Paramparai Foundation will take a small group of dancers, teachers and students of dance to Tirupugalur, a village in Tiruvarur district. Over ten days in March/April they will explore the dance text, its choreography and especially the world from where this famous the padavarnam emerged.
Tiruvarur town, the Kamalalaya temple tank and huge chariot, the many shrines in the Tyagarajaswami temple, its daily and festival worship - form living sources for abhinaya. In performance, dancers evoke these images for the audience. To see and walk through such manodharma in real time and real space would provide an unique experience and inspiration.
This experiment, curated by Saskia Kersenboom, attempts to contextualise the traditional dance repertoire in today’s continuous past. It will draw on related works in poetry, painting, sculpture, music and dance that are seen today in urban venues as well as in temple ritual. Fieldwork will lead to six other Tyagaraja shrines in Tiruvarur district. They form part of local legends on the Tyagaraja cult. During the Pankuni Uttiram festival, Lord Tyagaraja dances his famous ’Ajapa Natanam’. That night he celebrates his reunion with goddess Kamalambika, offering darsan of his left foot: his ‘sakti pada’.
Shekhar Sen has been appointed Chairman of the Central Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) for a term of five years. Fifty three-year old Sen (b. 16 February 1961) hails from a musical Bengali family settled in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. He is an accomplished singer, music composer, lyricist and actor.
He moved to Mumbai and started his career as a music composer. He subsequently started writing and composing devotional music. He has written, composed and rendered many bhajan albums. As a playwright, he has created and presented several mono-act musicals like Tulsi, Kabeer, Vivekanand, Sanmati, Saahab and Soordas. He has done considerable research on historical and literary themes and produced musicals like Dushyant ne Kaha tha, Madhya Yugeen Kavya, Pakistan ka Hindi Kavya, Meera se Mahadevi tak.
Sen has performed to wide acclaim in India and abroad. He has presented his musicals in the U.S.A., the U.K., Belgium, Singapore, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Surinam, South Africa, UAE, Mauritius and Trinidad. His mono-acting musicals – Kabeer which he performed in the Lok Sabha in May 2005, Vivekanand at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in April 2013, and Soordas premiered at NCPA, Mumbai in June 2013, were well appreciated.
He served as expert committee member of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India for two years, and as member of the Central Board of Film Certification for four years. Sen has also dabbled in colours and his traditional yet modern paintings stand out for their vibrant flat tones.
Among the many honours conferred on him, are the Padma Shri from the Government of India (2015), the V. Shantaram Samman by the Maharashtra Rajya Hindi Sahitya Academy (2008) and the Safdar Hashmi Puraskar by the State Sangeet Natak Academy of Uttar Pradesh (2001).
Move over, Chennai. Your place as a hub for an
annual music extravaganza is likely to be
usurped by Kolkata, where the ITC Sangeet Research
Academy’s annual sammelan in
December 2014 set benchmarks that other organisers could aim
for.
First, the highlights of the sammelan (5th to 7th,
December2014) before I make my points about lessons that can
be learned (by performers as well as organisers). All three days of the
sammelan were all night sessions, beginning in the evening around 6 and going on till 7 AM or beyond.
(On the last day, the sessions began even earlier, around 3 pm, in order to
accommodate an extra session on dhrupad that was not originally in the schedule).
The sizeable audience sat through it
all, despite the wintry weather and the open air shamiana, every day, all
night, till well past daybreak.
This SRA annual sammelan is anticipated by music
aficionados and genuine rasikas, we are told, because of the quality fare that
SRA promises, the selection of the performers
not on the basis of their “crowd pulling” reputations but for their
musical abilities, and the extra transport arrangements at the end of each
session in the early hours, to cover multiple destinations, but more than
anything else, the quality of the music.
This year’s sammelan focused on SRA’s younger
generation of scholar-trainees, selected by a panel to receive scholarships for
intensive training under leading gurus. These gurus--each with an enviable
reputation as an eminent performer-teacher--are provided with bungalows on campus, with freedom to fashion
their one-on-one teaching regimen to
suit individual apprentices. The emphasis is on classicism, and the scholars who had a platform to showcase their
guru’s training and their own
talent, made full use of the opportunity to establish themselves as soon-to-be
leading lights on the concert stage. In fact, some of them were so good that
they could qualify for ustad status right away.
The opening item
was a display of rhythmic competence by tabla scholars, of whom the youngest was five years old; most of the
group of 13 (including one girl) were not yet ten. Instead of having the
conventional lehra (melody repeated
on a stringed instrument, to keep track
of the tala cycles while the tabla improvises) guru Samar Saha used a tabla tarang by the kids themselves, providing a melodic reference cycle (using tablas tuned to different notes) while individual
participants took off on improvised rhythmic variations. This was a novel experiment. Some of the
tiny tot tabalchis were barely
visible over the top of the tablas they were handling – but their talent was astounding . This was a tribute
to the calibre of teaching as well as the rigorous process of choosing scholars with innate talent
and unmistakable promise. Some of these
kids will soon join the likes of Zakir Hussain as popular icons of percussion, I am sure.
