NRI Talents - A bird's eye view

Music has no geographical borders. So also musicians. Chennai is definitely the temple for carnatic music, but there is no denial to the fact that music and musicians have spread far and wide across the globe. Let us meet two youngsters from the USA, who have taken up carnatic music seriously.

Roopa Mahadevan and Rajna Swaminathan, both born and brought up in the United States of America, are upcoming names in the ‘Chennai’ music circuit too. Roopa, a versatile vocalist is a disciple of the veteran guru Smt. Suguna Varadhachari. Rajna, an upcoming mridangist is the disciple of the Maestro Umayalpuram Sri.Sivaraman.

Join me for a quick chat with these two talented young ladies . . .

Vidya: Hello Roopa and Rajna. The first question that anyone would probably want to ask you is how you developed interest in carnatic music, being brought up in the states.

Rajna: I come from a family of musicians, so I was constantly surrounded by music and dance as a child. My father plays mrudangam, and so I started learning from him at the age of 5. It began as a hobby for me and my father to do together. Then, when I was 8 years old, my parents brought Umayalpuram Sivaraman Sir to our house to teach, and I began to learn from him. Having such a great teacher, I began to take the art very seriously, and my hobby became a passion.

Roopa : Many Indian-Americans are put in classical dance and music classes at a young age here in the states. Many of these students attend classes as they would any other hobby, usually because their parents have forced them to do it, or because all of their
friends/community members are doing it as well. For those of us who have taken to the classical arts in a more serious way, Carnatic music is a passion--something we listen to willingly; it's playing in our cars, in our rooms, even have jam sessions with friends. We go to a lot of concerts (those of visiting artists from India) and
usually receive positive encouragement from those artists, which motivates us to keep learning, improving, performing, etc. Also, the larger, local communities we come from are also very encouraging of our pursuits and try to attend our performances, give good feedback, and express that they are proud that we are taking the music so seriously. Parental support is also extremely key--most of the young people in America that have really taken to Carnatic music have parents who are generally musicians themselves, organizers of music programs, or extremely passionate about the art form (playing it
in the house all the time, telling their kids to practice, taking them to India to learn or to many kutcheris, etc). There is no coincidence there!

Vidya: That is really nice. So do you think it is advantageous or disadvantageous to live in the US and perform here?

Roopa: We have varied non-Indian musical influences, interests, which makes our musical creativity/approach/aesthetic unique. Due to our solid education, we have the training to write, talk, and express ideas about music well. We have the opportunity to collaborate with non-Indian artists here in the states which can be enriching, particularly if we are addressing pertinent socio-cultural issues through our work.

There are disadvantages too. Proving yourself in the Chennai circles can be hard. If someone has been in Chennai for a long time, their name is well known or at least recognizable. Those of us from the States have to continually remind people who we are. Every December season is a battle to contact the sabhas, prove to them that you have
merit, etc. Additionally, you have to make a larger effort to make sure your Chennai concerts are well-attended.

Rajna: Staying in the U.S. and pursuing my art might have the well-known drawbacks in amount of opportunity, but the opportunities that I get are advantageously more diverse. I am able to perform in a wide variety of settings, like traditional concerts, dance performances/dramas, fusion concerts, interaction with Western musicians, playing for light music/ cinema songs, etc. Pursuing my art in the West expands my horizons and potential much further than they might be if I were staying in India. Also, staying in the U.S. gives me the occasional opportunity to perform for the senior artists from India that are on tour, which is a most valuable experience. The disadvantages, however, are that I automatically get labeled as an NRI artist and must deal with the stereotypes that follow. This is a frustration when performing in India, but I believe that overall, there are more advantages than disadvantages.

Vidya: Roopa, I have always wondered if you generally find it difficult to sing in Thamizh or other south Indian languages…

Roopa: We have to take extra pains to make sure we pronounce songs correctly,
but most good teachers will help with this. We also may not immediately know the meaning of many Carnatic songs, which means we have to do some extra work to understand them.

Vidya: Rajna, if I am right you are doing your schooling now. So how do you manage to find time for mridangam amidst studies and other distractions?

