Branavan Varathan Mridangam Arangetram

Branavan Varathan successfully completed his Mridangam Arangetram on Aug 14, 2011 in the Audirorium at Bahia Mar Beach Resort, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Before we discuss the Arangetram let us talk a little bit about Branavan’s heritage, Tamils from Ilangai. Until I stepped foot in the United States, I did not know many Tamils from Sri Lanka with the exception of one kid for a year in my Eighth grade class. In Florida, Jayanthi and I have had the pleasure of developing good friendship with several Sri Lankan Tamils in our community. They have truly enriched our family as we brought up two children in Florida. Our daughter, Deepa, learned dance from Mrs. Harija Sivakumar and our Son, Prem, attended Sai Bala Vikas classes conducted by Sri Gobinathan. Both these teachers were from the Sri Lankan Tamil tradition. Over the years I have developed a great affinity for them and our heartfelt thanks for their incredible contribution to the art forms and religion that originated in India.

Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora is most definitely one of the most impressive one in human history. Tamil language and their devotion to Lord Muruga are the main links that connect the two cultures. As we move south from Chennai, Tamil becomes sweeter. It is certainly the sweetest in Sri Lanka in my view. It took me a while to get in tune with their beautiful accent and usage of the language. A Sri Lankan Tamil can live anywhere in the world, but their patriotic spirit and affection to the Tamil language will never go away.

Tamilians have broadly classified the language into three parts – poetry, music and drama. Sri Lankan Tamils have excelled in all three. In every function a Sri Lankan Tamil is always ready with a lovely poem written specifically for the event. Their contribution to music, dance and drama has been really incredible. Language, religion and culture have seeped into them at their DNA level. Hats off to this wonderful community! My heart truly goes out to those still suffering in Sri Lanka. In this social networking era, many oppressive regimes are being toppled one-by-one around the world. Hoping Lord Muruga will hear the prayers of Tamils around the world and bring relief to those who are still suffering. Peace.

Branavan is another wonderful example of the next generation Tamil to absorb the culture. He delivered a wonderful Mridangam Arangetram to the vocal music of Sri Madhu Chandrasekar and violin support of Sri Sanjay Chandran. Let me first congratulate Dr. S. Ramakrishnan, Branavan’s mridangam teacher for a wonderful job in bringing out the student’s talents. Let us go program:

Varnam in Vasantha/Adi (8-beat cycle) – very good start to the program. Madhu was at his best delivering a fluent rendition of the varnam. Branavan started to warm up

Mooladhara Moorthe in Hamsadhwani/Adi – On the violin, Sanjay’s swara passages were excellent. Branavan’s hard work was evident in this. He matched the song with speed and pitch with his instrument.

Sogasuga Mridanga Thalamu in Sri Ranjani/Rupakam (6-beat cycle) – very apt song for a mridangam centric concert. Branavan is completely warmed up by now and ready for the rest of the evening.

Idathu Padam in Kamas/Adi – very peppy and a popular dance number. In this version the singer gave a lot of room for the mridangam artist to showcase his talent in changing the Nadai (flow pattern). Mridangam playing is very mathematical and when the teacher is a professor of mathematics there is no end to the permutations and combinations. Adi is an eight beat cycle. However, the Nadai can be in a sequence of four (chathurasra) or a sequence of three (tisra) or a sequence of five (khanda) etc. This is all expressed within the framework of an 8-beat base thalam . The change between the Nadais is really beautiful to listen to and Branavan executed them nicely.

Bhajarere in Kalyani/Mishra Chapu (7-beat cycle) – Madhu’s voice during the alapana was very powerful. Both Sanjay and Madhu traveled through this mesmerizing ragam. Mridangam blended beautifully with the song. Mridangam, by design, is a supporting instrument to vocal or instrumental artist. When the supporting instrument dissolves into the song the audience will experience divinity. This song had a small solo piece for Branavan. Great job!