The vocalist and instrumentalist scholars took over
next and each one of them was an ustad-in-the-making. There was no playing to
the gallery – every young scholar performed with the finesse, poise, and
confidence of a veteran, showcasing the training of the gurus. Given one hour each, they did full
credit to their apprenticeship and their own musical capabilities. Young
vocalist Arshad Ali Khan, with his
astounding, super fast taans, promises to be another Rashid Khan, today’s
leading Hindustani vocalist with
an international following (Rashid was himself inducted as a scholar at SRA at age 11, for gurukul apprenticeship
under Ustad Nissar Hussain Khan of the Rampur gharana, the legendary “tarana
samrat” who passed away in 1996 after 17 years as a guru at ITC-SRA.
Rashid lived with the guru, and imbibed
the finer points of the gharana
before acquiring a reputation as the youngest ustad of all time)
The sarod and sarangi have very few exponents today
among the younger generation (especially the sarangi, which is a difficult
instrument) but young Mallar Rakshit
and Abir Hossain (sarod) and Sarwar Hussain (sarangi) restored our faith in the future of these
traditional instruments in the hands of
Gen-Next.
Every one of the vocalist scholars, both girls and
boys, sang with a ”khula awaz” (full
throated, open voice) especially in the upper octave, which was a treat,
testifying to the strict standards that the gurus insist on (no false voice, no
short cuts). Anyone can teach the intricacies. Only a senior guru can insist on
uncompromising standards in basics like voice production. Every vocalist
scholar also stuck to “sureelapan”
(sounding aesthetically melodious )
especially in holding the top shadja, while instrumentalists like Saket Sahu
who played the violin, displayed a maturity and skill that marked them as front
ranking artistes, despite their age. That was a testimony to their training
under SRA’s gurus as well as the scholars’ innate musical talent. Even if I am only mentioning a few names, all of
the participants were awesome; there was not a false note, not one recital that
was below par, in all the three
days of extended sessions.
Each day’s schedule included also a recital by a senior guru. The first
day saw Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar, one of today’s leading vocalists and one of the
most popular gurus at SRA, treat the audience through the night, before signing off with the morning raga
Bibhas (at 7 AM) and the popular thumri
Jamuna keteer in raga Bhairavi (by
popular demand) while the last day had
octogenarian Girija Devi perform
with incredible verve and stamina, assisted by two of her understudy scholars.
In over half a century of attending music conferences and sammelans, I have
never seen one that had participants ranging from a gifted five year old to an
87 year old, both equally spell binding.
Uday Bhawalkar, a young guru at SRA, took the stage
on the last day, to present a very
impressive dhrupad in raga Adbhut Kalyan. He announced that this raga which
eschews both the madhyama and the panchama, is known as Nirosh in the south but I could find neither
Adbhut Kalyan nor Nirosh in any of the comprehensive lists of ragas that I have
access to (including Ranga Ramanuja Iyengar’s compendium, Bhatkhande’s
books, and the 500 raga listing
published by Dr Lakshminarayan Garg of
Hathras who brings out a comprehensive monthly magazine called Sangeet in
Hindi).
Using just sa, ri , ga, dha and ni, (of Bilawal or Sankarabharanam scale) Bhawalkar spun
out the item for a full hour,
accompanied by a young pakhawaj artiste (again, another instrument that has
very few practitioners, due to the decline of the dhrupad form itself). And he
made it sound melodious too, not just a tight rope circus item despite the absence of both ma and pa.
It was a musical feat. Notwithstanding
the esoteric form and the rare raga, the audience heard him out
with interest ,respect and appreciation.
How does one commend an audience too – for
providing the right ambience for listening, without any show, or distraction ? There
were no ‘page 3’ personalities, or VIPs, flaunting new shades
of an exclusively woven sari, or diamonds, or gossip. At one point, when the
stage was being reset for the next item, there was complete silence in the
audience for several minutes. I have never seen anything like this before. The
bane of many a performer today, is the distraction of an indifferent audience.
A keen and receptive one draws out the
best in a performer and lets him/her rise to greater heights. This is what a
sammelan should be like, I caught myself saying. We all stayed awake through
the night, for three consecutive days, for a
veritable feast of good, unadulterated, high class music. Including the
recitals by the youngsters, mostly teenagers, including t he daughter of Pandit
Suresh Talwalkar of Mumbai who matched
her distinguished father stroke for stroke on the tabla.
Entry to the sammelan sessions was free, and though
the first two rows of seats in the audience were reserved for gurus and parents
of scholars, I saw no “press enclosure”, unlike in other prestigious sammelans.
SRA is an ITC entity, part of a
corporate set-up, but where the music
sammelan was concerned, there was no pandering to the press by the
organisers or to the gallery by the performers, no advertisements, no hoardings, no banners, no flaunting of
products (even ITC ‘s own brands like Ashirwad or Sunfeast). Just
music, good classical music, and more music, from beginning to end, whether it
was a teenage scholar performing, or a veteran guru.
Last year an Italian sitar player, Fulvio
Koren, was at SRA for training, and this year there is a Japanese girl, Eri Yamaguchi, a south American (who
sat onstage behind Girija Devi, helping
with the tanpura) and a Pakistani
girl Maham Suhail, from Lahore.
