dhyānamūlaṃ gururmūrtiḥ

pūjāmūlaṃ gururpadam |

mantramūlaṃ gururvākyaṃ

mokṣamūlaṃ gurūrkṛpā ||

The root of meditation is the form of the Guru

The root of worship is the feet of the Guru

The root of mantra is the word of the Guru

The root of liberation is the grace of the Guru

To my beloved guru, Karaikudi Mani sir: my most humble pranams to you on your 75^th birthday.

As one of the most revered mridangists of all time, he is: a transcendent musician whose rhythm has reached and influenced all corners of the globe.

Watching him play is akin to watching someone who has completely mastered their craft. With a style of playing so distinct, nuanced, and majestic, he elevates a concert so seamlessly. Every performance of his is a completely cathartic listening experience, and a listener is filled with an indescribable sphere of energy afterwards.  

I started learning from guruji when I was 15. As I vividly recall, sitting down in my first class with him was as though my life’s wishes in music had been fulfilled. He was my musical hero, someone I had drawn inspiration from for years. Since then, I have watched him teach for hours at a stretch, spontaneously creating unique korvais and patterns with his ever-flowing fountain of creativity. His compositions reflect his deep musical intellect and remind us to break barriers in the world of percussion, where exploration is eternal.  

Classes were an exercise in hard work, perseverance, and discipline, interwoven with invaluable lessons applicable to the real world, from the do’s and don’ts of life to core values of human dignity. At the same time, the more light-hearted moments outside of the teaching realm were equally special: hearing him reminisce about some of his most memorable concerts, joining him in prayer at various temples, and of course, eating his idli-sambar made from scratch.

Additionally, his U.S. tour in 2018 marked a series of truly unforgettable memories I have shared with him. I stayed by his side in Cleveland, New York, and New Jersey, and had the ultimate blessing of performing with him on stage. Being his sishya, few things mean more to me than expressing my gratitude through seva.

Mani sir’s life has been one dedicated to paying homage to this rich art form through unwavering determination. And though the weight of his legacy and lineage is heavy, it is one that I — along with all his students — feel privileged to carry forward.

Happiest of birthdays, guruji. May we continue to be recipients of your grace, and selflessly share this knowledge and wisdom with others as you have shown us.

Click here to watch vidwan guru Kaaraikkudi Mani’s 75th Birthday celebration Premiere by Udupa Foundation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsFhjb7YdE4&feature=youtu.be

S. JANAKI

Thirty seven years have rolled by since Sruti magazine came into being on 16 September 1983,

The cover story this time is a tribute to Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj—the sun in the firmament of Hindustani vocal music— who has moved into the eternal orbit of Nadabrahman. Two articles throw light on his life, his music as a romanticist crusader, along with an interview with disciple Kala Ramnath which gives a glimpse into the personality of the prolific teacher.

Not many of this generation may know about J.S. Prabhu whose twin passions were Hindustani music and the SGS Sabha. From the 1950s to the 1980s, he played a major role in patronizing Hindustani music in Chennai, and also in the growth and progress of the Samyukta Gowda Saraswata Sabha.

The News and Notes section includes online initiatives organized by Sukrtam Foundation, Upasana Arts and Ananda Shankar Jayant—each one of them commendable for the “take away” quotient for viewers. A comparative analysis of rasa in the Sanskrit and Tamil traditions—as mentioned in the NatyaSastra, Tolkappiam and Koothanool, by dancer-scholar Lakshmi Ramaswamy, should provide our readers some food-for-thought. There is an interesting behind-the-scenes account by Seetha Ratnakar on the genesis and the making of ViralimalaiKuravanji—the runaway hit, produced and televised by Doordarshan Kendra, Chennai. The second part of the article on Siva temples on the Akhanda Cauvery takes you to the heritage sthalam called Iyermalai—Ratnagiri. S. Rajam’s interpretation of the ‘Gandhara’ takes the saptaswara devata series forward.

The passing away of the nonagenarian erudite scholar Kapila Vatsyayan on 17 September in New Delhi, is an irreparable loss to the field of scholarship in Indian art and culture. She was among the rare personalities who could effectively connect theoretical knowledge to practice. She was an able arts administrator and institution builder involved in several premier cultural organisations in India. Her vision, her holistic approach to Indian art and culture, and her pathbreaking books helped place Indian art, culture and scholarship on the international map. In this new age of ‘cut and paste’ research it is very hard to come across scholars of this stature.

As the issue goes to print, we are hit again by the shocking news of the passing away of the legendary popular musician S.P. Balasubrahmanyam in Chennai, and the nonagenarian Bharatanatyam guru and composer Rajee Narayan in Mumbai.

Nurturing Fearless and Serious Engagement  with Karnatik Music

“I want you to stop when you are dead with the ideas of a pattern,” TM Krishna reminds his students. As the students sing kalpanaswaram for Deva Deva Kalayamithe, Krishna puts down hurdles in their paths. “That is banned.. you can’t sing that.” Some of them toy with new phrases, while the others stumble over a note. He encourages the latter, “It is only when you sing something wrong can you twist it and discover something.”    The intensity and the gay abandon of this musical improv makes an otherwise high-spirited participants of the 12-days masterclass dumbstruck. The intensive online module on Carnatic music offered by TM Krishna in two batches in August 2020, not only stressed on his radical ideas on manodharma, but also explored the politics and aesthetics of the art form. 

Past and present merged seamlessly in these sessions. Along with Krishna, we went centuries back in time to study the evolution of the kirtanaas a dominating compositional structure, the journey of the veena, violin and nagaswaram into the Carnatic fold, and the emergence of bhakti as a favored literary theme in the Carnatic canon. We looked at historical figures like Subbarama Dikshitar, the man behind the iconic work, Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini (SSP), and attempted to place their creative interventions in their historical specificity. A major portion of the work included in the SSP is that of Muthuswami Dikshitar. “Any renowned scholar and artist like him would have had to negotiate through multiple contexts. How he negotiated with this illustrious lineage symbolises the conflicts we have to deal with as artists in the 21st century; we are constantly trying to reconcile what we have learnt vs what we do to evolve this art form. He was also trying to make sense of things and he did it in his own way,” observes G Ravi Kiran, student of TM Krishna who anchored this session with him. 

Some of the participants were so fired up after this session that they pored over SSP to sing new kirtanasafter the session ended, says Anand Murthy, a veenaand vocal music student from Gurgaon. It gave him a huge conviction in what he was learning. “Another striking thing about a few Carnatic music performers is that they can be pretty secretive; they do not readily divulge their approach to explore a raga or to develop an idea from a kirtana or explore tanam.  And, TMK literally gave it to us on a silver platter. I found the generosity of spirit quite disarming. I would make notes at the end of each class. There were ready references on how to approach a particular raga. These are clearly core processes that I should follow in my ability to weave a swarakalpana.”

