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Watching youth enjoy classical music heartening: Sitarist Shujaat Khan

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By Radhika Bhirani
Jaipur, Oct 30 (IANS) The sitar, tabla and flute played on. And the youngsters in the crowd heard the classical ensemble in awe. Sitar maestro Shujaat Khan says it’s surprising and heartening to witness the swelling number of youths — contrary to popular perception — at classical concerts.

“If you go to classical concerts across India, you will be surprised to see the number of people under 25 who are going and listening to them. It’s unbelievable.

“Around 40 per cent people (at concerts) are under 25, and it’s a wonderful thing that they are realising that there’s something more to life than just a three to four minute song, which is also okay to listen to,” Khan told IANS here.

The celebrated musician is the son and disciple of sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan, and he belongs to the Imdad Khan gharana of the stringed instrument.

He was here to perform at the MTV India Music Summit, where a group of school and college students sat with rapt attention and appreciated the expertise, finesse and dedication of the artistes. Khan also sang.

“I’d like to reiterate what Prasoon Joshi says. Music can’t always be heard from the feet — it can’t always be for dance. It’s a good thing that they realise that you can even sit and listen to music, and enjoy it,” said Khan.

But why do most people often undermine the ability of youngsters to understand and appreciate the complexity of classical music?

“Because that’s what the job of the majority is. In the world, the majority will always go to something that’s easy, easily accessible and easily doable.

“If you go and play music on the stage for two hours, and vis-a-vis that, you do a three-minute performance, there will be a difference, right?

“So, whatever is easy for you as a listener, you’re accepting that. It’s upto you.”

He is all for more such platforms where artistes can congregrate and celebrate India’s glorious wealth of classical music.

“The more, the merrier. People are thinking about it. Gradually, literary festivals have started happening in different parts of the country.

“Music fests will also happen slowly and steadily as people will understand the need to get together and promote the cause of music,” Khan said, agreeing that the market has opened up in a big way for interanational artistes to come and perform.

Khan’s musical career began at the age of three when he began practicing on a specially-made small sitar. By the age of six, he was recognised and began giving public performances.

His album “Rain” was also nominated for the Grammy Awards.

Back in 2010, Khan had even composed for a Hindi movie titled “Mr. Singh/ Mrs. Mehta”. But now he is in no mood for film collaborations.

“I have no interest. I enjoy the more serious, longer format. I prefer that. Also, when someone offers you a film, with that, comes another offer — this is what we want you to do. So, I am not interested.”

(The writer’s trip was at the invitation of the event organisers. Radhika Bhirani can be contacted at [email protected])

–IANS
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Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones

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CasinoDays India

International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.

Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.

The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.

Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile

The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.

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The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.

“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.

Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings

Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.

 

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Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).

Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.

The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.

Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.

Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities

The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.

On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.

Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.

“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.

The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.

 

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