge" is expressed as a sacred blessing in India, for which, a Guru used to choose his disciples carefully. A fear that the disciple may misuse his/her teachings, would make them teach only to family members. The outsiders accepted as disciples would be taught very less and only an exceptional talent could master a top level of knowledge by sheer perseverance.
It is said that Ustad Allaudin Khan of Maihar was an exceptional Guru who believed in spreading the knowledge to deserving knowledge outside the family. Apart from his son Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and daughter Annapoorna Devi, he prepared a lot of disciples such as Pannalal Gosh, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Sharan Rani Mathur, and many others. Pandit Onkarnath Thakur was trained by Vishnu Digambar Paluskar in the Gandharva Mahavidyalay in Mumbai.
In the modern times we see very less of Guru Shishya Parampare. These days the disciples question the loyalty of their Guru, which shouldn't be done. Many artistes especially in the playback field, have the habit of learning a song from the musician and pass it on as his/her own composition or they copy the same raga rendered to old films. Every musician should have great responsibility to uphold the tradition of music in these days.
TSJ
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