T Brinda’s rendition of a Sringara laden padam contrasted with MS Subbulakshmi’s voice dripping with bhakti, the session on gender contextualised the female musicians’ aesthetic negotiations in their respective socio-cultural backgrounds. Listening to these women of yesteryears and hearing their stories were inspiring, says Vidhya Raghavan, another student of Krishna. “They look so unattainable when you hear their music. But, when we humanise them and look at them as real people, you realise the struggles they faced. They were feminists in their own right.” 

Patriarchal mindsets ruled these concert spaces, Vidhya and Bhargavi Venkatram, who anchored the session on gender with Krishna, echoed.  The female artist must take care to follow dress codes, body language and a socially acceptable personal life to be welcomed into the fold, apart from being a good singer. These disclosures led to a vibrant discussion in the masterclass that overshot its time way past the expected limits. 

Participants were a vibrant lot consisting of a global diaspora from different fields bonded by their love for the form. The chat box always buzzed with messages. Krishna had to juggle his thoughts and the cascade of questions that would throw open a new stream of conversation altogether. The lively audience interaction led to some fascinating finds; like the music of a Carnatic musician who is a trans-person. “The 12-days opened up the immense problems of hierarchy and patriarchy that exist in this field. I personally will not be able to listen to the music of the artist, whose politics I actively disagree with the art cannot be separated from the artist. As connoisseurs, it is our responsibility to look at both sides,” says Anusha Dhasarathy, a consulting professional based in Chicago.  

 Separating the art from the artist has been a tightrope walk for many. Talking about his favourite musicians endorsing religious fascism, Rahul Gandhi, a physician in New Zealand, says: "I feel conflicted on those occasions because these are artists I have admired for their astonishing musical prowess; they are often epitomes of excellence in performance."

 Power hierarchy existed clearly in the way the concert format is structured, says Anand reflecting on the main artist session. “If we stop seeing the ghatam player as an upapakkavadyamand instead as an equal contributor, what different possibilities open up? These questions come from a deep interest. That’s how the art form lives, by examining the possibilities of sound. Otherwise, it is dead.” There were no conclusions being reached. "Through these masterclasses, the point was not to provide black and white answers for anyone, but to burn down what we knew, and build a framework around which to address these issues for ourselves more robustly," says Rahul. 

The idea for a masterclass in Carnatic music arose from the students themselves. Krishna and his students worked quite intensively, by having at least three rounds of one-on-one video calls and general sittings, before each session. And, from the very inception of the idea, the musician was clear that he will address both the aesthetic and the socio-political side of Carnatic music. That is the only way forward for conversations on his art practice, he says. “My politics comes from my art. The two cannot be disassociated for me. We need to have more conversations that do not have these boundaries. In India unfortunately, aesthetics is either treated in an esoteric fashion or just put down to taste and preference. We largely see art as a producer of emotional experiences and the socio-political as its scaffolding. We need to understand them as intertwined beings and engage with both realities with equal intensity.”

 Parshathy J Nath

The author is a writer, theatre practitioner and a Carnatic music trainee

Sukrtam Foundation, brainchild of musician S. Sowmya, hosted the second version of the music carnival in August this year, titled musiCarnival’20. Sowmya was ably supported by a bunch of talented musicians consisting of K. Bharat Sundar, L. Ramakrishnan, Vidya Kalyanaraman, Ashwath Narayanan and Gayatri Kamakoti. A creative personality on and off stage, Sowmya’s innovative and fun ideas were executed skillfully by her and the team.

The power of social media was unleashed to the fullest. The lockdown was definitely a blessing in disguise for Sukrtam. The threeday carnival reached more than 1.6 lakh people from across the world— definitely more than what a physical carnival in Chennai would have seen! Plus, a wider audience base, which otherwise would have been restricted to only rasikas from namma Chennai!

The carnival was inaugurated on 7 August 2020 by N. Murali, President of The Music Academy, Madras, and art patron and organiser Cleveland V.V. Sundaram.

Some of the events which stood out and garnered excellent participation and interaction were the quiz on Carnatic music and its history by historian Sriram V; and DumbCharades, based on Carnatic compositions, ragas and composers, hosted by musician Saketharaman along with his daughter Bhageshri.

The popular card game Meld, was given a Carnatic twist and the goal of this multiplayer game was to combine a composition, raga and tala and score points by melding them as sets. Kudos to the young engineers Abhishek, Arjun, and Sai Prasanth for developing this game from scratch for this carnival. Rasikas can still play this game which has themes around Kollywood and Western music too, on the Sukrtam website.

What emerged as a hot favourite among the virtual audience was the musicians’ Antakshari, hosted by the celebrated Carnatic duo Ranjani-Gayatri. Following the basic rules of antakshari, each round was built with a lot of variety, where the participants had to ideate and come up with kritis based on ragas, anupallavi, swarasthanam, and compositions in Todi and Kalyani. The participants included top ranking musicians Gayathri Girish, Gayathri Venkataraghavan, Nisha Rajagopalan, Amritha Murali, Vignesh Ishwar, Sriranjani Santhanagopalan, Rithvik Raja, and Bharathi Ramasubban. The event was ably and calmly moderated by singer K. Gayatri and supervised by S. Sowmya. The event, apart from scoring 100 percent on the entertainment quotient, showcased the exhaustive repertoire of the participants and almost all of them reeled out kritis in less than 30 seconds!

The talented vocalist Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath hosted an interesting session of Pictionary. Beautiful images on Carnatic music were sketched live to the participants, inspiring them to guess the answers within seconds. Vocalist Ashwath Narayanan hosted Scattergories, a multiplayer game. Violinist Vittal Rangan presented the unique concept of Make Your Own Music, with a totally different dimension to the concept ofcreating music virtually.

Apart from the games, some unique shows were also hosted on Sukrtam’s YouTube channel. A leather puppet show was put together by kids just five years of age! The puppets were animals about which lyrics were written in the tune of the sarali varisais by vocalist K. Gayatri and the beautiful leather puppets where handmade by the talented vidushi S. Sowmya. The background music and videography were done by the young music couple Shreya Devnath and  Praveen Sparsh.

Varisaiyai Paduvom, was a musical presentation by kids, based on the various varisais in Carnatic music, sung in different ragas. To make it informative and interesting for children, the songs were written on various themes like numbers, shapes, colour, gratitude towards fellow human beings, and even on the recipe of Idli! Sayee Raksith and Ravishankar had composed the music.

The skit Jeevan, was enacted by several musicians from their own homes! Written and directed by S. Sowmya, it was an adaptation of a real story from the 20th century. The video editing was done by K. Bharat Sundar and the cast included Vidya Kalayanaraman, K. Gayatri, Delhi Sairam, Chandrasekhara Sharma, Brinda Manickavasagam, Ranjani Sidhareddy, Sankrith Sowmya, and Bhavya Hari.

The curtains to musiCarnival’20 were drawn on 9 August 2020 with a valedictory function, presided by eminent musicians Sudha Ragunathan and Nithyasree Mahadevan, who were part of the events in the last year’s edition as well.

