Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 7.11.1937 |
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Sulochana Brahaspati
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P L Deshpande
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| 8.11.1919 - 12.6.2000 |
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Purushottam Laxman Deshpande was born on 8 November 1919 in Bombay to Laxman and Lakshmibai Deshpande of the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community. Pu La did his schooling in Bombay, went to Fergusson College, Pune, for undergraduate studies and did an M.A. from Willingdon College, Sangli.
P.L. Deshpande, popularly known by his Marathi initials ‘Pu La’, strode the cultural firmament of Maharashtra like a colossus for over four decades. He was a multifaceted genius – illustrious Marathi writer, film and stage actor, singer, harmonium player, music composer and director, and an orator. He was also a noted philanthropist.
The Department of Posts issued a commemorative stamp in honour of P.L. Deshpande on 16 June 2002, his second death anniversary. The multicoloured stamp in the denomination of Rs. 4, has perf. 13.5, and was printed on Matt Chrome paper by photo offset process at Calcutta Security Printers.
The stamp has a portrait of Deshpande, and in the background is a picture of him in the role of Sant Tukaram in his play Tuka Mhane Ata. The cancellation, in the shape of a pen and a tambura, represents his writings and music. On the First Day Cover are pictures of some of his roles on the stage (see below).
To read full story, visit sruti.com and buy Sruti 345
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Vedantam Prahlada Sarma
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 8.11.1937 |
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R. Vedavalli
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| 9.11.1935 |
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Sangita Kalanidhi R. Vedavalli turned 82 on 9th November 2017. Prakaasanam highlighted Vedavalli’s contributions to the field of Carnatic music in the form of a four-CD pack called Gaandharvam, and a book titled Sangeeta Sampradayam (Vol. 2). The CDs brought out by Swati Soft Solutions were presented by N. Murali (President of the Music Academy) to Leela Samson (Director, Kalakshetra Foundation and Chairperson, Sangeet Natak Akademi). The first copy of the book was presented by N. Gopalaswami (former Chief Election Commissioner of India) to Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao (Secretary, Music Academy). Dr. Rao felicitated Vedavalli with a verse, Vaakdevi charanaaravinda in Sanskrit, describing her qualities of single-minded devotion, her quest for learning, as an expert teacher, her deep knowledge and diction in many languages.
Prasamsanam had veteran vainika Kalpakam Swaminathan, mridanga vidwan K. Arun Prakash and Jaya Balakrishnan (Convenor, Nada Inbam) felicitating the septuagenarian vidushi for her strong adherence to sampradaya, profound knowledge, and affectionate nature.
Nivedanam had Vedavalli’s disciples paying rich tributes to their guru saying she had taught them not just music but values in life and had led by example to be good human beings. The tributes included a Sanskrit poem, moving speeches, a collage of her photos, and a presentation of Vedavalli’s songs for small children.
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Chitresh Das
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| 9.11.1944 - 4.1.2015 |
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Chitresh Das is a pioneer in introducing Kathak to the United States of America. His dream is to break through cultural barriers and ensure the continuation of the Kathak tradition at its highest artistic level.
His mission began in 1970 when he received a Whitney Fellowship through the University of Maryland to teach Kathak even while he was studying Modern dance. A year later, he was invited by sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan to establish a Kathak dance programme at the renowned Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California. While there, Chitresh Das created three major dance-dramas in the Kathak idiom, with over 40 musicians and dancers participating— the first venture of the kind in the Indo-American performing arts scene.
Das founded his own dance company and school called Chhandam in the San Francisco Bay Area, in 1980. It now has additional branches in Boston and Toronto.
Trained from age nine Mishra, Chitresh was schooled in both major Kathak traditions and absorbed each in his artistry: the graceful and sensual elements of the Lucknow school, as well as the dynamic and powerful rhythms and movements of the Jaipur school. His performing career was launched in India when he was invited by sitar maestro Ravi Shankar to perform at the Rimpa Festival in Varanasi.