Rajna: The musical atmosphere as well as culture in the U.S. is obviously much different from those in India, so it is more difficult to stay focused. However, keeping myself busy with concerts gives me the incentive to continue to concentrate and improve my art. The amount of school work definitely cuts into the time I have available to practice mridangam, but I have learned to make the most out of my free time and dedicate myself to music, and meanwhile achieving good grades as well.

. . . . With that, the ladies get back to their routine.

- Vidya Kalyanaraman.

The Number '3'

By Saranya Gurumurthy

Thinking why have I given so much of importance to the number 3, when everybody think "Number 1" to be big? What is so special about the number 3?

Well, the number 3 has its own speciality. The three murthis (Brahmma, Vishnu, Shiva), the three shakthis (Saraswathi (gnana sakthi), Lakshmi (Iccha sakthi) and Parvathi (Kriya sakthi), the three fruits (Mango, Jack fruit, Banana), the three kaalam (time - Past, Present, Future) and in many places the number 3 has a great importance. Infact initially it was considered that there are 3 vedas - Rig, Yajur and Sama. Atharvana veda was added later.

Especially in music, "The Number 3" has a significant place. We will be speaking about the ancient trinities, medival trinities among song composers, the female trinities among singers, the 3 era of Tamil sangam (Ancient, Medival and Recent) etc.. Lets see in detail about some of these.

To start with lets see who the ancient trinities are. Ancient trinities are the three great souls - Muthuthandavar, Marimutha Pillai and Arunachala Kavi. They have written several songs, especially the first two have written mostly on Lord Shiva.

Muthuthandavar was born at Sirkazhi. He was affected by an incurable disease. Because of which people use to be away from him. He was dejected and stayed a night at the Sirkazhi temple, praying to the Lord. The next morning he could not even find the traces of the disease in his body. It was all cured by the almighty. The grace of the lord did not stop there. Muthuthandavar started writing songs in the praise of the Lord and started singing them. Also he spreaded the way of worshipping the Lord by singing his fame. This way of worship is known as "kirtanam" among the nine type of worships. One of the famous song of Muthuthandavar is "Sevikka vendum Ayya" in the raga - AandhOlika (S R2 M1 P N3 S - S N3 D2 M1 R2 S)

Marimutha Pillai was born at Thillai (Chidambaram). He use to write songs of the type called padam. Padam is a type of song sung by a woman who is awaiting for the arrival of her husband or lover. He will consider himself as a woman and Lord Nataraja as the lover. So most of his songs will be like a request kept at the lotus feet of the Lord. Few of his songs are "kaalai thooki nindru aadum deivamE" in the raga yadhukula kaamboji, Oru kaal siva chidambaram yendru sonnal in aarabhi and Theruvil vaaraano.

Arunachala Kavi, was a famous poet. His Rama Nataka Kirtana were world famous. One can equate them to the verses of Kamba Ramayana. The entire Ramayana is described in simple words, easily understandable, even by a lay man.

Then who are the medival Trinities? They are the famous - Syama sastri, Tyagaraja and Muthuswamy Dikshithar. Syama sastri an ardent devotee of Goddess Kamakshi has written many songs on Devi. He is famous for using many new taalams. He will use Viloma chapu taalam (4 + 3) [tha ka dhi mi | tha ki ta], just a reverse of Misra chapu (3 + 4) [tha ki ta | tha ka dhi mi]. His favourite ragas are ananda bhairavi and saveri. Goddess Kamakshi herself came in front of him in the form of his uncle's 7 year old daughter and called him "Anna". So only, one could find the phrase - "Syama krishna sOdhari" or Sister of Syama in his kritis.

Tyagaraja - No one needs an introduction about him. His kritis will speak for him. He is a well known Rama Bhaktha. He considers saint Narada as his guru and in all his kritis he stresses on Rama Bhakthi (Devotion to Rama) and Nadopasana (Learning music). It was said that he chanted 100000 crores of Rama Nama and attained mukthi.

Muthuswamy Dikshitar, the versatile composer who will show variety in each and every kriti that he writes, is the youngest among the medival trinities. He has travelled all over India and got a Vina (a stringed instrument) at the Ganga. He has touched each and every tala and Ragas that are rare. He has composed Navagriha kritis which will serve as an evidence to prove that Dikshithar is well versed in astrology. One could explore a lot from his kriti. Another important aspect of Dikshitar is that he will mention the raga to which that kriti is set to, in the kriti itself.

