A NEW LIFE, A NEW BEGINNING…

College… It is a dream every child cherishes from very young, even before he or she reaches high school! The stage where each one of us sheds our skin as a girl or a boy and gear ourselves to adorn the hat of a woman or a man. A place where we will no more have parents and teachers rushing to our sides when we have petty fights with our friends. A place where friendship acquires a newer meaning. And most of all, a place where there are no more punishments for unkempt hair or one plait and unpolished shoes or uniforms not ironed [It used be a nightmare of every school student!].

College life can be like a roller coaster ride, either taken in the best or the worst sense. We need to tread carefully across this stage, as we are more prone to falter and fall. It is that stage of life where we are neither children nor complete adults. We get to at last vote, watch adult movies [!!], swipe credit cards, drive cars and ride bikes. But we cannot buy a house, sign high level documents or even escape from EXAMS. A totally baffling stage according to me. In college we can dare to crawl till the edge. Either we would have been scared of the edge before college, in school or we would be scared of the fall once out of college, in the society.

Teachers here [henceforth professors!] play a pivotal role in shaping up a student. If we manage to get into their good books, then we are saved from many of the consequences of being an ‘unruly child’ in their lingo! They can be devils if they want to but when it comes to being an angel, I think a real angel would have to hide her face in shame in front of them. We all would have had our own school teachers’ experiences and encounters.

Friends are an inevitable part of college life. I have seen so many people isolating themselves from the class and be in a world of their own in school. This is just next to impossible in college. They become so important that almost every action of ours would be centered on catching their favor or maybe just to amuse them. So much so that scoring good marks may also be to win a bet with a friend! They are the people we can trust and sometimes it might get bitter. But that is where our common sense needs to interfere; to get friends who will match our wavelength and be with us throughout, rain or shine.

Finally I am forced to conclude this blog by only wishing everyone out there a great life. As my college starts tomorrow, the excitement in me is just struggling to pour out! We shall all come out as men and women, serve the humanity in whichever way and leave a mark behind us when we leave the planet. And this is what every college aims to achieve for its students. All through the way I will forever be grateful to my school teachers and well wishers who have helped me cross the stage of girlhood in the most beautiful way and are always wishing the best for all of us…

Dikshitar- A journey

The youngest among the music Trinity, Muttuswamy Dikshitar’s compositions are full of evocative appeal and sublime emotions, coupled with a high degree of knowledge in the Sanskrit language, the Mantra shastras and mythology.


Ancestors of Muttuswamy Dikshitar were reportedly from Virinchipuram in North Arcot. His father Ramaswamy Dikshitar was well versed in Sanskrit and music. He also composed a number of krtis on Shri Tyagaraja, the presiding deity of Tiruvarur where he had settled down. Muttuswamy was born on March 25^th 1775. Eldest of four, he followed his father’s footsteps to become proficient in Vina and Vocal music.

Muttuswamy was under the tutelage of a Chidambaranatha Yogi who had been the one to initiate Ramaswamy Dikshitar into the Srividya cult. In this five years he spent in Varanashi, he was influenced by the Hindusthani style. This is evident in some of his compositions, where he has used Hindusthani ragas like Dvijayavanti (Chetah shri), Yamunakalyani (Jambhoopate), Hameerkalyani (Purahara nandana), etc.

After the demise of Chidambaranatha Yogi, Dikshitar left for Tiruttani, which is said to be a significant milestone in his life. It is believed that during his stay there Lord Muruga had himself come in the disguise of an elderly man and put sugar candy in his mouth and disappeared. Thereafter, the nae ‘Guruguha’ became his mudra. Of all the group compositions he has composed, The Guru Vibhakti krtis are said to be the first.

His exposure to Western Music was through an invitation from Chinayya Mudaliyar of Manali. He composed Sanskrit lyrics for Western tunes (most of them are in the ‘Major scale’, corresponding to Shankarabharanam of Carnatic). Thus he has composed around 35 ‘Nottuswaras’, written on various deities.

