As a couple, they were traveling in a bullock cart, on the
narrow muddy road, from Tiruchirapalli to Srirangam.. She was pregnant and in
her final trimester. They were going to meet, his elder brother, who was a
music teacher in Srirangam. His elder brother had called him over, to assist in
the music classes, and also manage the family agriculture.
The bullock cart was swaying with each pit in the road, and
she was grimacing, with each jerk. He held her hands, and said comfortingly,” Please
bear, it is only a question of few more hours.”
They stopped on the way, opened their cloth bags, and unpacked their
lunches. They sat near a brook, on the green grass, under the shade of a tree. The
Sun was hot , and they wiped the sweat with the end of her pallu. They ate curd
rice with fried dried- brown chilies, and had tasty, small baby mangoes
shrunken by being soaked in salt and chilies water. They drank fresh water from
the brook, and proceeded on their way. It was late in the afternoon, when they arrived.
On hearing the sound of jingling bells tied around the
bullock’s neck, the children of the house, ran out shouting in delight, “chittappa and
chitti have come.” [ father’s younger brother and his wife ]. The elder brother came
out of the house and gathered his younger brother in his arms.” Come, come
Srinivasan, come in,” he said. He looked at Srini’s wife, he said , ”You too come my child.” Srnivasan’s wife got down from the bullock cart with
difficulty as she was heavy with the child.
Srinivasan smiled at his elder brother, and he enquired, “How are you anna? And how is manni? “[ anna – elder brother, manni- elder brother’s wife]. His elder brother’s wife, Kamala came out , and welcomed Srinivasan’s wife. She smiled and said, “Come Lakshmi come in,” and held her hand to lead her in. Srinivasan picked up his elder brother’s two children, Gopal, and Mala, aged 5 and 2 years and kissed them fondly on the head, and said, “How are you, my little darlings?”
The children laughed in response, and Mala said, “Chitappa, Gopal, pinched me.” Srini laughed and said, “Do not worry, now that I am here. He will not pinch you here after.” All of them went in. Srini lowered the children to the ground, and unloaded his small luggage of one trunk box and few household utensils. The children insisted on helping him with the luggage, and though their role was more trouble than help, Srini let them believe that they were really of help.
Both Srini and Lakshmi, went to the backyard of the house, to
wash their faces and feet, and came in to have hot upma and strong coffee. They
also fed the children seated on both the laps. The elder brother and Kamala
also had their early dinner.
After dining, all of them went to the Sri Ranganathar temple to pray. As they al went in, Kamala said, ‘Today we have the musical program of the famous singer Sarasa, from
The singer was already on the stage. Around 25 years of age, she was fair, beautiful, with a small plaited knot of hair, adorned with a string of fresh fragrant jasmine. With a beautiful red kumkum spot on her forehead, her eyes lined with kohl, and diamond nose and ear rings dazzling in the petromax light. She was clad in a deep blue silk sari with double crimson borders, with the traditional swans, woven in gold thread. Each of her hands had just one bangle set in red stones. She wore a sparkling diamond ring on slender long finger of her right hand .She wore a necklace, set with red stones and a few heavy chains to beautify her fair lean neck. She had herself well covered with the pallu of her sari. She was picture perfect. Beautiful, pleasant with a divine quality about her.
As the instrument players adjusted and fine tuned their tambura, mridangam and violin, she took a sip of water, form the water jug, know as the kooja. She cleared her throat, and united her voice in perfect harmony with the drone of the tambura.
She began the concert with the melodious Kambodi raga [ alapana ] delineation. Kambodi has many dimensions. When it is rendered slow and at the lower notes, it resembles, the majestic flow of a deep river – silent yet impressive. When the higher notes are sung in quick succession, it feels like the sound of a young gurgling brook.
She sang the raga in its completeness, with all the finishing touches, that sketched its brilliance, with its total characteristics.
The alapana was supported faithfully by the violinist, who followed the singer, like a shadow, always behind, never overtaking.
The violinist played the solo, of the raga, faithful to the original rendition. Then the singer started, the song with a verse from the Ranganathastakam, that served as a prologue, to the main song.
Sa chithra sayi, bhujagendra sayi,
Nandanga sayi , kamalanka sayi,
Ksheerabdhi sayi
, vata pathra sayi,
Sri Ranga sayi ,
ramatham mano mey.
Let my mind revel in Him
As the one who sleeps in the city of Sri
Ranga ,
Who sleeps pretty as a picture,
Who sleeps on the king of serpents,
Who sleeps on the lap of Nanda,
Who sleeps on the lap of Lakshmi,
Who sleeps on the ocean of milk,
And who sleeps on the banyan leaf.
With this verse, the mood set in, for listening to the
majestic popular composition of Saint Thyagaraja.
She began the wonderful song, O Rang shayee…
The audience clapped, and went into rapture.
She repeated each line of the song, with [sangathis]
variations each time.
She then took up the line, Bholoka vaikutam for neraval
[differentiation]. The neraval and the kalpana swaras [ notes] were tempered
with knowledge, skill, the soul and the essential feel and beauty of the composition. At no point of time the
singer indulged in vulgar display of vocal acrobatics. She handled the song
with the humility of a devout. The song was concluded with a solo performance
of the mridangist. The total song lasted for one and half hours, which in
realty felt like minutes.
The next song was a quick one in Kuntalavarali. Bhogeendra Shayinam, by Swathi Tirunal. Quick in tempo, it brought a lot of energy to the concert, after the medium paced first number.
Next was Yen Palli Kondeer Ayya, a Tamil composition of
Arunaachala Kavirayar in raga Mohanam. It was a liltingly rendered by her. Most
of the people in the audience were lip syncing the popular song.
This was followed by Sri Ranga Gadyam, set in ragamalika,
composed by the Saint Sri Ramanujacharya, who was embalmed in a separate shrine
in the same temple. The hymn extolled the virtues of the Lord and beseeched him
to save his devotees. She sang the verses fervently with such soulful feeling,
that the audience was really moved.
The subsequent song was Sri Rangapura Vihara, by Sri
Muthuswami Dikshitar. He had composed the song after his visit to Varanasi ,
where he had learnt the raga Brindavani Saranga. It was a North Indian raga,
which was adopted by him into the Karnatic family. It was a lengthy song, fully
in the upper octaves, difficult to deliver well. But she sang the song with the
ease of a veteran performer. Delightful and pleasant.
Then came 3 numbers in quick succession. Each brilliant and
effervescent with energy and mirth.
Aazhi mazhai
kanna – in Varali from the Aandal Tiruppavai
Vadavarayai
mattaki – Ragamalika by Ilango adigal
from the Tamil work Silappadikaram
And finally the concluding song, Pallaandu
Pallaandu – from PeriyAzhwar’s pasurams.
The applause from the
audience continued for a very long time.
The musicians were honored with flower garlands. The audience dispersed. One of the organizers, of the program, called the elder brother,” Varadan, please come here.” He went there, and was introduced, to the singer. They greeted each other with the traditional namasthe. The member said to her, Saraswathi madam, he is a very good music teachers, specializing in Javalis. [Javalis are fast in pace and are love songs of a lighthearted manner]
Her eyes lit up with interest, as she had wanted to learn
them. She asked Varadan, “Can you teach me some Javalis.”Varadan was very
delighted. He said “ Of course, with pleasure. Please come to our residence
tomorrow both for music and lunch.” So it was agreed upon that she would visit
their home next day.
All the six of them were very much excited with the idea of
the visiting dignitary, the next day. They went home and lay down on mats, each
with the traditional visiri [hand fan]. Very soon all of them were fast asleep.
Only one was awake, alert to the all the music the mother had heard. As the fetus
floated in the amniotic fluid in Lakshmi’s uterus, it also had imbibed, from
its mother the essence of music, along with the oxygen and nutrition that was
reaching it through the umbilical cord.
[To be continued ]