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C R Vyas
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 9.11.1924 - 10.1.2002 |
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Parlandu Award 2017
Parlandu Award and Parivadini Series
By Samudri
Parivadini continues its webcast services through its Youtube channel, with a focus on up and coming talent and unrecognised artists.Some 18 concerts have been webcast every month.
Parivadini's annual Fernandes (Parlandu) Award of Excellence is being conferred on Paramasivam, a tavil maker from Tanjavur. The earlier awardees have been Selvam (mridangam maker, 2013), Varadan (mridangam maker, 2014), Raju (veena maker, 2015) and UVK Ramesh (ghatam maker, 2016))
The schedule of the annual Parivadini concert series: Parivadini Series 2017
Venue: Raga Sudha Hall
30 Nov
4.00 PM
Thirumylai Karthikeyan and Chitoor Devarajulu - Nagaswaram
Mangalam M.K.Aasan & Adayar G.Silambarasan
6.15 PM
Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath - Vocal
Kalpana Venkat - Violin
R.Sankaranarayanan - Mridangam
Sunil Kumar - Khanjira
1 Dec
4.00 PM
Heramba & Hemantha - Flute
Apoorva Krishna - Violin
N.C.Bharadwaj - Mridangam
Harihara Sarma - Khanjira
6.15 PM
R.Parthasarathi - Veena
J.Vaidhyanathan - Mridangam
Dr. S.Karthick - Ghatam
2 Dec
10.00 AM
Vijaykrishnan - Veena
Thanjavur Kumar - Mridangam
4.00 PM
Ramana Balachandhran & R.Raghul - Veena/Violin Duet
Sumesh Narayanan - Mridangam
S.Krishna - Ghatam
6.15 PM
Kunnakudi Balamuralikrishna - Vocal
Akkarai Subhalakshmi - Violin
L.Subramanian and Akshay Anand - Double Mridangam
3 Dec
10 AM Parlandu Award of Excellence 2017 presented to Mr. Paramasivam (Tavil Maker)
10.30 AM Thanjavur Govindarajan - Lec dem on "The majestic Thavil"
5.00 PM Madurai TNS Krishna - B.U.Ganeshprasad - Vijay Natesan and Sree Sundarkumar (4 hour concert)
For contributions:
Parivadini Charitable Trust,
Union Bank of India
Account Number: 579902120000916
branch: Kolathur, Chennai,
IFSC Code: UBIN0557994
Donations to Parivadini are exempt under Section 80 G
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R. K. Venkatarama Sastry
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| 10.11.1907 |
Birthdays & Anniversaries
There is a school of thought that to be a great Carnatic musician, you need to be blessed with the serendipity of being born on the banks of the Kaveri in a pious family leading an austere lifestyle in the vicinity of a temple. A staple of vadu mangai and buttermilk and pazhaiyathu, or their Karnataka equivalent if you happened to wet your feet in the river closer to its origins, would help too, not to mention a strict regimen of sandhyavandanam three times a day.
There is a school of thought that to be a great Carnatic musician, you need to be blessed with the serendipity of being born on the banks of the Kaveri in a pious family leading an austere lifestyle in the vicinity of a temple. A staple of vadu mangai and buttermilk and pazhaiyathu, or their Karnataka equivalent if you happened to wet your feet in the river closer to its origins, would help too, not to mention a strict regimen of sandhyavandanam three times a day.
By all accounts, musician, Harikatha artist, playwright and Sanskrit and Kannada scholar Rudrapatnam Krishna Sastry, who married singer Sannakka, daughter of vainika-violinist Bettadapura Narayanaswamy, in the early years of the 20th century, enjoyed just such a concatenation of circumstances. His first son, Rudrapatnam Krishna Venkatarama Sastry, was born on November 10th 1907 at Rudrapatnam, a stone’s throw from the waters of the sacred river. Venkatarama Sastry — whose birth centenary celebrations begin from 11th November 2007 with a music festival in Chennai — showed early signs of musical talent which his father nourished by exposing him to the best available training with distinguished guru-s.
(This Sanketi family from the Hassan district of Karnataka went on to produce some nine more musicians at last count. For a detailed account, see the R.K. Srikantan profile in Sruti 134, November 1995). After spending more than a decade learning violin from Veena Subbanna and Mysore T. Chowdiah, he moved to Madras in 1936, to join All India Radio when it was formed.
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F. G. Natesa Iyer
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 11.11.1880 - 23.1.1963 |
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Abdul Karim Khan
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 11.11.1872 - 27.10.1937 |
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C Sankaran Nair
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 13.11.1915 - 24.4.1934 |
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Nilamadhab Panigrahi
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 14.11.1919 - 28.11.2012 |
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Rohini Bhate
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 14.11.1924 - 10.10.2008 |
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L. Muthiah Bhagavatar
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 15.11.1877 - 30.6.1945 |
Harikesanallur L. Muthiah Bhagavatar was something of a Superman in Carnatic music. His life is very difficult to condense into a short account for there were so many remarkable achievements in it. He overcame adverse circumstances to become a musician. He began his professional career as a vocalist who had also specialized in playing the mridanga and the gottuvadyam. He later switched to Harikatha and it was in that field that he acquired great fame. He was the moving spirit behind great music festivals in two locations in Madras Presidency for many years. He was a catalyst in the success of a series of pathbreaking music conferences in Tanjavur for two years. Somewhere in between he created new raga-s, imported several from Hindustani music and composed many songs in many forms such as kriti-s, varnam-s and tillana-s.
He founded a music school, was the Principal of two respected educational institutions and played a key role in bringing Swati Tirunal's works to the forefront of the concert arena. He wrote a major treatise on music which earned him the distinction of being the first musician to get a doctorate (and a genuine one at that). He moved with kings and commoners with equal ease all of whom loved him for his wit, his magnificent personality and his erudition. He earned enormous amounts and spent them on a luxurious lifestyle. He was also supremely generous, giving large amounts to causes that took his fancy. In short he was truly magnificent and his life was one exciting roller coaster journey. There was never a dull moment.
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K. V. Narayanaswamy
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 15.11.1923 - 1.4.2002 |
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Ileana Citaristi
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Birthdays & Anniversaries
Ileana Citaristi, not at her best in the demonstration part, introspected on the 'Evolution of Sanchari in Odissi Abhinaya'. That Odissi abhinaya did not go beyond a very basic word to gesture translation like an action song till the late fifties of the twentieth century is known. The Mahari was more a singer and her abhinaya did not go beyond elementary gestures and rhythm. It was during the Jayantika effort that persons like Guru Mayadhar Raut and the late Sanjukta Panigrahi who after a six-year stint at Kalakshetra had their minds opened to elaboration in abhinaya thanks to training in Kathakali and Bharatanatyam, and ideas of enlarging on the musical text began to spread in Odissi circles. Mayadhar's grounding in theory based on the Sanskrit treatises was a great help in expanding Odissi abhinaya. And what he gave by way of added information for codifying Odissi and for sanchari development was taken up and furthered with zeal and creative imagination by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. As his student, Ileana's illustrations were from the guru's repertoire. It was seen that Guruji's elaborations very often took a narrative and episodic form, sometimes warranted by the words of the song as in Salabeg's Janana Ahe Neela saila wherein the musical line "Kuru Sabha...." is followed by an entire depiction of the 'Dice scene' and of Draupadi being rescued by Krishna, the scene rendered to a repetition of the line, which after the first few sung versions becomes a melodic refrain played on the instruments. Here the poet who is praising Krishna as saviour refers to thisincident and the elaboration fits in perfectly. But in a Jayadeva ashtapadi like Sakhi he Kesi mathanamudaram when Radha as the abhisarika is depicted braving the dangers lurking in the dark forest to reach the kunj for a tryst with Krishna, the guru's interpretative interventions portray Radha as an already married woman stealthily stealing