Dikshitar’s meeting with another musical genius of that time, Shyama Shastri was when he had come to Tanjavur to teach music to The Quartret. The Shriranjani varnam left incomplete by the composer, his father Ramaswamy Dikshitar was given a full form with Dikshitar, Shyama shastri and his younger brother Chinnaswami Dikshitar composing a charanam each, thereby giving proof of the acquaintance between Syama Sastri and Dikshitar.

Dikshitar was a wide traveler. From visiting the abode of Lord Pasupatishvaram in the Northern country of Nepal to Rameshwaram in the South, the deity being Lord Ramanatha, Dikshitar has measured the expanse of our huge country.

Moreover Dikshitar’s compositions were an Encyclopedia by themselves. Almost all of his compositions include the Kshetra (place), deity and spouse, sacred tree and the tank, favorite delicacies and color, local customs and  even the architectural beauty of the temple. In compositions like the ones on Goddess Kamalamba, the songs are full of Tantric details, referring to the Chakra, the Yogini, etc.

He has also composed a complete series of songs in the Asampurna 72 Melakarta System. The talams he has used are many. Of the complex ones, he has composed in Mishra Jhampa (Dakshinamurte), In fact each of his Navagraha compositions dedicated to each of the nine celestial planets are composed in the Sapta talas.

Couple of songs are also composed in Manipravalam (Shri abhayamba – Shri). There are also compositions in Ragamalika (Shri Vishwanatham, Simhasanasthithe, Purnachandrabimba), a feature that was rare to find among the contemporaries. The former  holds a stature of special mention since it is set in 14 ragams, hence known as the Chaturdasha Ragamalika Krti. Rarer of the lot yet again a masterpiece, the Dashavatara ragamalika, Madhavo mampatu is an example of his boundless creativity.

There are compositions that are brimming with information from the Lalitopakhyanam. They are all devoted to Goddess Lalita, the presiding deity of the Shrividya chakram.

On the whole, Dikshitar was a true Vaggeyakara, a devout devotee and a multifaceted human being, whose contributions to this world are immeasurable and priceless.

“Shri naathaadi guruguho jayati jayati”

A BIRTHDAY REMEMBERANCE TO THE TRAIL BLAZER

Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar was, in the words of a contemporary, the "architect and maker of modern Carnatic music. He was the torchbearer of one of the many styles that were emerging then. It is a pity that our generation never got to watch his concerts live and interact with him. But technology has facilitated us in our quest to listen and learn by getting us numerous recordings and accounts of his lifestyle which are indeed a very valuable source to learn about the Sangeeta Upasaka.

His life and music followed the movement of the oonjal, the swing. In fact it is a well known fact that he spent all his time singing and swinging! In the 1920s he introduced the shortened kutcheri as we know it today, with the varnam, a few short krtis, the mid-section consisting of a main raga and krtis followed by a ragam-tanam-pallavi, and the tukkadas towards the end. With intense discipline and practice he developed an enviable repertoire: it is rumoured that he knew the most number of songs, almost a hundred, in the Raga Todi alone. His hallmark was the madhyamakala or medium tempo. Tricky and very difficult to emulate, he maintained this unique tempo throughout the concert and held the audience in complete attention.
It was his belief that the essence of Carnatic music was to convey raga bhava, and the alapana would reflect the embodiment of the krti to follow. So while his raga alapana was brief, the perception was that people could actually guess which song he was going to sing by listening to the alapana. This is enough proof that every time he sang a particular Raga, it would always sound refreshingly new.

Humility as a pose and artifice, stood self - indicted and self exposed. He always attributed his "humble" success to the great masters like his Guru Poochi Iyengar, Thirukodikaval Krishna Iyer and others. How he would spend the time on a performance day, avoiding sleep in the afternoon and doing musical dhyanam all the time, indicate what reverence he had for the Art.