The success of musiCarnival’20 can undoubtedly be attributed to the ingenious efforts of Sowmya and her team. We have often seen these musicians on stage, quietly delivering what we ‘thought’ they knew best. But here they were in a completely different avatar, executing the entire carnival online with finesse. Lockdown or not, Sukrtam perhaps should continue to conduct this carnival every year online; it was definitely more satisfying than a physical event in terms of participation!

The website www.sukrtamcarnival.comstill hosts several videos,quizzes, and games for interestedrasikas to participate.

SUKANYA SANKAR

Appreciation of Tamil texts, a novice friendly ten-hour web series by the erudite professor S. Raghuraman, helped to demystify and reintroduce the beauty and relevance of iconic ancient Tamil texts. A thorough overview of 2500 years of Tamil legacy was split into the ages such as Sangam, Epic, Ethics, Medieval or Bhakti and Contemporary age until Subramania Bharati.

A welcome burst of positivity during lockdown led us down the proverbial rabbit hole, organised by Upasana Arts and supported by Arts Council UK. Appreciation of Tamil texts is a part of Upasana’s larger project Ojas, which takes pride in making cultural heritage more accessible along with a focus on reconnecting with your roots through holistic education and an enhanced understanding of Bharatanatyam practice and performance.

With the hope of spreading positivity to as many as possible, we reached out to the bustling dance fraternity including the networks of ABHAI and Prayathnam and within two days received more than 250 registrations from cities in India, such as Madurai, Coimbatore, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and Rajkot, and from countries across the globe from the US, UK, Europe, Singapore and Australia. As one can imagine, we had to overcome many initial technical hiccups from malfunctioning laptops to disconnected time zones, until we finally decided that all the recorded sessions would be rigorously edited and uploaded in Upasana Arts’ YouTube channel, to be disseminated to eager rasikas. To accommodate visual learners and support the nuanced teaching style, detailed notes were collated and circulated with questions being regularly clarified. Jayanthi Sivakumar, a participant from the UK observes, “It’s been a pleasure to hear the scholar S. Raghuraman share his expertise on ancient Tamil literature and its relation to dance. His explanation was clear, simple and easy to understand. All thanks to him for bridging the gap and reinstating the pride in our heritage.”

Feedback clearly suggested that given the complexity of the content, it was beneficial that recordings be available to replay multiple times, cross refer and loop back to different sessions. Participants who were keen to have live virtual face time with sir were invited across two different days to accommodate international time zones.

The professor’s innate style managed to simplify and deconstruct the most complicated content with beautifully illustrative examples and relatable citations across various artistic disciplines like music, dance, drama, cinema, and literature along with detailed historical, cultural, social, philosophical and psychological contexts. He patiently covered concepts with his wit as he often repeated himself with the knowing smile of an experienced teacher. Referring to his classes, vidushi S. Sowmya recounts, “Asking Sir a doubt was like asking a veteran to teach Sa Pa Sa!” His own personal academic rigour and eclectic interests helped frame our learning within a wider context, establishing and reiterating that Tamil was not only an ancient and comprehensive language system with technical rigour and maturity in all linguistic aspects like grammar, phonetics, prosody and poetics, but also that Tamil texts were a true fount of knowledge in subjects like literature, politics, geography, commerce, arts, science, sociology and psychology. An understanding of the Sangam texts such as Tolkappiam,Meipattiyal and Silappadikaram, reflects not only Tamil’s antiquity, butalso their relevance to this day.

It is impressive that a text like Tolkappiam from 7th century BC is so scientific, methodical and timeless that its syntax and grammar rules are followed to this day in linguistics. Tolkappiam is not only systematic and comprehensive but also unique in its insightful understanding. It expounds that every Sangam poem is based on the speaker, the listener, and the context, each leading to a nuanced narration and consequent reaction.

It is interesting that for a book on grammar, it even includes a seminal chapter on human emotions and rasa theory, Meipattiyal. Sringaram alone is detailed as an independent chapter with four types and is further segmented as ‘kalaviyal’—love before marriage, and ‘karpial’—love after marriage, with each having a possibility of twelve stages.

The depth of Sangam texts reflects how arts, ideology and society, were far beyond the reaches of present understanding. For instance, the Koothanool by Sattanar (Tolkappiar’s contemporary) uniquely defines emotions based on the gunas—rajas, tamas and satvik. The Panchamarabu from the 5th century CE speaks of: aan kai: male hand (gestures); penn kai: female hand; pothu kai: neutral hand; and alli kai: eunuch hand.

Literatures like Silappadikaram are classic ethnographic records ofTamil Nadu, a window into the widersocio-political-economic context ofthe first century, along with its floraand fauna. Silappadikaram’s thirdchapter of Pugar canto, Arangetru Kathai, and Achiar Kuravai fromMadurai canto, are seminal texts inthe traditional Dravidian dance andmusic system respectively, and to thisday inspire engagement, research andstudy.

An interesting session on music in Silappadikaram brought together the husband-wife expert duo of Vanathi and S. Raghuraman in exploring vidwan S. Ramanathan’s research. Additionally, the dancers— Anjana Anand shared her firsthand experience of translating the Silappadikaram, and Sreelatha Vinod shared her experience of working with Sir as mentor to perform Silappadikaram for Natyarangam’s Kavya Bharatham festival in 2003 at Narada Gana Sabha in Chennai.

Curious about legacy and heritage, even as early as 5th century CE, the bhakti movement established autonomous research institutions called ‘ghatika’ in Kanchipuram with the primary purpose of collating past literature and publishing a commentary to make it accessible. Their rigorous, deep-rooted and advanced research methodology led to the discovery, collection and codification of Sangam texts and a commentary was written for Tolkappiam and Silappadikaram after 1000 years. This is an artistic legacy to be acknowledged and be proud of.

This project undertaken by Upasana Arts brought together a discerning group and a benevolent teacher to revel in the pure joy of learning.

DEEPA GANESH

(Bharatanatyam dancer, teacher and Artistic

We present a feature on veteran artist P.C. Ramakrishna who turns 75 this November and has spent over six fruitful decades in theatre as actor, director and also in the ‘voice’ industry. Our focus is also on young achievers: the Akkarai Sisters—Subhalakshmi (born in November) and Sornalatha, as well as Abhishek Raghuram—who have already become stars on the strength of their musical virtuosity an  remarkable talent. Though they were child prodigies, their ‘passion and perseverance’ have been the key to success for every one of them.

Several artists have found time during the lockdown to spend more time with their family and revive artistic memories, to explore and introspect on their music and create afresh. In this issue, Bombay Jayashri shares with us how the pandemic has enabled her to relook and relish the music.

It is over 60 years since the singing ‘super-star’ actor M.K. Tyagaraja Bhagavatar passed away in November 1959. We offer our readers an interesting peep into the past in the form of insightful observations on MKT’s music in films – the ragas, tunes, voice and sruti—by none other than musicologist N. Ramanathan.