into the night in order to avoid the inquisitive eyes of the parents-in-law. Whether Jayadeva in his kavya ever thought of Radha as a parakeeya nayika (a married woman in love with another man) is doubtful and whether artistic freedom allows one to superimpose one's own interpretations not even hinted at in the text, is open to question. Similarly, in the ashtapadi Yahi Madhava Radha's accusations pointing out to Krishna's very obvious marks of dalliance with another woman, are interspersed in the guru's interpretation with passages where Krishna is shown making excuses for the give away signs on his person. What this does is not just strip Krishna of all his dignity, but also bring in a lighter comic element, which interferes with the tone of mixed anger, sarcasm and anguish in Radha's tone which is what Jayadeva's lyric is all about. For this writer, the treatment by Kelucharan interferes with the sthayi bhava of the khandita nayika, apart from introducing a mood not warranted by the text. But, of course as Ileana maintained, much of the Guru's interpretative imagination was fashioned by his long association with the Raas tradition and the episodes dealt with here became very much a part of Guruji's cultural memory that he dipped into for use in Odissi. Between the poetry and the artistic creativity of the dancer lies a whole area open to much interpretation, on which clearly the last word has not been said by a long stretch. Alisha Mohapatra and Soubhalaxmi Samal, two senior students of Ileana also participated in the demonstration.
Ileana Citaristi, not at her best in the demonstration part, introspected on the 'Evolution of Sanchari in Odissi Abhinaya'. That Odissi abhinaya did not go beyond a very basic word to gesture translation like an action song till the late fifties of the twentieth century is known. The Mahari was more a singer and her abhinaya did not go beyond elementary gestures and rhythm. It was during the Jayantika effort that persons like Guru Mayadhar Raut and the late Sanjukta Panigrahi who after a six-year stint at Kalakshetra had their minds opened to elaboration in abhinaya thanks to training in Kathakali and Bharatanatyam, and ideas of enlarging on the musical text began to spread in Odissi circles. Mayadhar's grounding in theory based on the Sanskrit treatises was a great help in expanding Odissi abhinaya. And what he gave by way of added information for codifying Odissi and for sanchari development was taken up and furthered with zeal and creative imagination by Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra. As his student, Ileana's illustrations were from the guru's repertoire. It was seen that Guruji's elaborations very often took a narrative and episodic form, sometimes warranted by the words of the song as in Salabeg's Janana Ahe Neela saila wherein the musical line "Kuru Sabha...." is followed by an entire depiction of the 'Dice scene' and of Draupadi being rescued by Krishna, the scene rendered to a repetition of the line, which after the first few sung versions becomes a melodic refrain played on the instruments. Here the poet who is praising Krishna as saviour refers to thisincident and the elaboration fits in perfectly. But in a Jayadeva ashtapadi like Sakhi he Kesi mathanamudaram when Radha as the abhisarika is depicted braving the dangers lurking in the dark forest to reach the kunj for a tryst with Krishna, the guru's interpretative interventions portray Radha as an already married woman stealthily stealing into the night in order to avoid the inquisitive eyes of the parents-in-law. Whether Jayadeva in his kavya ever thought of Radha as a parakeeya nayika (a married woman in love with another man) is doubtful and whether artistic freedom allows one to superimpose one's own interpretations not even hinted at in the text, is open to question. Similarly, in the ashtapadi Yahi Madhava Radha's accusations pointing out to Krishna's very obvious marks of dalliance with another woman, are interspersed in the guru's interpretation with passages where Krishna is shown making excuses for the give away signs on his person. What this does is not just strip Krishna of all his dignity, but also bring in a lighter comic element, which interferes with the tone of mixed anger, sarcasm and anguish in Radha's tone which is what Jayadeva's lyric is all about. For this writer, the treatment by Kelucharan interferes with the sthayi bhava of the khandita nayika, apart from introducing a mood not warranted by the text. But, of course as Ileana maintained, much of the Guru's interpretative imagination was fashioned by his long association with the Raas tradition and the episodes dealt with here became very much a part of Guruji's cultural memory that he dipped into for use in Odissi. Between the poetry and the artistic creativity of the dancer lies a whole area open to much interpretation, on which clearly the last word has not been said by a long stretch. Alisha Mohapatra and Soubhalaxmi Samal, two senior students of Ileana also participated in the demonstration.
