Sangeetham

  SAINT Tyagaraja (1767-1847), one of the musical trinities, poured his heart out to his  ishta devata , viz., Rama via Bantu Reeti Koluvu in his mother tongue: Telugu. Sheikh Chinna Moulana , one of the greatest nadaswaram vidwans in India (this wind instrument is rarely played outside the southern states), brought back memories of my mother. He was playing exclusively for me via YouTube in volume three a week ago during my morning walking regimen.  The nation was burning with the Hindu-Muslim communal disturbance, and here, a devout Muslim was playing a Ram dhun . What a contrast!  That's where my Bantu Reeti Koluvu trip commenced. K J Yesudas , the renowned classical singer tutored under the guidance of late Sembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar, was my first halt. As his name indicates, Yesudas is a Christian. He again sings paeans to the Hindu god: Rama. Another coincidence.  His version was short and sweet : 5 minutes. A listener's comment about Yesudas's renditi...

  BELIEVE me, despite the impressionable first 20 years of upbringing in Mylapore in the proximity of Music Academy, Rasika Ranjani Sabha, Mylapore Fine Arts Club, and other popular (or is it elite?) cultural hangouts in the pre-Doordarshan era, my Carnatic music taste was non-existent.  More focus was on light music by Uma Venkatraman-A V Ramanan, Abhaswaram troupes.  Of course, I regularly sat at Venus Colony kathakalakshebam (discourses on Indian epics), accompanying my maternal grandmother.  However, Carnatic music was not alien because my mother, grandmother, and families of friends in the neighborhood sang devotional songs. Daily almost. Navaratri meant not only sundal but also mamis in colorful silk sarees, and Pretty Young Things in pavadai-thavani exercising their vocal cords in front of the stair-cased golu bommais .  Carnatic music, for me, is nothing but bhakti rasa outpouring in various languages or through instruments. Heard less of Hindi devotiona...