We do have our regular roundup of online activities cutting across genres in the News and Notes section. S. Rajam’s depiction of the saptaswara devata ‘Madhyama’ brings us to the middle of the series. Two articles come to their conclusion in this issue. One of them is Rasa in ancient texts which is a comparative analysis of rasa as mentioned in Natya Sastra,Tolkappiam and Koothanool. The other is A triad of Sivatemples along the Akhanda Cauvery, wherein we journey to Tiruingoimalai also known as Maragatachalam. Watch out for more such features in the coming months.

In the past few months we have seen several artists being snatched away from our midst by the cruel hands of Death (some have succumbed to Covid). We have also paid tribute to some of them in recent issues. But such news keeps trickling in. The enterprising M. Balasubramoniam, Director of the South Zone Cultural Centre (SZCC) Tanjavur, who was also a mridangist, passed away on 6 September in Tanjavur. More recently, it was shocking to hear about the demise of three stalwarts in quick succession—Sobha Naidu, renowned Kuchipudi dancer and choreographer in Hyderabad; the doyen of Bhagavata Mela S. Natarajan in Melattur, Tanjavur; and the much sought after famous guru and Carnatic musician, octogenarian P.S. Narayanaswamy in Chennai. Sruti has\ written extensively about them and their art in earlier issues. We extend our heartfelt condolences to their family members and to their disciples. Their passing away is a great loss to the field of performing arts.

S. JANAKI

Hamsadhwani , Chennai has always supported social causes in its three decades journey as a responsible cultural institution.Our founder R.Ramachandran has in the past helped raise resources for earthquake, floods and Tsunami affected people  and in keeping with his ideals we respond to this difficult situation for artistes with assistance. We are aware of the economic hardship that artistes/technicians  are facing due to the disruption in cultural programmes .

We dedicated our 30 th Anniversary celebrations to all those who are in the forefront fighting the Pandemic and helping save lives .On this occasion, we conveyed our gratitude to the artistes fraternity and felt it would be appropriate to make a contribution towards artistes benefit fund .

Hamsadhwani communicated to GCMA and the Tamil Stage Drama Producers Association to   identify the artistes/technicians  who need help and support with financial assistance.

Both Smt Sudha Ragunathan and Shri Y.Gee.Mahendra lauded this touching gesture from Hamsadhwani Team and hoped this would inspire others. R.Sundar, Secretary hoped that other cultural organizations would come forward to help the indigent artistes in these Pandemic times. He expressed his wish that cultural events should resume only when things become safe and conducive for gatherings.

Sruti deeply mourns the passing away of veteran violin vidwan T.N.Krishnan. T.N. Krishnan, a child prodigy, learnt his art from his father Tripunitura Narayana Iyer, a martinet of a teacher. Born on October 6, 1928 into an illustrious family of musicians acclaimed in the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions of Indian classical music,Krishnan’s talent was burnished by long association with the great vocal masters of the era. He was known for his ability to present the most complex nuances of Carnatic music with disarming simplicity, and his strong bowing technique that produced ringing clarity and purity of sound.

A three-in-one versatile duo

Sukanya Sankar

The early nineties saw an advent of inventions and trends such as the internet, cable television, online chat rooms, restaurant chains and the like. Amongst these sprawling developments, were two sisters, who hailed from Akkarai, a village in Suchindram to whom these didn’t matter! S. Subhalakshmi and S. Sornalatha – Akkarai Sisters as they are known, were solely focused on their practice. Their minds were occupied with only music and playing the violin. The seeds for such thoughts were sowed in their minds by their father and guru, Akkarai S.  Swamynathan -- who worked with the Indian Bank as manager, and is also a violinist and a relentless teacher. A musical family in the truest sense, their grandfather Suchindram S.P. Siva Subramaniam was a versatile musician, adept at singing and playing the violin, harmonium and mridangam. He was no mean composer either and his compositions are well-structured with several  ornamentations like swara-akshara, yatis and gatis. Grandmother R. Sornambal was also a musician, music teacher and a Harikatha exponent.

The sisters were based in Delhi during their formative years and Swamynathan made sure his daughters practiced a minimum of six hours a day! Apart from spending six hours at school, the rest of the day was reserved only for learning and practice. The Akkarai Sisters listened to concert recordings and radio broadcasts of yesteryear stalwarts – both Carnatic and Hindustani. They played along with the recordings as accompanists -- a unique training technique devised by their father. Thus, playing by the ear became second nature to the girls. Swamynathan was a strict disciplinarian and these sessions were non-negotiable! The family resided in the Indian Bank quarters in Delhi and the beautiful campus was always filled with sounds of children playing outside. If the sisters hinted on playtime, Swamynathan’s reply would be “Play with your violin….  that’s your playground”! The sisters however have no regrets. They feel that if they had lost out on those golden years of continuous practice and learning, they could not have been successful musicians today. While in Delhi, the sisters also learnt from V. Janakiraman, O.V. Subramaniam and later from his daughter Padma Natesan.

Subhalakshmi (born 7 November 1983), started learning vocal music when she was barely four. She even accompanied her grandmother at a Harikatha performance at that age and presented a solo violin concert when she was just eight! Subhalakshmi has also played several violin duet concerts with her father. Sornalatha (born 26 January 1987), followed in her sister’s footsteps in learning vocal first and they performed as a vocal duo when Subhalakshmi was ten. The sisters have also performed several violin trio concerts along with their father, Swamynathan.  

In a freewheeling conversation the young achievers share their thoughts on music and their journey so far.

Akkarai Sisters in conversation with Sukanya Sankar

Why did you choose to accompany and not remain as a duo for vocal and violin?

There is a joy and a very healthy challenge in accompaniment, posed to us on stage. Appa has told us that to be able to play whatever is thrown at you, is the beauty of a true accompanist. By facing all these impromptu challenges you gain a lot of experience. In duets, we have the choice to decide what we want to perform. It has its own beauty and challenges too. But the most fascinating aspect of being an accompanist is the spontaneity, which we love. In Carnatic music, one has to be spontaneous, not rehearsed.

In a highly competitive industry, how do you balance between accompanying and performing duets? Also with the rotation system in some sabhas is it easy to get featured as an accompanist, and as vocal and violin duos?

We have been in Chennai for over 21 years – and that many years of concert experience has given us a larger perspective about the field. We have never faced any problems with regard to concert opportunities  Of course, there is a huge difference in the ratio between vocal and  instrumental concerts (very few). This trend needs to be changed. 

As accompanists we are extremely blessed and grateful to have got the opportunity to perform with several eminent artists. As main performers, we miss performing with some of these artists who have a principle of not performing with women artists as main performers. 

How do you approach your vocal and instrumental concerts?