The
sammelan has also established a collaboration withthe Bangladesh Foundation, for cultural exchange . Perhaps SRA
could become a hub for south Asian networking, a kind of cultural SAARC, since
we share musical roots and heritage. Last year, ITC-SRAcollaborated in holding a music festival in
Dhaka where the audience was reportedly over 31,000 strong. Leading flutist
Hari Prasad Chaurasia echoed my sentiments when he commented that he felt
“jealous” of SRA’s scholars, since they “get everything”. Quite.
Along with music, the gurus also impart
related cultural lifestyle
ethics – there is much “touching of feet” (not just one’s own guru’s, but those of all the elders who teach at
SRA) as a mark of respect for mentors.
At the same time, once the disciple
takes the stage, he/she is trained to perform with great self-assurance and
aplomb (after paying the ritual
obeisance to the guru). There is camaraderie, rather than jostling for primacy,
among the scholars, who encourage and
appreciate each other in a spirit that
sidelines everything except musical
scholarship. SRA’s initiative for training future generations of eminent
musicians is a unique revival of the traditional gurukul, with disciples having
access 24X7 to their mentors and gurus. The
green and spacious campus
ambience adds to the enriching atmosphere that scholars are fortunate to live
and learn in. The team of gurus at SRA
includes centenarian Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan who still turns up to attend
sammelan sessions.
In
addition, SRA ensures that there is minimal interference in the process of learning, with rules interpreted to suit each individual prodigy, backed by an administrative and executive
team that ensures that the annual sammelan is something all connoisseurs
eagerly look forward to.
The
two Vishnus (Paluskar and Bhatkhande)
provided the foundation to the credo that learning-and-performing music is not
contradictory to thinking and theorizing about it.
A major concern among
educators and researchers is how to enhance the understanding of Indian
performing arts in general, but music in particular, as a field of analytical, university-based
study.
For a student, who pursues
music as a university discipline, both knowledge in music and knowledge about
music are essential. In other words, music education requires a basic
training in music followed by performance experience of decades and guidance to
produce quality research in various sub-disciplines of music. Training enables
one to acquire the skill to perform, while knowledge about it points to gaining
an academic understanding.
The final goal of a
university system is research, where the student is trained to understand the
subject individually all by himself and put it to collective scrutiny by
standard university disciplines.
The moot question is whether
the universities are supposed to produce concert artists or quality
researchers. Concert artists have emerged rather than are produced, but
researchers can be moulded and guided. Serious research in music departments is
a desideratum.
The
life and achievements of Professor VV Sadagopan, whose centenary year
this is, gives us an idea of the emergence of an artist and an educator who
wanted music for all!
A comparison of the career
graphs of GNB and VVS reveal
similarities as well as differences between two brilliant youngsters who
followed two different paths to excellence.
GNB’s graph shows a brilliant
student phase (1931), recognition by the Music Academy (1937), entry into the
tinsel world (1940), conferment of the Sangita Kalanidhi title (1958) and
finally appointment as the Principal of the Swathi Tirunal College, Trivandrum
in 1964.
VVS’s career began with a
triple First class in BA (1934), migration to Chennai with an ICS dream (1935),
accidental entry into films as a singing star in Navayuvan, Adhrishtam
and Madanakamarajan, a reasonably successful concert career in the
40s and 50s, directorship of music studies at Gandhigram (1956-59) and finally
a professorship in Delhi University during 1959-75.
Both GNB and VVS must have
gone through the twenties triangle of the times (Quarter-Life Crisis as against
Mid-life crisis), with the three questions- Who am I? What do I want? How am I
to achieve it?
Both entered music field,
when sampradaya was being recast in a post-industrial modern world, through an effort to put in the authentic form of
the real music of the country, driven by nationalism. The social milieu and
performance had changed, new patrons were in place of the old, new
sensibilities informed the ‘reception’ and ‘representation’ of music and a
middle class elite of Madras constituted the modern canon of sampradaya.
Concert etiquette was typified by Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar.
While examining the Carnatic
tradition, Sadagopan realised the importance of devonational music. The
tradition, in both the South and North,
bequeathed the rich legacy of Bhagavata music. In its main form, it was musical
worship of a high order. There was enough space for the most gifted musician,
the less gifted as well as the layman. Besides a variety of musical forms, it
had place for drama as well. The Dasa
tradition gave us the distilled essence of ragas, bhavas and talas. The Trinity
gave us kritis, and the post Trinity generation transmitted the tradition in a
scholarly manner.
Sadagopan’s ideas on
sampradaya and change are reflected in his appreciation of Ariyakudi.
“The significant contribution
of Ramanuja Iyengar to Karnatak Music, was to demonstrate that Sampradaya in
its best sense was something organic and dynamic, which had its roots firmly in
the soil of the musical wisdom of the past, but stretched out to receive all new ideas that
could happily blend with the old. He was
a great living link in the continuing and vibrant tradition of Karnatak
Music. Not only did he adapt himself to the times, but also left his impress on
the era. He was a great reconciler, reconciling the past and the present,
tradition and innovation, abandon and deliberation. In sastraic terms, he was a
Bhavukottama.” Iyengar reconciled the contradictions
between sastra and sampradaya of the early 20th century music field.