Thunai Purindarul in Varamu/Adi - the artists were very comfortable on stage

Main Piece: Punniyam Oru Kodi in Keeravani/Double branched Adi(16-beat cycle) – alapana was very elaborate. I am not very familiar with this ragam but it was quite evident that Madhu had worked very hard to deliver a fantastic alapana. Song was a bit on the slow side.

Thani Avardhanam, percussion solo – this is the main part of the mridangam arangetram. The artist shows his mastery over the fundamentals and also attempts some advanced combinations. Branavan has worked hard through the years under the able guidance of Dr. Ramakrishnan and it clearly showed. The strokes were clean and the audiences were able to hear clear separation of sound between strokes even at high speeds. Since Branavan did not have another supporting percussionist, it put a lot more pressure on him but he came out in flying colors. Awesome!

Bhogeendra Sainam in Kundalavarali/Khanda Chapu (5-beat cycle) – Nice peppy number. Branavan had a lot of opportunities to show some nice flourishes.

RTP in Shanmuga Priya/Khanda Jathi Triputa - double branched (18-beat cycle) – Alapana was fantastic. This is a beautiful ragam and there are many songs on Lord Muruga sung in this ragam. Branavan executed the patterns in three speeds and it takes a lot of concentration. Dr. Ramakrishnan was in the front row working much like an orchestra conductor. The ragamalika section of the song was very entertaining with a lot of popular ragams like Mohanam, Hindolam and Ranjani.

Enna Kavi Padinalum in Neelamani/Adi – great bhavam in the singing. Madhu is gifted with his ability to bring out the emotions of the song. Nice job!

Bhaktha Jana in Brindavana Saranga/Chathurasra Eka (4-beat cycle) – energy!

Unnaiye Ninaindu Urugum in Madhyamavathi/Adi – Soulful Sai Bhajan!

Thillana in Revathi/Mishra Chapu – very powerful.

The concert ended with few verses of Thevaram followed by Mangalam.

With the permission of the South Florida listening audience, I would like to make a special recognition to our resident singer Sri Madhu Chandrasekar. He has put in immense effort in practicing for this concert. Madhu has a wonderful voice that can pack a lot of power especially when he sings in Revathi. He can show the beauty of Kalyani ragam and can bring out the emotion of the lyrics. I especially liked his alapana before every song. I am sure you will agree that it won’t be an exaggeration if we call him “Alapanai Arasan” (king of alapana). Nice job, Madhu – save that voice!

If you notice the thalams played by Branavan is a wide variety from 4-beat cycle to 18-beat cycle. He clearly showed a breadth and depth of his learning. As I always have said, arangetram is not the end but the beginning. There is no end to how much you can learn in this. But in keeping with your heritage, I have not doubts that you will surely learn, perform and eventually teach this art form. Jayanthi auntie joins me in blessing you to receive everything your heart desires in life. Our congratulations to parents Varathan and Pragashini and also to elder sister Arabi, you have all done a great job in bringing Branavan to this level.

Neha Govindaraj Arangetram

Once More!

Neha Govindaraj gave a riveting performance on Aug 13, 2011 at the Miramar Arts and Cultural Center. Yes, let us call it a performance rather than an Arangetram.

Couple of years ago, when I was watching a group performance of Sangeetha Sridhar’s students, it was very clear that Neha was separating from the group and moving faster and farther in this art form. Naturally I had great expectations for her Arangetram performance. Neha blew through my expectation and took the evening to a level of a professional dance performance. “Once More” is a cliché that receives the attention but let me ask you Neha – Many More!

Sangeetha Sridhar, the Guru, is well known in the community as a creative choreographer. We all come with great expectations. Her repertoire seems to be so extensive that she can do a hundred programs and not repeat a single item. Congratulations in bringing out contemporary themes as the tough economic times, manmade/natural disasters and wars around the world into the performance and at the same time reminding us share the wealth, friendship across religious and cultural borders as solutions to such problems. All with a song written by Kanchi Maha Periyaval in 1966 – great work. I am sure all of us would like to see more such inclusions in future performances as the contemporary themes always strike a chord with the audience and help to keep the art form alive.