We believe that we have to balance the virtuosity of the instrument as well as the gayaki ang in our violin playing. Though Carnatic music largely revolves around compositions, it gives a lot of scope for creativity as well. Certainly, music can be made without compositions too, but we have a responsibility of being in a system that is predominately composition-oriented. If we present both vocal and instrumental in the same way, then the performance will lack colour and life as both have their unique characteristics. In our violin concerts we explore how to creatively use kalapramanam, the various bowing and fingering techniques.

We also feel that audiences in Chennai prefer vocal over instrumental. Some have the notion that they will not be able to relate to instrumental concerts mainly because they cannot identify the lyrics or the composition.  We want to break that notion and we are consciously working on that. In our violin concerts, we also sing a few kritis that the audience may not be familiar with -- one of us sings, while the other plays. We are happy this has been received well.

As instrumentalists,  we feel that our responsibility doubles as it is not just listening to the notes alone, it is also listening to the composition; we have to reveal the beauty of the lyrics and the raga too.

What aspects do you value in each other when you perform together?

Sornalatha:It is definitely a healthy competition. We gain a lot from each other. We perform together but as two separate individuals. When we present compositions, we make it a point to stick to the original sangatis as taught to us. But sometimes one of us has the urge to sing one extra sangati. Since we share a similar wavelength, we immediately sense that and the other person takes a back seat and allows the sangati to flow.

Subhalakshmi: Sorna is extremely good at laya and has an inclination towards exploring its different aspects. However complex the pattern may be she will think on-the-spot in a kutcheri and execute it with brilliance. So when we present laya oriented pieces, I give her the upper hand. We complement each other.

We have always believed that music has to be spontaneous, so we respect each other’s manodharma. If it is rehearsed then there is no charm in that performance. Music has to be from within, and while on stage we explore the most. At home, during our practice, we create and come up with several ideas. But on stage it is a different experience. The identity of a good musician is spontaneity and creativity; we feel it is okay to make mistakes as it is a part of the learning process and can  make us perform the next part better. Of course, after the performance we do feel  that we should not have made those mistakes, but that is unavoidable. We have to take that risk to evolve as a natural musician.

What about sibling rivalry both on and off the stage?

Subhalakshmi: We are very close to each other. Arguments do arise, especially during practice sessions. On stage, usually, I am the villain. I get angry quickly and very often give the “stare”! Off stage, we do have arguments but we patch up quickly. Sorna is more forgiving. Off stage, both of us stingingly criticise one another, of course for our betterment, as both of us have a lot of expectations from each other. Both of us are quite intense but the difference is that, she thinks before she reacts whereas I react instantaneously!

Have you ever felt dominated by the other?

Sornaltha: Never thought of it like that. We respect each other, for what we do on stage, off stage. We are quite open with each other and we discuss everything -what to avoid, what can be done been better. We also appreciate each other’s effort after a performance. In the concert, it may look as if akka is dominant but given her vast experience, she thinks of what is best for both of us and implements that.  Both of us together take the responsibility towards the success of the concert!

Subhalakshmi:Sorna is never dominant on stage. I get involved quickly and I am quite intense on stage so perhaps sometimes I feel I’m too dominant. I perhaps look that way, but that is not my intention. My intentions are always positive and only think of what is best for both of us.

Has violin influenced your vocal music and vice versa?

Yes it has. Knowing to play a fretless instrument helps in more precise understanding of notes, minute details, gamakas and positions. This helps us when we sing as we can visualise the movement of the notes.  Similarly, the learning from singing also adds value to our violin renditions. Whatever sounds good on the violin may not be good for vocal music and vice versa. When we play the violin, there are times when we want to showcase the expertise of the instrument through our music, like varying the kalapramanams, podi sangatis and such. But if you use the same variations and techniques in singing, it may sound inappropriate and sometimes out of sync when it’s not executed well. There are times when it automatically flows during the concerts. So we consciously approach both differently and try to make sure we don’t go overboard. Our years of musical experience have given us the maturity and proficiency to draw that line and execute both with ease.

Has music taught you life lessons?

Through music we learnt so many things in life. Initially, when we started travelling for concerts, especially outside the country, we did not know many things -- we would be very quiet, all we knew was to go on stage and perform.

Subhalakshmi:I used to be very shy and quiet but at same time very observant. Colleagues have said I am a perfect traveler and that is because I observed minute details from a very young age. I only learnt through experience. Music has given  me this experience and courage to face the world. I have witnessed several situations where accompanists were not given due respect and were blamed if a concert didn’t go well.  Back then I did not know how to voice my feelings. But now I know that these things have to be addressed; I have to be true to myself and my art. My introversion broke when I saw these incidents happen around me and I started speaking up.

How did the fraternity accept this?

Subhalakshmi: I always believed in being honest and true to my conscience. I never feared to voice out my opinions and the people whom I have spoken to, be it the organisers or the artists, have understood my point of view. I also strongly believe that there’s no point in talking to people who don’t believe in it at all.

Besides, I also feel many artists who can voice out on behalf of the fraternity are not speaking up. Of course, there are a very few exceptions!

Unfortunately, the field is ‘main artist centric’! Even if the accompanying artists/ co-artists want to speak out, they are afraid to do so as they might lose out on concert opportunities. Of course there are exceptions to this. Only if we speak for music, the standard will improve for the better.

Do you both consciously listen to a lot of violin concerts? Who are your inspirations?

Yes, we do listen quite a bit. Having listened to stalwarts every day since we were children, they seem so familiar, we have always imagined them live. Our practice sessions were also tuned this way.

Our top favourite is Lalgudi Mama – his reflexes on stage and how he adapted to the singer while accompanying -- is the true identity of an accompanying artist.  MSG sir is also our favourite – we admire his technique, precision, and the way he handled vivadi ragas with absolute ease. Also, the pure tone and clarity of T.N.  Krishnan mama is soul stirring. We have also been greatly influenced by the music of  nagaswaram maestro T.N. Rajarathnam Pillai.

Our grandparents have always inspired us. Grandfather’s ideas were unique, specially his flow of thought in Tamil. He was mostly self-taught and was a genius. We make it a point to include at least one kriti of his in our kutcheris. When we worked on his compositions, it was a real eye opener for us. He has incorporated several good messages in his compositions; he has even demonstrated how to compose a kriti in one of them! Thatha used to compose for all of Paati’s Harikatha programmes. Thatha passed away in 2003 and we celebrated his centenary in 2017,  when with the help of my grandmother, we released a book of his 25 select compositions along with transliteration, translation and meanings.

Do you both also compose?

Sornalatha composes. She has composed a few kritis in Tamil and Telugu and a pada varnam in Tamil. Most of our pallavis are also composed by her. We all feel she has inherited Thatha’s genes!

You’ve accompanied many artists – with contrasting styles. How do you approach that?

Appa has always ingrained in us that the biggest challenge for an accompanist is to play exactly how the vocalist sings and the one who does that well is a true accompanist! When we are on stage, we have to reproduce what has been sung or played. As we get very involved in that process we manage to capture that feeling through our instrument!

Of course, this is not possible without rigorous practice. That’s where I think Appa’s unique practice method really helped. Since we were familiar with playing along with so many styles, it was a natural process for us to adapt to any style.

How do you keep yourself physically and mentally fit?

Actually that’s one thing that we have recently been thinking about. When we are taught to sing or play an instrument we are never taught to take care of our body --the vocal chords or our posture. Like in sports – both technique and physical fitness go hand-in-hand. I really wish we all had learnt yoga or some such form of exercise at a young age. Now we do yoga so we understand what is required to maintain physical fitness.

Concentration is another key aspect -- sometimes lack of concentration can lead to mistakes on stage. It is very important that we learn to move on during live performances and not mull over it. Overconfidence is another important aspect. When we get on stage there is always bhaya-bhakti; it is important to maintain that balance. With overconfidence you can lose that balance; our father has always helped us keep this under check. We have never heard him overly praise us for any concert! (laughs)

Where do you source your violins from? Are they very expensive?

Violins are very expensive, specially the vintage ones.  Some of our violins are very old, those which we have inherited from Thatha and we do have a few violins  gifted to us by our well wishers. In the last few years we have bought some violins from an artist who deals with vintage violins. Vintage violin is indeed a masterpiece -- be it the grains of the old maple wood, the resonating tone, and the workmanship… It is absolutely stunning! 

How do you service your violins?

There aren’t many skilled luthiers in India, who can service violins well. It would be nice as artists if we could learn certain technical intricacies. Our grandfather was extremely skillful and could repair any string instrument with ease. We regret not having learnt this art from him. Nevertheless, we would certainly like to posses this skill sometime in our lives. 

How has the pandemic affected you? Did you do anything special during this lockdown?

We did miss performing live, but we used this opportunity to dedicate a lot of time to practice. It has been a calm period, with no time constraints and deadlines, it felt like our childhood days of practice. We also love gardening and that’s a passion we seriously pursued during this lockdown.

We also worked on a special project suggested by Ganesh, a disciple of our grandfather. He had requested us to tune the Vaidyanatha Ashtakam. We were very happy to undertake the project. Sangamam was a nother project we worked on as a tribute to our grandfather and Lalgudi mama marking their 103rd and 90th birth anniversaries respectively. We did a medley of two compositions; one of each. In this project, Sornalatha even performed konakkol!  We started learning konakkol from mridangam vidwan K.U. Jayachandra Rao.

In both these projects, we did everything by ourselves -- from singing, playing, to recording, mixing the audio and video. It was a fulfilling experience both musically and technically. 

Another interesting project was Pookkaalam, a Malayalam poem, by Kumaran Asan. This was our first ever Malayalam single and we released it on the occasion of Onam.

These are among the many projects that we did during the lockdown period.

We would like to dedicate all our achievements to our parents, mother Janaghi who has been our pillar of strength and support, and father Swamynathan who still remains our best and worst critic. 

A few organisations have dared to organise live programmes for a restricted audience while following the directives laid down by the Tamil Nadu government. The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has bravely launched its 22-day cultural festival with a hi-profile inauguration on 28 November 2020. The open-air programmes, with pick-up and drop, as well as drive-in facility too, are being presented to a limited audience at the Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram campus in Kilpauk. The Kalakshetra Foundation too is allowing a limited sale of 80 tickets per day to watch the live programmes of its 67th annual Art Festival from 21-31 December 2020, which will be streamed online for a price every evening from the Bharata Kalakshetra auditorium.

Most organisations have chosen to record the concerts and upload it online during the season. The Music Academy is hosting a week-long online music fest from 24 to 31 December, but no lecdems and no dance festival this time. Concerts by seniors will be ticketed for non-members and the concert-streaming will be peppered with interesting anecdotes about the prestigious institution. And much before the start of its season, the Academy would have its new office-bearers in place – this being the election year.

The Federation of City Sabhas has drawn up interesting programmes including music, dance and lecdems in a month-long online season hosted on Kalakendra.com from mid-December 2020 to mid-January 2021. Many of its presentations too will be ticketed, as all the organisations wish to pay the artists facing a tough time during the pandemic. So get ready with your gadgets to gauge the online season.

This month Sruti’s cover story is about the Lalgudi siblings G.J.R. Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi, torchbearers of the famous Lalgudi bani. They combine style and substance, an intelligent blend of technique and emotion, melody with laya prowess and vidwat. Soaked in the bani, they have embellished it with their creativity and carved a place for themselves. Read the first part of their candid interview.

In this issue we launch a new series called ‘Artreach’ in which we propose, from time to time, to feature artists who are successfully applying the arts to bring about social change. The first artist showcased in this series is dancer and social activist Sangeeta Isvaran. We also have insightful reports and reviews on a range of online activities. You will certainly enjoy reading about the majestic sweep of folk music written by bilingual writer Suganthy Krishnamachari, and the life of veteran vainika S. Rugmini Gopalakrishnan by C. Ramakrishnan.

Now to an aspect of our cultural policy. While it is heartening that the government at the centre is introducing music, dance and drama as part of education in schools, it does not seem to have proper schemes for the welfare of senior artists—no schemes for pension, proper accommodation or health insurance to help them lead a life of dignity in their twilight years. It is sad that several veteran artists in the Capital, decorated with the Padma awards, have been asked to vacate the houses allotted to them years ago, where they have been smugly living for decades. Social security schemes for art practitioners in India is the need of the hour.

S. JANAKI

Enhancing listening experience of virtual concerts

By S. Ram

The past months have seen a surfeit of virtual Carnatic concerts in the pandemic environment. Despite the initial fears and doubts in singing without being able to connect with the audience, such concerts have been gaining acceptance.

Having watched many such concerts, I felt that vocalists could do a little more to enhance the listening experience of rasikas sitting in the comfort of their homes, to make it more engaging. 

I am a great believer in consumer connect through my professional experience and in audience/ rasikas connect in the performing arts -- especially music and theatre. Thus, came the thought of thinking creatively  to reinforce the connect with rasikas!

The virtual concert is a brand-new format to experience but it will never replace a live stage experience. How to successfully blend the two types of experiences is the question. Can a crisis be converted into an opportunity for musicians to experiment in the way music is presented virtually?

Performing artists, apart from their musical skills, are articulate and have the ability to connect with the audience with clarity and warmth which can be leveraged for mutual benefit.

As the curtain goes up, the vocalist begins with a varnam or a kriti. It would be better if the artist takes a few minutes to share what’s in store and then introduces the pakkavadyam artists. Instead of simply singing one kriti after another, could the vocalist talk to the audience through the concert to keep them engaged? Real value is not only about music per se; it is also about the connection that artists establish  with their rasikas.

Virtual concerts are being presented today in a traditional manner. Is it possible for  the performing artist to provide rasikas with a different listening experience by engaging with the audience in the following ways?