VVS felt the impact of the
role of publishing manuscripts and treatises. In fact the main difference between Gurukula and
Institutionalised teaching, was this, at that stage. He noticed that neither the
concert environment nor the universities offered a forum for resolving
contradictions between theory and practice or aesthetic perception (Lakshya)
and intellectual abstraction (Lakshana).
He advocated that sastras
were to be studied in original, with a caution that sastras incorporated
changes with changing times. His friendship with Dr Premalata Sharma of Benares
University is the best example of his professed faith in the fundamental
research of sastras. He went on to classify sastrakaras as those who handled
high art themselves, those who perceived it from secondary and tertiary
sources, and compilers who were bhasha gnanis. Raga, prabanda, tala,
mela , swara and sruti needed to be researched comprehensively in a holistic
manner and not in a piecemeal way. All these ideas landed him in his ultimate
mission Tyagabharati , during 1966-80.
VVS strove
to combine the finer values of gurukula with the methods of modern scholarship
of the 1960s and 70s. He visited several overseas centres like Moscow (1966),
Belgrade (1969) and Perth (1974) during this period. He came to the conclusion
that before any instruction on forms and formalities of the particular musical
culture, or sub-culture began, we should devote ourselves to the drawing out of
inner joy or ananda. He once suggested we greet each by saying
''anandam'' rather than ''good morning'' or ''good evening.'' Children should
grow with joy, courage and freedom and a discipline born out of these
attributes. The fundamental principle is joy, suggestion must be the method,
the emphasis should be on the imaginative and creative experience of music and
teaching should follow a “flow-form-flow” spiral. He was clearly in favour of
lakshya (aesthetic perception) over lakshana (intellectual abstraction) at
school, college or university.
Joy is the natural state of
any child. It is the motivation for self-expression, as well as the means.
It is the subject as well as the object. Joy must be traced, tapped and used.
Joy also has a base in rhythm. It has roots in the imagination of the child,
which can conceive all the wonders of the world. Music as an expression should
be the starting point of music education. This should be followed by an
awareness of the level of musical perception.
VVS identified three broad
stages as the fundamental, the functional and the professional.
For a child, rhythm and
movement come first. Melody comes next, simple tunes with a dominant rhythmic
element can be easily learnt. Every language has nursery rhymes, nonsense
rhymes and playful jingles. Music should be introduced through story-telling
and dramatics. Group singing is also important, because it gives us the joy of sharing.
In short, Thyagabharati is a
mission in Integrative Music Education. Over the years, it has spread its
service to reach growing children everywhere, in schools, homes and social
circles. It would be appropriate to produce an extract from the writings of
Professor.
Dimitrje Stefanovićof
the Musicological Institute, Belgrade.
“Sadagopan considers children
his friends and works with them, so that they all take equal part in this work
which teaches them the joy of singing, playing, and dancing together” He is
sure that by teaching others, we teach ourselves, that through systematic
musical education, important results can be reached. This visit of a rare
tireless, good, great but also modest man, who is so affectionate to music,
will long remain in our memory.”
Sadagopan authored Folk
Music and Dance in Tamil Nadu (1955), he edited the Indian Music Journal
during the period 1964-80 and wrote under the pen name of Nandan ( A musical
pariah).
His skill as a tunesmith came
to the fore when he composed music and notation for Ambujam Krishna in Gitamala
I. He created a few compositions like Sada enadu in Manohari, sung by
Ananthalakshmi Sadagopan and Palukina matalu vinaleta in Sankarabharanam and Kandan karunai
purindu in Vachaspati.
VVS tuned Kamba Ramayana
songs for TKC in the pallavi-anupallavi-charanam format and gave a three- hour
concert. We could count only four disciples of his, including my father the
late Dr TV Kuppuswamy, KR Sundaresan, Leela Omacherry and Sri Ram Bharati. He
was a guide, philospher and friend of my father and remains an inspiration to
me and those who knew him well.
Dr TK Venkatasubramanaian is
a historian and mridanga vidwan
To our
great pleasure, the triad of Tag Centre, Karnatik Music Forum and Sruti succeeded
in unearthing some promising vocalists at the end of our six-day long talent search
in January 2015 at the TAG Centre. Out of the 18 voices shortlisted from among
70-odd applicants (by listening to their CDs), five were selected by a
three-member jury of vidushis Seetha Narayanan, Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam and
Jayalakshmi Sekhar.
The
selection was based on the percentile method styled the BITS Pilani method by
RT Chari – the founder of the TAG group – whose brainchild the whole programme
‘Five for the Future’ was. Impartiality was ensured by the complete absence of
discussion among the judges as well as the organisers. The marksheets were, for
instance, collected from the judges, who sat far apart, immediately after each
55-minute concert. Surprisingly, an audience poll showed very similar results.
The most
delightful aspect of the results was the emergence of singers from outside
Chennai as the top five voices. They were Anupam Shankar (Delhi), Harikrishnan
(Ernakulam), Kruti Bhat (USA), Mahathi (Calicut), and Sivaganesh (Bengaluru).