Well had a nice reading? Lets see who the female trinities among singers. Obvious answer - "M.S.Subbulakshmi, M.L.Vasanthakumari and D.K.Pattammal". M.S.Subbulakshmi is well known for singing several songs of Annamacharya. Every day dawns with her chanting of Sri Venkatesa suprabhatham. M.L.Vasanthakumari is known for her way of handling difficult ragas very easily. She is an instant performer. She use to frame the pallavi of the Ragam taanam pallavi for her concert on her way to the sabha. D.K.Pattammal is known for singing many songs of Sri Subramaniya Bharati and Papanasam Sivan.

Mridangam maestro Palghat Sri Mani Aiyer who seldom played for a female artiste, happily agreed to play for MLV and DKP for their strong music knowledge. Madurai Mani Iyer, a famous singer, use to describe DKP as "Gaana Saraswathi".

An impromptu with Nagai R. Sriram

By K Bharat Sundar

Ur favorite combo on stage!

Nagai says....…………

I always wanted to watch

1. GNB- LGJ- PR

2. LGJ - PMI

Live on stage, which is impractical right now (laughs with desperation)

Memorable concert!

1. Way back in 1984 at Krishna Gana sabha TNS - Nagai.R.Muralidharan (my guru) - Karaikudi Mani Sir - G.Harishankar anna
2. Hyderabad brothers with my guru , Raghu sir and Ghatam Suresh anna at Music academy

Why!

Well, the first one was a wholesome experience and I was spellbound, seeing the 4 on stage.

The Academy concert’s Mohanam and Karaharapriya alapana are still lingering in my heart (nostalgic!)

Role model!

My grandmother Smt. Komalavalli who laid the musical foundation in me.

My chithappa , Nagai.R.Muralidharan ,who honed my talent

Favourite Non musician!

Can’t say just one. I like Sachin tendulkar and Mark Waugh and to top them all comedian Koundamani (Laughs)

Debut Performance!

When I was 15 .. For Neiveli.Sri.R.Santhanagopalan at Delhi Tamil sangam.

More about the experience!

Well. I was tense whilst getting on the stage (confident though). When I played Nalinakanthi, the very first persons to applaud my playing were Subbudu mama and T.R.S sir, who were present on the occasion. Post concert, understood the difficulty of accompanying, in a concert scenario

Turning Point!

2002. The year that changed my life (smiles), where I had the opportunity to accompany veterans like O.S.T sir, T.N.S sir and T.V.S sir (which I had never dreamt of)

Forgettable moments!

Once at VDS, amidst my solo performance, one string gave up and I had to continue with the rest of the strings.

Ur focuses while playing!

I make sure my playing does not distract the vocalist’s flow of ideas, and the concert sounds good on the whole

During solo I consider 5 major areas viz.

Clarity of sangathis , tonal quality , Tradition , variety and to top it all sahithya sudham while playing the keerthanam

Bhavam: Layam: Sahithya sudham: Presentation!

1: 1: 1: 1

Hobbies!

I love painting

Favorite Cuisine!

Pizza

Come what may . U wouldn’t compromise on?

Music & Self respect

Svanubhava!

Indeed a brilliant concept, a boon to upcoming artistes and students of music. I wish the event a grand success.

MUSICAL TRINITY

By, R. Sudarshan

The Remarkable period in the history of music all over the world will certainly be 1750-1850.

Yes !!! Because the greatest musical exponents and geniuses of the world lived and flourished during that period. Europe had great musicians like Mozart, Beethoven , Chopin and Weber. Similarly the Musical Trinity of our carnatic music - Thyagaraja[1767-1847], Muthuswami Dikshitar[1776-1835] and Shyama sastri [1762-1827]lived and flourished this wonderful art during that period.