Jayanthi auntie is tickled pink that Neha decided to join Northwestern University, the alma mater for our daughter (Deepa) and the current school for our son, Prem. We wish you the very best and bless you to achieve everything your heart desires. Let us revisit the evening.

As we entered the hall the decorations were a feast for the eyes. As if that is not enough the Govindaraj family has provided a real feast as well with sumptuous appetizers and a grand sit down dinner at the end of the program. The flow of the program was excellent. The MC’s, Prerana and Pinky, did a superb job keeping the audience engaged. I really liked their pronunciations of the difficult dance terms in a variety of Indian languages such as Sanskrit, Tamil and Kannada. The backdrop of Lord Nataraja inside a Temple that is depicted in Earth tones added to the beauty of the performance. Jayanthi joins me in congratulating Padmaja and Govindaraj – you should be extremely proud of your accomplishments as parents of such beautiful children, Pinky and Neha. God bless.

Bhavani did it again. Below are her comments about the performance. Enjoy.

Mrs. Bhavani Nirmal wrote:

Yesterday’s arangetram of Neha Govindraj at Miramar Civic Cultural Center is yet another rose in the bouquet of achievements of Smti. Sangeetha Sridhar, our renowned dancer/teacher in South Florida. As expected, the songs selected for the performance were carefully selected to bring out the best in the debutante. As Sangeetha herself mentioned, she gave Neha the opportunity to learn not merely the nuances of the art form, Bharatanrityam but understand the meaning of the songs and learn the cultural and religious significance of the songs. At a time when we elders are worried about the future of our religion and culture, I must say that last night I could sleep peacefully.

As usual, the highlight of the performance was the Varnam which kept the audience in an euphoric state. Neha, I must say became Andal herself and I was expecting Lord Ranganatha to appear on the stage from Srirangam to bless his ardent devotee. Neha’s facial expressions of the longing for her Lord and the pangs of suffering from the separation from her beloved were very elegantly portrayed. As a devotee who is partial to Sri Krishna, I enjoyed the abhinaya of Neha for both Chikavane Ivanu and Baro Krishnayya But Idadu padam Thooki was another highlight of the evening’s performance and Smti.Padma Subrahmanyam’s style of typical movement of the legs and the hips was beautifully executed by Neha. As the anniversary of 9/11 tragedy is coming soon, I was moved by the message of peace so artistically presented by Neha to H.H.. Shri Chandrasekhara Saraswathi’s Maithreem Bhajatha. When the compere’s were describing the item, I was wondering how Neha was going to portray the Twin Tower terror air strike. I liked the way Neha depicted it so swiftly which reinforced my faith that terrorism can never succeed in our soil or destabilize our democracy. Sangeetha’s choreography was as usual splendid but I was told that Neha also had her input in it. This is what makes a performance memorable when the learning objective is achieved through a synchronization of the mind of the teacher and the taught. The music by Mr Sudev Warier and the Mridangam by Shri Sudhaman and the flute bt Shri Krishna Prasad was divine and added to our enjoyment. Priyanka and Prerana were great as Masters of Ceremony and tried their best to pronounce the names of the Ragam and composers correctly and their introduction and description of the items helped all of us understand the expositions on the stage better.

Neha: It was a memorable arangetram and I only have a satisfied feeling about the whole event. That does not mean that you cannot continue to practice and achieve greater heights. Please enjoy the art form and enrich your experience by experimenting with innovations and additions from not merely Bharathiya culture but from World culture. The language of art is universal and for any art form to survive, its appeal must be universal. At the same time I do not expect you to convert it to a tap dance or Boogie Woogie! May Lord Nataraja bless you in all your future endeavors.

Padmaja and Govindraj you both outdid your selves in making the entire arangetram an enjoyable experience for all of us and it was not merely a feast for the eyes but our palate too. You are really my vision of ideal parents and I must specially commend both of you for providing a growth and nurturing environment to your two charming daughters to succeed in life. Hopefully, your humility, despite all your achievements in life should set an example for Neha and Priyanka to follow. Now it is up to them to take up the challenge and live up to the expectations of not merely you but all of us in the community.

Bhavani Nirmal