The
selected vocalists received cash awards of Rs. 5000 each and a promise that two
of them would be featured in TAG’s Future Maestros series of concerts. The next
eight participants will be automatically allowed to take part in next year’s Five
for the Future.
The Tamil Isai Sangam conducted the Pann research conference from 23 to 25 December 2014. The panns taken up for discussion were Desakiri, Malavakiri, Ariya kuchchari, Mudirnda kuchchari and Savagakkurinji. Their equivalent present day ragas were decided as Ranjani, Hindolam, Amritavarshini, Suddha Dhanyasi and Muktidayini (a janya of Vachaspati without the nishada). The researchers present were President of the Tamil Isai Sangam Justice P.R. Gokulakrishnan, Lepa Karu Ramanathan Chettiar, Dr. Ananda Nataraja Dikshitar, Dr. M.A. Bhageerathi, Dr. Sirkazhi Sivachidambaram (recipient of this season''s Isai Peraringnar title), Dr. Pushpavanam K. Kuppusamy, Tiruppanandal S. Muthukandasamy Desigar. Sirkazhi Thirugnanasambanda Oduvar, Muthukumarasamy, Dr. Lakshmi Poduval, Dr. Thangarasu, Dr. E. Angayarkanni and Dr.S.A.K. Durga. The Pann research conference was presided over by vidwan A.K.C. Natarajan.
Music students of Oppilal Isai Palli, below 15 years of age, presented classical music on the keyboard at the Tamil Isai Sangam during the 72nd annual music and dance festival held at Raja Annamalai Manram in December 2014. The Oppilal School for Music was started three years ago in Abhiramapuram by Seeta Chidambaram, a patron of art and culture. A number of youngsters and women attend music classes in vocal, veena, gettuvadyam and keyboard.
When one thinks of Art, one thinks of beauty, of experience, observation, transformation, discipline, and abandon. At least that is
what we think we should think, when
we think of “Art.” But has the word “Art” itself become mere lip service? Has
it become a charade?
There are so many sides to this issue that I hardly know where to
start. It almost feels like a “chicken or the egg” situation to me. Who is
accountable for what has become, or what is becoming of “Art.”?
I’m reminded of a T.M. Krishna concert that I attended recently, in
which he requested the audience to approach the concert as a musical experience
rather than a cutcheri, a term that comes with a certain baggage and
expectation. He pushed barriers, some
gently and some not, but all the while his request to us, the audience, made me
aware of myself as a rasika, and reminded me of a dilemma that I frequently
find myself in while in that seat. How much of me is usually in judgement? And
for how much of a concert am I evaluating and re-evaluating the performance?
Without even intending to, we compare the artist to other artists, or to his or her
own concerts in the past, etc. How often are we actually there – present–
in the moment, experiencing the concert not for what it could be or should be,
but what it is. Do we gain anything by being in judgement? Or is it
merely to make ourselves feel good, educated, intelligent, and make for
interesting conversation after the concert? Do we see ourselves as consumers,
and the concert as a commodity that must suit our expectations? If Art is truly
about beauty, experience, observation, transformation, discipline, and abandon
– don’t those things apply to the artist as well as the rasika?
Are we more interested in using Art and the experience of it, to
inflate ourselves intellectually, or are we interested in using it as a vehicle
for a deeper transformation? I am often reminded of J. Krishnamurti and an
exercise that he encouraged of just observing a sunset, or any objective thing
for that matter.
“Have
you ever experimented with looking at an objective thing like a tree without
any of the associations, any of the knowledge you have acquired about it,
without any prejudice, any judgement, any words forming a screen between you
and the tree and preventing you from seeing it as it actually is? Try it and
see what actually takes place when you observe the tree with all your being,
with the totality of your energy.” – J. Krishnamurti
Of course what he is talking about is a mindfulness, a deep
investigation of the mind itself, which one may argue is a much weightier
subject? But isn’t it actually the same subject? Isn’t “Art” inherently linked
to the “totality of being” that he talks about? Isn’t “Art” inherently aimed at experiencing the “totality of
being” that he talks about?
I feel we are losing that aim.
The arts scene, especially in India, sometimes feels like Hollywood. We,
as a society, pride ourselves on having resurrected the status of “Art” from
the times it was looked down upon and disrespected. It has its origin in
worship, and even though it has moved from ritual to performance, we still
proclaim it to be sacred. But look at the way it is talked about and perceived
now. Besides the rampant politics, it is sensationalist
and it is a “scene” where words like “diva” are thrown around. Constructive
criticism is often replaced by sarcasm and even malice. Who is doing what? Who
is performing where? Who is wearing what? Who is getting what award? Who is on
their way “in” who is on their way “out”? Who pulls the most crowds?
What happens to “Art” in all this? Where is the reverence and sanctity?
Is it possible to find beauty and silence in all this chatter? Is it possible
to feel transformation for both the rasika and the artist, amongst all this
noise?
Til now, I’ve talked about the
rasika.
What about the artist?
Why is the artist on stage? Is it a burning desire to create, express, and share
something that emanates from one’s being? Or is it a burning desire to prove
one’s artistic virtuosity, and to inhabit the “prestigious” slots? How often do
we see artists who are lost in the “Art”? Are artists even encouraged to be
lost in the “Art?” In an environment like ours, is it possible for artists to be lost in the “Art”?
Artists are frowned upon for “playing to the gallery,” but is that
really in any way discouraged?
Sometimes I wonder, what are the purpose of reviews anymore? At some
point last year, I stopped getting the newspaper. I lost interest in reading
reviews. Why are opinions valued so much? Immediately after a performance, what
is most important to the artist – how he/she felt about the experience? Or what
everyone else thought?
Don’t get me wrong. Of course there MUST be desire for growth,
improvement, discovery, learning, guidance; in fact, that forms the very basis of the artist’s journey. But to what
extent is this journey shaped by what the public thinks? How much have artists
become focused on being in the public eye? How important to artists is
appearing on the concert stage? Obviously it is what makes it a career….a
profession. But how many would still be practicing with the same intensity
irrespective of performance? Is the focus on delivering a good performance, or
on being alert and sensitive to savoring the experience regardless of practice
or performance? Are the externals given larger priority than the internals?
Does that tilt the balance more toward “entertainment” than “Art”? Does the
public nature of performing arts feed this preoccupation with public opinion?
Sometimes I wonder, when a painter paints, or a poet writes, do they think about what images will sell
and create accordingly? Or do they follow the impulses that come from their
artistic centers?
When I occasionally voice these frustrations, the response that I get
is usually something along the lines of : “But one has to first go through the
‘externals’ before getting to the ‘internals’. That comes later.” I understand
the intention in this statement, but I think that it has things a bit mixed up.
When I talk about “internals”, I in NO measure overlook discipline and
training. I don’t separate that from freedom. So “external” and “internal”
really has no correlation with “discipline” and “freedom.” My concern is
completely with intention. If, from
the beginning, the “Art” is taught and practiced with the intention of it as
something sacred, as deeply personal, as a “Sadhana,” then chances are – it may
continue that way. One would immediately argue - it is! Ok, agreed- in
dance we begin and end classes with the namaskaram and prayers, bowing to the
feet of the Gurus, etc. But then
what? Is the rest of the process and environment in keeping with this
reverence? Where does competition and ambition find its way into all this? Is
it through parents? Peers? Teachers? Media? Audiences?
I find that our culture has subconsciously engrained in it, the concept
of order, perhaps based on the traditional Hindu idea of “ashramas” in life:
first being a “student,” then a “householder,” then a “hermit,” and finally an
“ascetic.” The general consensus is that there is a certain age after which
Self-introspection begins. Elders seem skeptical, almost worried about people
on the other side of that age who are focused on Self-introspection. In the
same vein, it seems generally accepted that younger artists should be concerned
with virtuosity, and internalization comes later. But shouldn’t
Self-introspection in life be encouraged from the start? When it comes to “Art”
and training, shouldn’t the focus be encouraged
inward from the start?
If it was, would the energies of the scene be altered? Would artists
perform from a different center of focus? Would audiences receive from a different center of focus?
I often wonder what would happen if, for a period of time, all
“editorial” media coverage of performance was suspended: newspaper reviews,
online sites, blogs, etc.
And then what if audiences put the onus upon themselves to “experience”
rather than “evaluate” each concert. What if audiences members behaved less
like consumers, and more like rasikas, open to experiencing the concert?
With judgement relegated to the backseat, would the quality of
performance change?
Would artists remember that this is a first a journey to be experienced, and then shared?
Would we have less entertainment and more “Art?”
Would we as individuals and a society be able to move away from the
sensationalism that we have created around “Art” and more towards the totality
of being that “Art” is intended to stir in us?
The 'SKGS Diamond Jubilee Sangeetha Choodamani' title was conferred on nagaswara vidwan Seshampatti Sivalingam, and tavil vidwans Thiruvalaputhur T.A. Kaliyamurthy and Tanjavur T.R. Govindarajan, during the 27th Pongal Nagaswara Isai Vizha organised by Sri Krishna Gana Sabha on 14 January 2015. Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, President SKGS, chief guest Justice M. Karpaga Vinayagam Y. Prabhu, Gen.Secretary, SKGS, musicologist B.M. Sundaram and R.Venkateswaran.Joint Secretary are in the picture.
Different aspects of Siva bhakti By Gayathri Sundaresan
The final session of the lec-dem mela organised by Sruti and Karnatic Music Forum was a well-researched presentation by Carnatic musician Gayathri Girish. She presented ‘Different Aspects of Siva Bhakti’. With Mullaivasal Chandramouli on the violin and Chidambaram Balashankar on the mridangam giving her able accompaniment, she took up songs composed by many saints to illustrate her given topic.
Gayathri began with Tyagaraja’s Deva deva Sadasiva in raga Sindhuramakriya, where he implores the lord to bless him with devotion to his lotus feet. Bhakti can be in five stages – the lowest stage – manda bhakti – is when a person turns to God only in his hour of need; the madhyama bhakti is torn between belief and doubt; the highest, uttama bhakti is total surrender to God. Viswaroopa bhakti is seeing God in everything; and the last is the state of self-realisation.
Srimad Bhagavatam tells us of the Navavidha bhakti – the nine types of devotion. The Bhagavad Gita talks of four kinds of bhaktas. Gayathri classified ten types of bhakti and demonstrated them with songs by different composers.
Adi Sankara’s sloka Karacharanamva pleads for forgiveness for misdeeds – this shows the devotee’s misery. There are many songs where the composer despairs the life he has taken and pleads for release from the cycle of birth and death.
Many are the songs that the seers sang in ecstasy, glorifying their god. Gayathri sang a number of songs by Appar, Sundarar and explained their literary beauty as well.
Tanjavur Ponniah Pillai’s varnam Paavaai nee paaraai shows sringara bhava. Sakhyam is seen in Marimutha Pillai’s Enneramum kaalaithookki in Todi raga. The composer converses with Siva and questions the reason for lifting his foot – is it because he is tired after destroying Daksha’s yagna? Or is it that his foot is tired after kicking Yama? Or could it be that his foot is tired after the frenzied dance with Kali? Did the poison flow down to his foot from his throat? Is he dancing for the benefit of Patanjali and Vyaghrapada? The string of questions that the devotee nonchalantly throws shows his relationship with his god as an equal.
Papanasam Sivan’s Piravaavaram taarum asks for ending of the birth cycle, and for constant remembrance (maravaavaram).
Neelakantha Sivan shows yearning and impatience in Endraikku Sivakripaivarumo. Simple and innocent bhakti is shown by simple village folk. This can be seen in Manikkavachagar’s song Kaasanimingal that is also set to a lilting folk tune.
Total surrender is seen in Ramalinga Adigalar’s Tiruvarutpa. Gayathri said that every bhakta goes through the transition of various stages in his spiritual growth. She sang Tandaiyumtaayumguruvum in Surati to demonstrate this bhava.
Kavi Kalamegam makes clever play of words in his verse Mukkaalukkegaamun. The obvious meaning is that one should cultivate bhakti early in one’s life before his faculties deteriorate. But what is amazing is his use of the measures used in those times to denote the periods in one’s life.
Gayathri aptly concluded with Papanasam Sivan’s song Nambikkettavarevaraiyya, which includes many of the categories that she had listed out, and firmly reiterates that Siva bhakti will certainly, without doubt, lead a man to higher goals.
Sruti Editor-in-chief V. Ramnarayan proposed the vote of thanks. It was certainly a successful lec-dem mela with good public response to all the sessions.
Curative powers of Compositions on Siva By Gayathri Sundaresan
The first session on the third day of the lec-dem mela was on ‘The Curative Powers of Compositions on Lord Siva’. Usha Bharadwaj of Karnatic Music Forum, introduced Dr. Sunder as one of the pioneers in propagating Carnatic music among school children through monthly workshops and lec-dem sessions organised by the forum.
A medical doctor by profession, Dr. Sunder believes in the adage “Doctors treat; the God of your faith heals you”. When a patient has faith in a doctor’s abilities to diagnose and treat his illness, his very attitude becomes conducive to healing. Such was the faith of the saints, in their utter surrender to their lord, that their words were embedded with spiritual powers that performed the magic of healing!
Sunder’s talk was cohesively strung together, laced with his customary humour, that created an easy camaraderie with the audience. Demonstration of the songs by his students (vocal by J.B. Keertana with J.B. Sruthi Sagar on the flute) was music to the ears. Mridangam accompaniment by Satyanarayanan embellished the singing. The original Panns and their corresponding prevalent raga names were announced.
Sunder aptly began by paying obeisance to Lord Vaitheeswara – the god of healing. He said that Saivite saints walked the land and spread the message of Saivism and its curative powers. In their songs, they included relevant episodes, the place where they occurred, and the characters involved. It is believed that chanting these songs could even today cure specific diseases.
The following are some of the songs and anecdotes narrated by the doctor.
A flu epidemic in Kongu Nadu was eradicated by Tirugnanasambandar’s song Avvinaikkuivvinai. The daughter of a chieftain in Tiruppaachilaachiraamam was cured of epilepsy when he sang Tunivalartingal. This song is believed to be an effective remedy for neurological disorders, diabetes, and hypertension.
In Tirumarugal, the song Sadaiyaayerumaal helped a young bridegroom to recover from snakebite. It is believed that the song clears the way for marriages delayed due to sarpadosham.
In Madurai, the chieftain Goonpandian was a follower of Jainism. His sister and minister invited Gnanasambandar hoping that the saint would be able to convert the king. The jains set fire to the ashram where Gnanasambandar stayed, but he escaped miraculously. The king was afflicted with typhoid that could not be cured. The saint applied the sacred ash (vibhooti) and the king was cured. The song, Mandiramaavaduneeru that contains both the episode and the curative aspect, was sung next. The song Vinguvinai is said to be effective in healing fractures, polio and other bone related problems.
Mattittapunnaiyankaanam tells the story of how Poompavai came to life at Mylapore. While singing the Pathigams (ten verses) it is believed that with each verse, the illness wanes in stages, and the patient is cured by the time the song ends.
Manikkavachagar’s song Poosuvadumvenneere is said to have cured the stammer of a child. Appar’s Ondrukolaam that brought back Navukkarasar’s child to life has the additional lakshana of each line starting with numbers, increasing one by one. Dr. Sunder pointed out that these songs were not only outpourings of bhakti, but were also rich in literary beauty.