# Engage in storytelling mode before the rendition to convey details about the raga, composer, respective deity and the temple, and the essence of the composition.

# Talk about the influence of their  guru in their musical  journey.

# The sahitya in a composition can sometimes make it a transcendental experience for the artist. Can the vocalist transfer that feel to the rasikas to enhance their listening experience?

#Tyagaraja wrote his songs in emotive Telugu and his songs reflect his state of mind whether it is grief, yearning or joy. His vast repertoire has diverse lyrical content and context from simple songs to complex Pancharatna kritis. Can the essence be shared with the rasikas thereby enriching the listening experience?

# Audience interaction at the end can include a short discussion – thereby sharing a slice of the artists’ explorations of the art form.

# There are several nuggets that can be shown in digital performances which the audience cannot experience in a live concert. The camera can from time to time focus on the expressions and exchange of glances between artists, the hand and finger movements of the accompanists. It can also display the expressions and playing techniques during jugalbandis and the tani avartanam  in a split screen. Listening to instrumental music gives the freedom to imagine the lyrics on a blank slate.

# Ask a Question:  Rasikas can be informed about this beforehand, and some  time can be devoted at the end for the artists to answer relevant questions, for example,  on raga, composer and composition, manodharma, and the greatness of music legends. 

Time can be allotted for the above components, for example : introduction -  5 minutes , storytelling mode through the concert  - 10 minutes, the concert  - 100 minutes, and  Ask a Question at the end lasting 5 minutes, thus making it totally a two-hour concert.

In Carnatic music, a composition has manifold roles: It acts as a vehicle along the path of devotion since the theme of most compositions is devotional. It not only reflects the sentiments of the composer, but when rendered with involvement, reflects the emotions of the performer too. Hence, is there a way to take experiential involvement to the next level in a virtual environment?   I am in no way suggesting that it should be done in a lecdem mode. It may not seem traditional but in the current context of singing with no audience, the vocalist is unable to gauge the mood of the audience through the concert.

The pandemic will have a long-lasting impact, but the good news is that we’re just at the beginning of an exciting new era of interactivity. Technology can be a driving force behind connecting artists with rasikas.  

Will the rasikas accept this approach ? It could create a differentiating and  feel good factor for the rasikas which may result in positive disposition, especially for  paid concerts.

And then they were back, though in a truncated form. The concerts started all over the place. Narada Gana Sabha held its annual Sadguru Gnanananda Sangeet Sammelan, which is usually scheduled in September. This time it was for four days with concerts held in camera sans audience. The duration of each concert was one hour.

A rich and ringing voice ensured instant appeal to Manimaran’s concert, from the opening syllables of the viruttam in Nata. Swaminatha paripalaya was crowned with an assertive swaraprastara, far from the run of the mill kind. The rest of the concert was a welcome pack of Tamil compositions. A spirited alapana of Suddha Saveri entirely in akaaram was followed by the Papanasam Sivan kriti Arumuga adimaiyai kai viduthal aramalla. The pallavi which sounds like a statement in prose, metamorphed into evocative lyrics through the power of the music. Sound pathantaram, adherence to the sangati build up and a clear enunciation of the lyrics breathed life into the song. Sivan followed again with the Poorvikalyani kriti Ksheera sagara. The raga Nadanamakriya spells poignance and when it comes at the tailend of the concert enveloping bhakti soaked lyrics, it can be a moving experience. It did here when Manimaran concluded with the Tevaram Pattharai panivaarkal ellaarkkum adiyen. The judicious use of canned applause at the right moments created the aura of a packed auditorium and enhanced the concert experience.

A plethora of organisations have sprung up at home and abroad to provide a platform to a host of young musicians, performing from their homes. Sa Ni Da Pa Live operates from the US and some of the talents they have showcased are indicative of the vast unexplored hinterland of unseen and unheard artists, who deserve to be heard and encouraged. Sharada Karthik, who has been into music for three decades, had the advantage of having Sriram Brahmanandam accompany her on the mridangam (from a different venue), during lockdown and isolation. Opening on a bright note with Marakoti sundari in Bahudari, a composition of GNB, she took up Chintayamam in Bhairavi as the main piece. Competent alapana and swaraprastara and rendering of  the kriti testified to her maturity and involvement in the art. A lovely tillana in Durga composed by Lalgudi Jayaraman concluded the short and commendable mini concert. Rucha Muley launched on Pooria
Dhanasree and Bagesree, which testified to years of training in Hindustani music. Endowed with a voice that coursed up and down with comfort, she presented a rich fare in the short span. Nisha Kulkarni took off into Madhukauns and her powerful and melodious voice explored the emotional content of
the raga.

Watching and listening to these young set of talents, one could not but admire and appreciate their commitment to their art and their enthusiasm and involvement. It is a matter of conjecture whether they would have many performance opportunities or other avenues to pursue a career in music. But the talent, training and practice are unmistakable. The digital platform is a great opportunity for them to be noticed and brought to
the fore.

The descendants of vidwan Sathur A.G. Subramaniam paid a novel tribute to their ancestor through a Nada Nivedanam by twenty of his grand and great-grand children rendering a rare song made famous by him and his disciples. Singing from their respective homes in several countries and continents, they created a musical mosaic that was posted on Facebook and YouTube. Two young girls also presented it in dance alongside. This was conceptualised by his daughters Lalitha Santhanam and Bhuvaneswari Rajagopalan, popularly known as Sathur Sisters. Taught and monitored by them, this gem of a song, Sree Jagadamba kadamba vananta vasini Meenakshi maye, came through with the purity of a venerated pathantaram and the sense of devotion and dedication to their forebear and the Goddess of Madurai. Inheritance of an art is a treasure that can only augment with time. Not many families realise the value of this and the pursuit of music as career or a serious hobby was not an option until a few decades ago. The younger generation migrating to alien shores for career prospects often lost touch with the art or maintained a casual interest; and the second generation lost the context altogether. The new millenium has been witness to a resurgence in the arts at home and abroad and the gen next has taken to it with a sense of belonging and pride in their heritage. This family is a telling example of this phenomenon where the ancestor was more a legend whom they had never met. And they took to his art on their own impulse.

A forward from a friend brought a picture in a quadruple frame. A girl was dancing in one while a girl was doing nattuvangam in the next. The third frame showed a girl singing and the fourth was that of a girl accompanying on the violin. I did a double take and found that it was the same girl in all the four!  It was the multi-talented, versatile Parur M.S. Ananthasree of the famed Parur clan of musicians. Granddaughter of  Parur M.S. Anantharaman and daughter of Parur M.A. Sundareswaran, both violin vidwans, Ananthasree has trained in violin, vocal music, and Bharatanatyam. She has also proved her mettle in composing music for dance. Another instance of the younger generation pursuing the art of the family forward.

