Sankaran Sings

A singer, in my opinion, of high calibre, not popular in Chennai sang in a school premises under the auspices of small sabha. The concert was at an uncomfortable 4: 00 pm. We go there 30 minutes early and find we are the first to arrive. We are welcomed by a make shift canteen (alu mooti - ಅಳು ಮೂತಿ - meaning dreary) manager. We have coffee and the manager /bearer and the cook are polite and happy to see us. It is easy to see why. A few minutes later we see the artists of the evening at a distance. We get into the hall, find our seats and settle down. We stare at the curtains covering the stage. Curtains are old, discoloured; walls need a fresh coat of paint and a stone plaque declares that is was opened by someone important at that time. It is a Karnataka association and the office bearers for years have been incompetent and lazy and the bad shape of the hall is a testimony to it (cynically one feels like saying’ what else can you expect from …‘)

 A tilted photograph of ‘ Trinity ‘ ( composers Thyagaraja, Dikshitar and Shyama Shastry ) is hanging on a wall near  a corner with a garish , ‘zero watt ‘ yellow  bulb (somewhat  like you may  find in a  ‘ Hindu military ‘ hotel )  shining on it; next to it , a faded donor, long since dead, looks down on us solemnly. No announcements are made and at 4 pm sharp the curtain goes up.  I count. There are 10 (perhaps 12) people in the hall and after half an hour it swells to 16.  A cleaning lady is still busy in her work hardly concerned about the stage artists or us. There are four people on the stage – main singer in a red kurta, a violinist, a mrudangam player and a serious looking teenage sishya . No thamburas but Radel is the on display.

Sankaran smiles and starts his concert as though he is singing to a full house. He has a strong, vibrant, full throated, enthusiastic voice. He sings, often appearing, as if he is explaining to us. He seems unconcerned about anything else. He sings phrases and almost applauds himself or at least approves them before going further. He sings to Gods as they say and I feel they must be satisfied.

Violinist is sad faced and looks even sadder whenever he looks at us. He plays well and gets some approval from Sankaran and a smile from mrudangam player. A smile appears on his face as he treasures the appreciation of his community - of two. (Reminds me of a scene in ‘Everyone loves Raymond ‘; Frank says he may face dishonour in his community. When son jeers and says ‘what community, there are only a few oldies’. He responds that they are his community).

More seriously I wonder what motivates these people and what sort of fortitude they should have to survive let alone prosper. At the end of the concert (almost ' mangalam' time) there is some commotion as a few people start getting into the hall. I realize with some shame that they are rushing in for the next program, perhaps more popular, hardly concerned with the feelings of artists on the stage. The concert ends as it began with no announcements.

The concert was very good to my ears and when it ended I get up with joy and sadness.

Visaka Hari – Impressions, Admiration and unsolicited suggestions

Visaka Hariji : ‘Guruvayur Appan ‘, Dec 26, Thyagabrahma Gana Sabha, Chennai

She used be called Visaka Hari, now Hariji . I wonder if her husband has become more venerated or she herself!

She has an attractive stage presence –smartly attired, traditional looks, pleasant -   but it does not distract. Her voice is rich and when she speaks it is well modulated. Clear and good pronunciation.  Her language skills are excellent– Sanskrit, Tamil , English and Hindi. Seems to understand Telugu and Kannada.

Brilliant  brand building  – educated, musically trained  ( ‘ A ‘ Grade artist of AIR ) ,devoted wife, mother, family person respecting tradition, Father – in – law  ‘Anna ‘ as mentor, philosopher, guide – perfectly acceptable or even aspirational for her audience.

The hall is nearly full. Discourse starts promptly at 6: 30 pm with Violin, Mrudangam and Ghatam and  Tambura as in a regular music concert. It starts off with some songs in praise of Krishna and then Guruvayur Appan.  Krishna’s birth, his childhood, deeds etc.  are sung well. By now she has traversed lands all over India – Sri Rangam, Udipi, Srirangapattina, Dwaraka, Ayodhya, Mathura … and covered in a broad sweep Chaitanya, Tukaram, Nandanars, Purandara Dasa, Meera  … Guruvayur Appan is not yet introduced.  

Sthala mahatme begins and it is more than one hour since she began. She compares many places of worship of Lord Krishna. Light heartedly remarks how Guuvayur Krishna wakes up at 2 or 3 am where as the one in Melukote near Bangalore is slow in getting up at 8 am ;  perhaps it is cold weather, she adds.

Now on to an episode.

A devoted couple preparing to celebrate the first anniversary of their only son. Description of the child - clothes he wore, ornaments, preparations etc. follow. Due to negligence or accident the child dies under tragic circumstances. She describes it well . Sleeping child buried under discarded old wet clothes. Audience react in unison ‘ Ayyo ‘. Some wet eyes and many sobs.

‘ Krishna Krishna Mukunda Murahare ‘ follows. Sings really well and with great feeling. It touches the heart. The story is only a peg ; you could supply your own version of the story or any other story for that matter and absorb the sentiment into it.

Father goes out to temple and is lost in prayers to the Lord.

A pause in the story as Visaka branches off to stress another philosophic point ,ever popular with us. She talks about permanence or transience of things. ‘ Nitya ‘ and ‘ Anitya ‘;  and ‘Maya’. I think people are not comfortable but nod their heads wisely.  But they wait and would like to know what happened or (as they already know) how it happened and want to hear from her again. They want simpler solutions. ‘ Maya’ can wait.

 Now a lighter moment. She mixes languages effectively – for example, in this case Sanskrit and Tamil - How one may be born from  Nara (ನರ ; man )  in last  birth to Naari (ನಾರಿ ;  women ) in the present  birth and  from Naari  to Nari (ನರಿ  ; fox ) in the next.  Audience laugh but nervously wait to know the fate of the devotee. Suspense continues.