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Imrat Khan
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 17.11.1935 |
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Priyambada Mohanty Hejmadi
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 18.11.1939 |
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Nandini Ramani
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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| 18.11.1950 |
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Ram Gopal
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| 20.11.1912 - 12.10.2003 |
Birthdays & Anniversaries
Bissano Ram Gopal was born in Bangalore on 20thNovember 1912, to a Burmese mother and Rajput father. His year of birth remains a mystery because when Ram was 60, he joked he was 40 (and looked it too!) and when he died at 90 plus he felt he was only 70! But two or three of his contemporaries like Guru U.S. Krishna Rao and dance partners like Mrinalini Sarabhai and M.K. Saroja are good references to arrive at a precise year of birth which turns out to be 1912. Guru U.S. Krishna Rao knows for a fact that Ram was 40 days older than him and Guru Rao was born on December 31st 1912, so Ram was born on 20th November 1912. When M.K. Saroja was five years old Ram was 24 and she was born in 1931. As he was born on 20th or 'Bees' in Hindi, he was named Bissano, as a term of endearment, by his beautiful Burmese mother from whom he got those chiselled features with high cheek-bones and shapely eyes. His robust Rajput father gave his body the finest of manly "cuts" and rippling muscles. Thus, Nature had itself conspired and inspired forces to sculpt a beautiful body and a beautiful face to go with what he was meant to do— dance!
Bissano Ram Gopal was born in Bangalore on 20thNovember 1912, to a Burmese mother and Rajput father. His year of birth remains a mystery because when Ram was 60, he joked he was 40 (and looked it too!) and when he died at 90 plus he felt he was only 70! But two or three of his contemporaries like Guru U.S. Krishna Rao and dance partners like Mrinalini Sarabhai and M.K. Saroja are good references to arrive at a precise year of birth which turns out to be 1912. Guru U.S. Krishna Rao knows for a fact that Ram was 40 days older than him and Guru Rao was born on December 31st 1912, so Ram was born on 20th November 1912. When M.K. Saroja was five years old Ram was 24 and she was born in 1931. As he was born on 20th or 'Bees' in Hindi, he was named Bissano, as a term of endearment, by his beautiful Burmese mother from whom he got those chiselled features with high cheek-bones and shapely eyes. His robust Rajput father gave his body the finest of manly "cuts" and rippling muscles. Thus, Nature had itself conspired and inspired forces to sculpt a beautiful body and a beautiful face to go with what he was meant to do— dance!
To say Ram was a born dancer is stating the obvious. There was no dance in his family circle, although Ram was artistic from his childhood. Although his family house— The Torquay Castle— in Benson Town, was a lavish affair with tennis courts and swimming pool, befitting the status of his rich barrister father, Ram spent more time with musicians and artists. His friendship with U.S. Krishna Rao, who once ended up playing the mridanga for Ram when he had to dance impromptu at a tea party hosted by the then Yuvaraja of Mysore, established a lifelong relationship with dance. Ram was lucky to find a royal patron and a loyal friend.
Ram went through the grind and learnt from two venerable guru-s of Bharatanatyam: Guru Muthukumara Pillai of Kattumannarkoil and Guru Meenakshisundaram Pillai. Bharatanatyam is not the only form he learnt or mastered, as has been erroneously stated in some writings. He learnt Kathakali from Guru Kunju Kurup under Vallathol Narayana Menon's supervision when he set up the Kerala Kalamandalam and he learnt Kathak from Guru Jailal and later Guru Sohanlal.
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