Then there was the deluge of 345 artists presented in 245 concerts spread over 20 days.This was the unique Viswa Veena Mahayagyam organised by Narada Gana Sabha and The Bharata Ilango Foundation for Art and Culture (BIFAC),  curated by veena vidwan Kannan Balakrishnan and hosted by Kalakendra, the crusader for the performing arts on the digital platform. A festival of this magnitude calls for separate coverage.

Music is sacred, music is spiritual, music is bhakti, music is meditation, music is a tapas.... Wait a minute, music is fun too! This generation is aware of it and enjoys and imparts the fun. The seven-minute short film by the cousins Anantha R. Krishnan and musician Abhishek Raghuram, produced by Madrasana is a quirky and unique treat in rhythm play—and play it is for the virtuoso pair. They call it ‘super heavy, ultra magic’. Both are grandsons of the mridangam maestro Palghat Raghu and are his disciples, one a left hander and the other right.They play on two mridangams  facing  each other within arm’s length and indulge in top speed variations on the first syllables ta dhi tom nam of the mridangam lesson and build on them. With cameras on either side and from the top, the rhythm goes on with the young men playing on one another’s valantalai (right side) and toppi (left side), giving hi fives, snapping of fingers and beats on the lap. On the beat and syncopated, the syllables go nonstop with the precision of a metronome. Inherited and perfected with passion and perseverance, laya runs in their veins and reigns supreme in this exhilarating manifestation.

The lockdown has also provided an excellent opportunity to well known organisations to share good programmes from their archives. Natyarangam, the dance wing of the Narada Gana Sabha, started webcast of two of its thematic festivals held in the last couple of years. The first was Devi Bharatham, where the aspects of Devi were presented under the titles Janani, Harini, Paalini, Vani and Poorani by Divya Shivasundar, Meera Sreenarayanan, Pavithra Bhat, Praveen Kumar and Narthaki Nataraj, respectively. The performances, which were posted one per weekend, gave enough time for viewers around the globe to catch it and not get surfeited. This was followed by the dances of the Chithra Bharathamfestival where the paintings of artists like Thota Tharani, Keshav, Ramesh Gorjala, Ravi Varma and S. Rajam were presented by Rama Vaidyanathan, Lakshmi Ramaswamy, K.P. Rakesh, Lavanya Ananth and Navia Natarajan respectively. These two festivals saw the blossoming of the talents with new ideas in concept and execution. Over the years, Natyarangam’s  annual thematic  festivals (featuring an insightful talk followed by the dance) have achieved a twofold purpose—the progress and maturity of the individual artists and the advancement of the art in a dynamic progression.

Sruti has been featuring very informative and interesting lecdems from its archives on its YouTube channel. One such was  ‘Ragas created by Tyagaraja’  presented by versatile musician-scholar
Sriram Parasuram, during the Lecdem Mela on Tyagaraja, organised bySruti and the Music Forum in 2017. He illustrated what a master craftsman Tyagaraja was in his creation of ragas and in being the first to explore some of the melakarta ragas like Keeravani. He classified Tyagaraja’s methodology into four—namely varjya (dropping of notes), vakra (changing the linear order of notes), anga (putting together parts of different scales) and janya (born of a parent scale). It came as a surprise when he mentioned that there were more than eighty ragas that Tyagaraja had composed. It was a greater surprise to be told that the familiar and oft repeated ragas like Hamsanadam were his creations as were Chandrajyoti and Jaganmohini. Sriram could have gone on for hours and the audience willing to journey with him all the way wandering around the glorious garden of ragas. Perhaps he should plan on a series of talks on the subject, which would be a veritable archive for the musician and the student as well as a fountain which could quench the thirst of the rasika.

The lockdown lifted, my serenade—the nightingale in my neighbourhood, seems to have flown away and how
I miss the music!

SUJATHA VIJAYARAGHAVAN

(Writer, musician and dance scholar)

December 4 marks the 98^th birth anniversary of the music legend Ghantasala Venkateshwar Rao. Today, even 46 years after his death, his music remains evergreen and is appreciated by young and old.

His tryst with music had a humble beginning, but his hard work, keen sense of music and abundant talent drove him to the pinnacle of success.  Ghantasala was ever empathetic and encouraging of musicians and talent.

In the short lifespan of 51 years Ghantasala did not let go of any opportunity to give back to society, from which he had received in abundance. For example, while on his tour of the USA in 1971, he received a number of expensive gifts from his fans. Ghantasala auctioned off all the gifts and raised money which he  donated to various charities.  He passed away in 1974. Apart  from his film songs, he has left behind for posterity, the renditions of the Bhagavad Gita and the ashtapadis, which are heard in  many households to this day.

On 12 December 2020, the Ghantasalas will be honouring the memory of their patriarch with an online tribute and will be awarding the Kala Pradarshini Ghantasala Puraskar to Dr. V. Shanta (Cancer Institute, Adyar),  singer Vani Jayaraman, veteran classical dancer Yamini Krishnamurthy and K.N. Ram Subramaniam.  This will be followed by video broadcast of the performances of various artists to the maestro’s songs. The event will premiere online at different time zones on Saturday 12 December 2020 at 8:00 PM IST, UK 2:30 PM, USA 9:30 AM.

For further information about the event contact 9840157090 and visit www.kalapradarshini.com/ghantasala98

The Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha, Mumbai,conferred the title Sangeetha Kala Vibhushan, and  presented the National Eminence Award to veteran Bharatanatyam couple Shanta and V.P. Dhananjayan. This ptestigious award carries a purse of  rupees two and half lakhs, citation, shawl, gold medal and spatika maala to Dhananjayan  and navaratna mala to Shanta Dhananjayan. The well organised virtual award function was held online in Chennai virtually on 5th December at the Bharatakalanjali hall in Adyar. V. Viswanathan  and his wife Sukanya, executive members of Shanmukhananda Sabha, represented the organisation  and conducted the ceremony.  Sukanya Viswanathan read the citation and Viswanathan presented mementos to the awardees. 

Sri Rama Lalitha Kala Mandira at Bangalore arranged Facebook event on 6 December 2020 and presented the Sangeetha Vedanta Dhurina' with a cashaward of one lakh rupees, a silver medal and a citation to senior mridanga vidwan  A.V. Anand by His Holiness Sri Sri Yadugiri YathirajaNarayana Ramanuja Jeeyar of Melukote Yathiraja Mutt. The Raga Laya PrabhaAward' with a cash prize of Rs 25,000 to the up'and coming artists of Karnataka - Anjali Sriram, S.V. Sahana, Heramba and Hemantha, ApoorvaKrishna and A. Radhesh. Pallavi Sammela Award with a cash prize of Rs. 25,000/- waspresented to Eeshwar Aiyar, and II prize Rs. 15,000/- was presented to Abhirama G.Bode and R. Lakshmi Priya and judges special prize was presented to Madhuri Kaushikand was presented by vidushiT.S. Sathyavathi. The programme concluded with a memorable veena concert byS.V. Sahana.