“What have you done for me lately?” – A popular question, especially in America.
It is a question we ask and answer in our daily lives. If I am late in submitting a commentary for a concert, I am on the receiving end of the same question. No one is immune to it. Sure, it prevents grass from growing under our feet but the stress takes a toll on our lives. Different people have different ways of dealing with stress. My father, in spite of all the stress he faced had some simple formulas for stress management – be religious, have a sense of humor, keep good company, enjoy carnatic music and enjoy good food. “When you are angry eat one jangry” – he would say. Jangry is a beautiful looking South Indian sweet dish in a pleasing crimson color. It takes a lot of skill and care to make those intricate circular patterns by extruding dough directly onto boiling oil. The fried dough is taken out of the oil with precise timing and then soaked in sugar syrup. You would put on a couple of pounds just for looking.
My father was also full of surprises. One day he suddenly announced that he is planning to build a house in “Govindapuram” and eventually move there. It is a village near Kumbakonam in South India. We were up in arms, as we were worried about medical facilities in such a place for this ‘jangry’ eating diabetic. Being a stubborn man all his life, my father went ahead and made an investment in a group development project there. His attraction to Govindapuram was, of course, the environment of Bhajans and religious activities. But, he never made it there. After his lifetime, my mother gave the investment away to charities.
Let us stop and think a little deeper on this. It is actually visionary “reverse migration” move. Migration for opportunities is common among all ambitious youngsters. Our forefathers may have moved from villages to cities seeking opportunities. In subsequent generations, some of us have moved to different countries. Now the world has become one big village. Communications through e-mail, instant messaging, VOIP phones and telephone have become cheap or even free. Super long distance non-stop flights are common. May be it is time to do some reverse migration – not just to the place you grew up but all the way to the roots of your ancestry.
Some of us NRIs dream of going back to India for retirement. Let us face it, only a few of us will actually get there. If you are one of ones to get back to India, where will you go – Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai or Delhi? Good luck - more stress awaits you there such as endless set of activities, traffic, cost and pollution. With medical advances and communication facilities, Govindapuram may be a viable option. Reflect on it. Let us talk about the concerts.
Sikkil Gurucharan Concert: When the e-mail from Shiva Vishnu Temple Cultural Committee came about Sikkil Gurucharan’s concert, I quickly went online searching for some song samples by him. They were fantastic. I asked my cousins and friends in India about him and got glorious reviews.
But at the end of the concert, I had one question in my mind to Gurcharan and you guessed it – “What have you done for me lately”?
With Nagai Sriram was on the violin and Neyveli Skanda Subramanian on the Mridangam it was a great team with some brilliant moments but my overall impression was “out of focus”. The concert started well with Kanada varnam and at high speeds Gurucharan was brilliant. The first three or four songs were good and then the concert started to sag. The low point of the concert was the beginning of the main piece - Alapana in Kamas was shaky. Sure he tried to make up but the damage was done. The alapana part of the RTP in Hemavathi was a big yawn. I looked around the auditorium to find about 25% of the initial crowd had vanished. But when the mridangam joined in the Thanam part the mridangam the concert started to pick up some momentum. Violin by Nagai Sriram was solid not stellar. However, it was not good enough to resuscitate the concert. Mridangam was the saving grace. Sri Skanda Subramanian was consistent through the concert.
Carnatic music enthusiasts of South Florida deserve better from these visiting artists. They should give their full whether they are on the tail end of their tour or a Sunday concert. May be the Committee can find a gentle way of passing on the message to the visiting artists.
Jaysri-Jeyaraaj Veena Duet:
“Satisfying” – was the word that came to my mind after listening to a unique husband/wife veena duet with South Florida’s own Dr. Ramakrishnan providing the mridangam support. It was great to see such a wonderful coordination and understanding between a husband and wife pair, no kidding. Now, if only we can bring that same coordination and understanding in our homes – well dream on.
If you close your eyes and listen to them it is hard to tell the veena players apart. They were so close to each other in talent level and style. It is a whole different ball game if you opened your eyes. Jeyaraaj was very engaging with the artists, audience and the sound engineers while Jaysri was stoic. I remember seeing her smile only on two occasions during the entire evening.
At the end of the concert, the artists were gracious enough to describe the special veena and answer some questions. The frets and the strings in the electronic veena were identical to the Saraswathi Veena. The sound was amplified electronically making the instrument manageable in size and easy for the traveling musicians. The instrument also had a built in sruthi box. For the purists, the sound would not have been as rich as the traditional Saraswathi Veena.
Song and ragam selections were superb. Here is the list:
Ata thala varnam in Bhairavi
Gajananayutham Ganeshwaran by Muthuswamy Deekshitar in Vegavahini (Deekshitar nomenclature for Chakravaham) – effortlessly played, great coordination between the artists, excellent alapana. Dr. Ramakrishnan gave a great support
Raghu Vamsa Sutha by Patnam Subramania Iyer in Kathana Kuthoohalam – an all time favorite of all music lovers. Even to those occasional carnatic music listeners this toe-tapping joyous number with some western overtones is very enjoyable. The song was so joyous it even made the female artist crack a smile.
Sri Saraswathi Namosthuthe in Arabi – During the alapana the artist lost some focus, could have made it livelier.
Main piece, Ninne Nammi in ragam Simhandra Madhyamam and Mishra Chapu thalam – Alapana was very meditative which was broken by an unintended supporting artist, a cell phone, please. The hand-offs between the couple were well handled. Dr. Ramakrishnan worked hard and gave a good performance during the Thani.
Pandurithi Kollu – Hamsanadam - Very clean delivery
RTP in Sankarabharanam – very inspiring alapana. Ragamalika during the thanam part was very unique –Sahana, Brindavana Saranga and Hamsanandhi. Thalam was Thisra Triputai (Laghu part has three counts followed by two Dhrithams for a total of 7-beats).
Radha Sametha Krishna in Yamuna Kalyani – very enjoyable
Govardhana Giridhari in Darbari Kanada
Lalgudi Thillana in Rageshree – the ragam stumped the crowd including the South Florida expert Mrs. Anu Aji.
My only gripe is that I wish I heard the concert in a Saraswathi veena. I am sure I will catch these artists in concert in India one of these days (or years).