She makes a philosophic point. Mind is like a mirror. It reflects (gets filled) what is in front of it. Colours change, shapes change etc. If it is filled with anger, lust etc. that is what one gets and suffers. When it gets cleansed by Krishna consciousness then it becomes pure and filled with joy. 

Now she comes back to the main story and connects it.  Lord appears as a child in devotee’s arms because the devotee intensely desires  it. There is a collective sigh of relief and exclamation of wonder. A song flows freely about the wonder called Krishna. She has her poetic moment. She raises the story to an abstract level or rather makes it universal by saying how we see Krishna every day. I thoroughly enjoy it.

Devotee says in a voice of surrender and fulfillment how fortunate that he is born in Bharat. She branches off. ‘Mera Bharat Mahan ‘, she says. Why? Because it is a land of so many saints, seers, mahatmas, warriors who fought for preserving our religion and culture (particularly Rajputs). I wonder. Rajputs might have fought the then Muslim rulers but it was more of survival. Moreover when they were not fighting them they were busy fighting themselves. Her ‘Bharat’ is an imaginary one and does not include other religions or regions. If I am a person from Sikkim I wonder .. Why will they feel proud to be associated with this?  However, people applaud in patriotic fervor. She takes a jibe at Indians ‘dying’ to go to USA leaving our glorious land. Now a section of the crowd applauds. Some because they believe, some because they could not go and now find a respectable reason and some parents of NRI children who would not return.

(I am reminded of a conversation between a Bengali and a non-Bengali. Bengali proudly claimed how Bengal has been the land of so many reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, Aurobindo, and Tagore which other regions of India can never boast of. The other man said it was because Bengal (being so depraved) needed so many reformers! )

Story is on hold again. Music continues. Very soon, almost without a clue, she gets into Tanam singing followed by a brief expansion of a raga and a Pallavi with appropriate emotive phrases.

Guruvayur Appan waits. She now talks about an old lady, another  devotee, who was guided home one night by the Lord assuming the form of a boy. She gives him a piece of her saree to cover himself as his dress gets wet. He takes leave of her. Next day when the temple gates open, behold - the deity is covered in a piece of old cloth given by her  on previous night.  Audience responds enthusiastically as she sings praising the Lord.

Now the release from climax. She cracks a joke about how an elephant does not eat whole day on Ekadasi while there are many (like me!)  of us who would gorge on food like an elephant. She speaks of the elephant Keshava’s devotion and how till the last breadth he serves Guruvayur Appan. And now he is commemorated by a statue (‘it is there even today ‘as if Keshava is a true historical figure with no doubts whatsoever about his existence )

Now we are ready for another episode. It goes on for some time. It is nearly three hours of non - stop discourse. People are happy as she sings a song followed by Mangalam. They are ready for the next concert. We leave the hall reluctantly with smiles all around.

Now some more of general impressions.

She feels the pulse of the people and establishes excellent connection with audience very quickly. She is an excellent communicator . People hang on to her every word. Builds up tempo  to a climax then brings down.  The cycle repeats. Makes it participatory.

Her discourse is an amalgamation of drama, music, story, philosophy, devotion. There is free flow – effortless transitions from one to another.

She has created this unique combination. While Harikatha has existed for long  she has made it beautiful, vibrant and glamorous

Excellent story teller – holds suspense, meanders at the right time making her audience wait and wonder ‘what happens next’ and then she is back.

Gamakas  are many – Sphruta , slides, murchana, kampita etc. Likewise she has pun, irony, satire, and she  chides, jabs, exaggerates, dramatizes ( Henry James, once said,  ‘ Dramatise’ ‘ Dramatise ‘ ), appeals emotionally , uses melodrama sparingly, dishes out wise cracks, homilies, talks as if she is next door neighbor come for a chat, visualizes, paints as it were through words,  ‘ pesum chittirame ‘.

Her advantage is that she can use any thing that is popular. If ‘ Kaliyugadali .. ‘ ‘ Kurai onrum .. ‘‘ Vaishnava janato ‘ have been  sung  well and made popular by others she can and does put to use immediately and effectively.

I believe she is still evolving this form. Balance between music and recitation of story.

She has to find new episodes constantly. As of now she does good research, composes or selects songs, creates a framework, takes up wise sayings of ‘Anna ‘or someone else.  But she has to be creative all the time.

Entry barrier is high for others.

Her audience by and large are the people who are interested in classical music. Brahmins in general. Her utterings ( sayings of ‘Anna’ ) like for example, the importance of ‘ Sandya vandane ‘ would not interest non Brahmins; let alone other communities. She has to find a way to make it more secular but retaining moral tones so as to retain the present set and attract others. How to make it appealing to non – Brahmins (non – Hindus)?  

Language: While she is proficient in Sanskrit, Tamil, English , Hindi and can understand Telugu and Kannada , her   discourse is in Tamil – English combination. This limits her audience although songs in Telugu (Carnatic Music) and Kannada would draw others to some extent. How to reach out beyond Tamils?

Some jarring notes though.

She mouths Imbecile Philosophy sometimes. I feel it is an insult to our intelligence. Makes   incredulous statements (Rama and Krishna lived millions of years back. Vedas are sooo ancient; NASA has proved it- I do not what)

Showing disrespect or complete ignorance about Knowledge. A saint’s or mahatma’s knowledge supersedes all others. All knowledge can be attained by such mahatmas. Then what happens to our poor scholars in Art and Science I wonder. It is a pity that these are pitted one against the other for which there is no need. Ignorance of say science, arts etc. is understandable but there is nothing to appreciate in it. