I received a very pleasant gift from Air India just before Christmas on a flight from Bengaluru to Delhi. The plane was spanking new. Business class seats consisted of a cubicle for each passenger. The service was excellent, and the food was several notches above the usual tasteless fare on flights. I had planned to work on my laptop. But soon after take-off right on time past noon, lunch was served. Then the temptation of taking a siesta was irresistible—as the seat stretched to a full-length bed—and I readily succumbed. An hour later when I woke up, the plane was about to land. I did not do the writing I had planned to do, but it was one of the most pleasurable flights I have had in an airline from which expectations had plummeted very low for quite some time now.

I received a very pleasant gift from Air India just before Christmas on a flight from Bengaluru to Delhi. The plane was spanking new. Business class seats consisted of a cubicle for each passenger. The service was excellent, and the food was several notches above the usual tasteless fare on flights. I had planned to work on my laptop. But soon after take-off right on time past noon, lunch was served. Then the temptation of taking a siesta was irresistible—as the seat stretched to a full-length bed—and I readily succumbed. An hour later when I woke up, the plane was about to land. I did not do the writing I had planned to do, but it was one of the most pleasurable flights I have had in an airline from which expectations had plummeted very low for quite some time now.

The reincarnated Air India, merged with Vistara, promises a new experience, at least in those sectors where new planes are flying, and the staff has been trained to provide world-class service. I was happy too at the degree of thought that has gone into all aspects of the flight experience. The mandatory safety instructions were narrated and enacted on the screen in a novel manner. The short film, while giving the instructions, creatively incorporated all the classical dances of India, and some leading folk genres too. I am told that my good friend, the poet and writer, Prasoon Joshi, has designed the presentation. Well done, Prasoon.

The new Air India brand music, which plays before take-off and landing, has been composed by Shankar Mahadevan, with contributing artists Taufiq Qureshi, Prasoon Joshi, and others. It is a fusion piece in the lovely raga Yaman, rendered in the tarana style, combining vocalists, instruments like the tabla, flute and piano, and western orchestration done by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London. Its refrain or bandish is so catchy that—at least for me—the tune got fixated in my mind. I asked the air hostess for the name and composer of the soundtrack. She did not know, which is sad, because all Air India employees—and certainly the on-plane staff—should proudly be able to provide the details of this stellar composition.

I must confess that I do have my reservations about fusion music involving the Indian classical music tradition. That is because I am a bit of a purist in this matter. Any careless or ham-handed tampering or tinkering with the infinitely delicate and filigree-like structure of a raga can have disastrous consequences, distorting the original. Experiments with established and highly evolved art forms succeed only in the hands of those who are rooted in that tradition and know the limits of what can change and what cannot. The world may be flat, but not everything lends itself to fusion. This is especially so for ragas, which through their structured elaboration are meant to evoke a mood, redolent of the different seasons or the different times of the day or of different emotions. Any attempt to render it like an adolescent pop band, by racing through the initial, slow phases of a composition to reach the fast-paced crescendo, foundationally mutilates the genre. Sometimes, in the search for the new, I get the distinct impression that we are inflicting terrible violence on the old.

But I also understand, that even classical music cannot be etched in stone and must evolve. The tastes of audiences are changing—alas often for culturally illiterate reasons—but they are changing. And, if the change is necessary, the key to dexterously adapting to the new depends on the calibre of the artist initiating it. If it is someone like Shankar Mahadevan, the end result, even if very different from how the raga would have been sung in its original format, is scintillating. Moreover, a great deal depends on what the fusion music is being used for. Fusion would be completely out of place for a stage meant for traditional classical music performances. But fusion, as Air India’s brand track, which combines the beautiful melodic structure of raga Yaman with something innovatively light and catchy and foot-tapping, simultaneously pays tribute to our ancient musical legacy, while adapting it to the new purpose for which it has been composed.

So, I think a round of applause is due to the refurbished Air India brand, and to Tatas. I know the recreation of Air India is still a work in progress. Not everything undesirable of the past has been jettisoned. But at least an attempt is being made to restore it to the Maharaja of airlines that it once was. I can say for myself that there was a time, many years ago when my airline of preference was Air India. I hope it becomes so again, and I take this occasion to convey my best wishes to the management, and the creative people associated with it, to succeed in this laudable venture.

Pavan K Varma is an author, diplomat, and former member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha). The views expressed are personal