OF COURSE, as the author claims, such a judgement is intrinsically problematic. As the author says:
"I was asked recently at an interview about the lack of vilambit in Karnatik music. I tried explaining to the interviewer that the idea of the vilambit is defined by the music and hence vilambit is a conceptual abstraction that flows into its own form within the Karnatik, but the questioner was completely lost, unwilling to see vilambit as a concept that becomes defined only within a musical form."
My explanation would be that it is wholly inappropriate to compare two systems with the yardstick of one of them. More specifically, the meanings of subtlety and nuance are specific to each system. The aalaap in a Hindustani rendition can leave a westerner wondering, "Where's the beef?!", and Pavarotti's O Sole Mio might sound to an Indian akin to shouting. But it is the fortunate few who have travelled across the divides and can enjoy Bhimsen AND Subbulakshmi AND Maria Callas AND Lata/Asha AND Mozart AND Stan Getz!
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