The carnatic trinity are entitled as MUSICAL TRNITY and have been given a very great height in the field of carnatic music because of many valuable reasons, which will take pages and pages.But to mention and highlight some of them it would surely be 'The polished nature of music they brought out', 'The beauty of their usage of language in compositions', 'Individual quality of different ragas in different compositions' and altogether 'Their sublime and soul stirring music which emitted spontaneously as a result of Bhakthi, the love and devotion to Supreme God'

They are primarily responsible for the development and bringing up this most wonderful art in a brightest way to spot our carnatic music in the map of world music. Also they were the men who brought even new research in our art in modern days indirectly in many ways.

They even showcased diffenent types of styles and framed many such formats to master this art in pure perfection. They have to their credit many number of associated group krithis such as 'Pancharatna krithis', 'Navavarna krithis' and 'Navaragamalika' etc. They enjoyed pure bliss and pleasure out of their pure music. They are indeed our inspiration and should certainly learn from their history to appreciate, implement and adore the art as they did with pure dedication and love towards both Music and God, since according to them both are the same.

Dikshidar and Hamsadhwani

Hamsadhwani (S R2 G2 P N2 S - S N2 P G2 R2 S) is a simple rAgA. Its a janya rAgA of dheerasankarAbaranam (S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S - S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S). It is an owdava owdava rAgam which means there are 5 notes in the ArOhanam and 5 notes in the avarOhanam (rising and falling phase of a raga respectively). The only difference between this rAgA and MOhana rAgA is just a dhaivatham. Mohanam has a Dha (D2) instead of Ni (N2) of Hamsadhwani. There use to be a jovial comment stating mOhana rAgam as Hamsadhwadha :).

Muthuswami Dikshithar's father Ramaswamy Dikshithar is the creator of this rAga Hamsadhwani. But Muthuswamy Dikshithar has written just 2 kritis in this rAga. They are

1. VAtApi Ganapatim

2. PArvati Patim

Lets see about these two kritis:

Both the kritis are set to Aadhi Taalam.

Pallavi

vAtApi ganapathim bhajE ham

vAranAsyam varapradam sri

Anupallavi

bhUtAdi sam sEvita charanam

bhUta bhoutika prapancha varanam

Madhyama kAla sAhityam

veeta rAhinam vinuta yOginam

viswa kAranam vigna vAranam

Charanam

purA kumbha sambhava muni vara prapoojitham trikona madhyagatam

murAri pramukhadhyupAsitham moolAdhAra ksetrasthitham

parAdhi chatvAri vAdhathmakham praNava swaroopa vakrathundam

nirantharam nitila chandra kandam nijavAmakaravidrEkshu dhandam

Madhyama kAla sAhityam

karAmbuja pAsa beejA pooram kalushavidhooram bhootAkAram

harAdhi guruguha thoshitha bimbam hamsadhwani bhooshitha hErambam

Dikshithar says he worships ganapati who has an elephant face (varanAsyam) and grants varam (boon) (varapradam). He is having a feet being worshipped by all, starting from bhootha gaNam and he protects the universe. He is the cause behind the creation of the world and he clears all obstacles of the devotees. He is being worshipped by Agastya (kumbha muni). HE resides in the center of the triangle "trigOna". He is being meditated by Vishnu and other great ones. He resides in the moolAdhara chakra. He is in the form of 4 sounds. His trunk is in the form of Pranavam (AumkAram). He is the permanant one (nirantaram). He has a cresent moon on his fore head. Ganapati has sugar cane in his left hand (vama kara - ikshu dhandam). He also has pAsam (a weapon) in one of his lotus hands and in others - fruits and other tasty items. He drives all evils away. He has a gigantic appearance. He is worshipped from Hara to Guruguha, He is the lord Heramba, adorned with the rAga hamsadhwani.

The rAga mudra (hamsadhwani) and Dikshithar's signature "guruguha" comes in the last line of the kriti.

Lets now have a look at the second song - pArvati patim.

Pallavi

parvati patim pranammi sathatham

Asrutha jana mandhAram sasidharam

SamashTi charanam

parvata rAja nutha padhAmbujam

bhadraprada kailAsavirAjam

Madhyama kAla sAhityam

garvitha tripurAdihara chaturam

guruguha vandita sivasankaram

A short and sweet kriti indeed. He offers his salutations to the husband of pArvati, Lord Shiva. He is the kalpaka tree in giving all that are demanded by people who surrender themselves to him. He refers to siva as sasidharan (onw who has moon on his head). He is being worshipped by the mountain king (parvata rAjA). Dikshithar also mentions Shiva as the king of kailash. He killed the arrogant asurAs. He is being adored by guruguha.