Some of Sundarar’s songs were demonstrated movingly by Keertana and Sruthi Sagar. Dr. Sunder concluded the session with a song that described all the parts of the body, Talaiye nee vanangaai, the singing of which is believed to protect the entire body from ailment.
S. Janaki of Sruti introduced the Guest of Honour Nandini Ramani, who in her speech touched upon a few more sthalams where the deities were believed to be healers. She quoted Kalidasa “sareeram dharma sadhanam” – it is important to maintain a healthy body in order to be able to perform our duties. With the ever-present Sivam inside each of us, Siva aradhana is sure to help in healing. She praised Dr. Sunder for a well-researched and presented lec-dem that took everyone through a beautiful journey. Nandini also commended Gayathri Girish the next presenter for her multi-media series rendered over twelve months wherein she conveyed profound ideas in simple terms.
On 13 December 2014, the first session on the second day of the Lec-Dem Mela conducted by Sruti and the Karnatic Music forum at the Raga Sudha Hall, was by Udayalur Kalyanarama Bhagavatar. He presented Sivanama Sankeertanam under the broader theme of Sambho Mahadeva.
Bhagavatar said that in the bhajana sampradaya, Harinama sankeertanam was better known than Sivanama. He offered obeisance to the gurus who established the bhajana sampradaya. Among them, Sridhara Ayyaval was an embodiment of Siva who propagated the Sivanama siddhanta, and was himself an exalted guru.
Udayalur presented a number of songs that extolled the glory of Siva. He quoted Adi Sankara’s stotra wherein he asks for the privilege of being able to chant the Sivanama. As Tamil literature is replete with works on Siva by scholars and saints, Udayalur sang viruttams from Tiruvarutpa and Tevarams, endowing them with great emotion in his musical rendering.
He chose songs by many composers like Suddhananda Bharati, Marimutha Pillai, Muthu Tandavar, Tirumoolar, Gopalakrishna Bharati, and Ramalinga Swamigal. He said philosophical songs by Mayuram Vedanayagam Pillai, a Christian, were included in traditional bhajanas.
In the given time, Udayalur Kalyanarama Bhagavatar successfully conveyed the essence of the rich tradition of sampradaya bhajana, the invaluable efficacy of Sivanama and the innumerable compositions that form its repertoire.
The Guest of Honour Dr. Easwar Srikumar, Member, Central Advisory Board, honoured the artists. A medical doctor by profession, he said music is a form of yoga that can take man nearer to the goal – Nada Brahmam. Nama sankeertanam helps cleanse the inner being of a person who participates in satsang.
Annual
Music Workshop (6-8 February, 2015) By Sumathi
Krishnan
Nadasangamam,
the music wing of Narada Gana Sabha has been organising residential workshops
for musicians and senior students of music since 2011 at at Thennangur,
situated 117 km from Chennai. This town is famous for its Panduranga temple.
Dr. R. S.Jayalakshmi is the convener
and Dr. Sumathi Krishnan the coordinator for the event.
Each year it is
held either during the last week of January or early February. This year it is
scheduled to be held between 6th and 8th February, 2015. Thennangur is a unique experience as great
gurus come to teach and students get the rare opportunity to interact with them
closely for a few days. The routine is challenging, starting from yoga in the
early hours, continuing with teaching sessions through the day and culminating
in dolotsavam and bhajans at the Panduranga temple in the evening.
APPLICATION FORM
Name:
Age
as on 1st January 2015:
Contact
address:
Telephone
no:
Mobile
no:
Email
id:
Name
of Guru /Institution:
Details
of training in music:
Details
of training in any other art form:
Awards/scholarships:
Performances
if any:
Educational
background:
Mother
tongue and languages known:
Previous
music workshops attended:
Vocal/instrumental/percussion:
Any
other relevant information:
Date
: Signature:
(Note:
Filled in Application forms to be submitted at the Narada Gana Sabha
Office between 5th and 20th January
Contact – 24993201 or soomty@gmail.com)
This year the
theme is Pallavi Singing. We are fortunate to have experts Sangita
Kalanidhi
R Vedavalli teach the subtle aspects of niraval in pallavi
singing, and Chitravina N Ravikiran guide students in the complex art of
constructing a balanced
pallavi. AS Murali ofKalakshetra will
take the students on a journey of swara singing and RS Jayalakshmi will anchor
a session on allied ragas.
Voice training
and voice culture are a very vital part of the training and shaping of a
musician. Dr. Shruti Jauhari, well known Hindustani musician presently training
many students and on the panel of musicians at KMMC, A.R. Rehman's conservatory
of Music, will conduct a session on
training the voice.
Renjith Babu and
Vijna begin each day with their session on yoga. As trained classical dancers,
they are aware of the requirements of a musician and their session is particularly
designed for the vocal and physical health of a musician.
Nadasangamam
hopes to encourage young musicians and give them opportunities to meet and
interact with senior musicians thus enriching their musical experience. Those
interested in registering for the event may collect forms at the Narada Gana
Sabha Office after 18th December.