Ariyakudi mama’s music is the touch-stone on which we can judge the standard of the music of others, probably because, it is in the truest and basic traditions of our classical music. In the words of Shri G N Balasubramaniam, a contemporary who considered Ariyakudi his guru, ‘his is probably the one instance of a unique wedlock of seeming incompatibles, "sastra" and "sravya" and tradition and modernity’. He believed that music was a divine gift that God in His manifestation as Nada Brahman gave to the world. He was a true believer in using the Tambura shruti and was noted saying that, of the instruments of shruti, there is none to excel the Tambura. Upholding the  tradition and classicism of Carnatic Music were the sole meaning of his music filled life. He felt that it is quite possible to please the hearers without transgressing the bounds of tradition after seeing many musicians caught in the desire to cater to the taste of the audience. He gave a lot of importance to Sahitya bhava and considered any performance soulless if a musician did not have the knowledge of the Sahityam.

It is my good fortune that under a scholarship scheme, I am able to learn from one of his foremost disciples and one who has observed him from a very close range, Shri Alepey Venkatesan. Even if Ariyakudi mama left us long time back, his music lived and will live. Well, history will never change…

PS : Ideas and certain points courtesy Ariyakudi’s presidential address at The Music Academy and ‘Voices Within’.

SINGING FOR A LEGEND…

Dr. Vyjayantimala Bali. The name shall never stop ringing a bell in the ears of the billions of people on this planet. The epitome of perfect beauty, grace, hard work and perfection. Sometimes it is said that the eyes can deceive and that is how the popular saying ‘looks can be deceptive’ came up. But here neither have my eyes deceived me nor her looks. .

Singing for her dance is the most uplifting experience of my life. I feel I am truly blessed to even see her beautiful feet take one step forward. The way she immerses herself in the dance, gets into the shoes or much better, the soul of the character she is portraying, be it the ‘nayika’ who is waiting for her lord as in many varnams, the most memorable being the Tanjore Quartrets’ Kambodhi pada varnam, my first ever for her and Suma Saayaka, the effervescent master piece of Swati Tirunal that she performed in Delhi; the ‘gopi’ who is exasperated by Lord Krshna’s pranks on her and decides to see tongue in cheek with him and intelligently replies to all of Krshna’s statements in the Shloka extract from Krshna Karnaamrtam that she did in Calcutta, or the farmer who is generally complaining about the society which held the Mylapore audiences’ attention so much so that even a pin dropped could be heard, or Shri Andal, who sings beautiful verses on her Lord, that she performs before every concert.. I can go on and on about every single role and movement of hers. Words are just not enough to express the beauty of this peerless sculpture that has taken a human form.

The practice sessions that are innumerable in number for every program of hers are a joy in themselves. A true perfectionist, she does not stop with correcting just me and the accompanists but even with herself, she is never lenient. Her irritation when something goes slightly wrong will never result in a scream drama but in more and more of practice and just sheer practice by all of us. By saying ‘slightly wrong’, the extent can be compared to what will happen to the food if one prepared it with just one grain of salt less!

Vyjayantimala ma is one truly multifaceted person, juggling the roles of a legendary dancer, yesteryear film star, former MP and not many would know, a reigning champion of golf and table tennis, though she does not indulge herself in playing them now. With so many feathers in her cap, she is so humble and childlike, and takes so much pleasure in even small things like treating herself on a box of her favorite sweets. I think most sweet shop owners would give a whole shop of them to her! With so much, she is very religious and God fearing and attributes all her success to Shri Andal.

I have no words to explain what I feel at this moment, even thinking of her. As joyous tears well up in my eyes, reminiscing on the hard work that goes into every performance, the dancing feet, the expressive eyes and not to forget the charming smile, my happiness knows no bounds. She is a true artiste and I say this not without a proof. In one of her performances that was a tribute to the great composer Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi, I remember she was dancing for a song in praise of Lord Hanuman, Bhakta bhagadheya. The last scene depicted the story where Hanuman proves his devotion to Lord Rama by tearing open his chest. She was so moved that she was in tears, as there was a thundering applause for yet another of her divine and mesmerizing dance. She completely immersed herself in playing the role of Hanuman or else such an unconscious reaction would not have been the result.

Though I can write volumes about her, I am restricting myself to these pages. I feel extremely lucky to observe her from such a close range. It is a dream come true for millions of people on Earth but to have it fulfilled when I am just a teenager is nothing but The Lord’s and my Guru’s choicest blessings on me. I shall always look forward to every meeting with her and quench my thirst to learn more and more…