Guruguha gAnAmrutham

By, Saranya Gurumurthy

No sooner did I utter this word or hear this word, than comes to my mind, the youngest among the modern trinity, the divine composer, Sri Muthuswami Dikshithar. No doubt. His kritis are the immortal nectar (amrutham). He has composed nearly 400 and odd songs. His compositions will be well organised and will definitely have some theme or strong context. He has composed many group kritis. To quote some, kamalAmbA navAvarna kritis, nIlOtpalAmbA kritis, sodasha gaNapati kritis, tyAgarAja vibhakti kritis, guruguha vibhakti kritis etc..

sodasha gaNapati kritis is a collection of 16 kritis on Lord GaNEshA. Few kritis are mahA gaNapatim (Nattai), siddhi vinAyakam (chAmaram a.k.a shanmukhapriya) etc..

kamalAmbA navAvarnam is on goddess kamalAmba who is the deity of tiruvArUr, his birth place. It has a song on gaNapthi in the rAga gowlA, Muruga in the rAgA suruTTi, an introductory kriti in the rAgA ThOdi. Then follows nine kritis in the rAgA Ananda bhairavi, kalyAni, sankarAbaraNam, kAmbOji, Bhairavi, SahAnA, puNNAgavarALi, ghanta, Aahiri. It has a concluding kriti (mangala sAsanam) in the rAgA srI. All the nine kritis will start with a request to kamalAmba to protect us and a brief description about the goddess. The charaNams will have description about the chakrams in the "Sri Chakram", the dEvathas of the chakrams and so on.

nIlOtpalAmba kritis is a collection of nine kritis on the deity nIlOtpalAmbA (the goddess of the blue lotus), who is the consort of Lord TyAgarAja, the presiding deity of tiruvArUr. All the kritis are set in the rAgA ending with gAuLa. The rAgAs are nArAyaNa gauLa, nArireethigauLa (2 compositions in this rAgA), kannada gauLa, kEdhAra gauLa, mAyAmALava gauLa, chAyA gauLa, pUrva gauLa, gauLa. The rAga nAri reethi gauLa is different from the regular ritigowlai. The aarOhanam (ascending phase) is to be sung as naTabhairavi and the avarOhanam (descending phase) is to be sung as riti gowlai.

Why mAyAmALavagouLa???

By, Harini Ramakrishnan

I have always wondered this –"Why is mAyAmALavagauLa the first raaga taught to a Carnatic Music student???" .. Why is it not Sankarabharanam, which is the first lesson taught in Western Classical music? Why is it not Mohanam, which sounds lesser complicated and simple? There are a multitude of reasons why Saint Purandaradasa chose this ragam to be the first lesson to be learnt – To put it lightly, the intervals between the notes are very beginner friendly - Sa to Ma is symmetric to Pa to Sa, and the intervals are uniform (0.5 - 1 - 0.5) which makes it an easy raga to play on a fretless instrument like the violin. Also, the symmetric gaps between successive notes only makes it more convenient to drive the differences and subtleties of swarasthanas better.

Another point to note here is that Sri Muttuswamy Dikshithar, youngest of the Carnatic Music Trinity also made his first composition «Shri Naathaadi Guruguho» in the raga mAyAmALavagauLa. As if to justify the fact that this raga makes an ideal lesson for a beginner, Dikshithar's composotion has both the Aarohanam and the Avarohanam of the raga in three speeds in the pallavi of the composition. Any doubts that great minds think alike?

Is it to stress the importance of learning this raga that Sri Purandaradasa composed the initial Geethams in Raga Malahari , which is a janya of mayamalavagowla? Why mAyAmALavagauLa ?

We are very happy to receive this article from Kum. Harini Ramakrishnan, who is an ardent lover of carnatic music! She performs the keyboard and has given many performances. She is currently working @ Cognizant Technology Solutions.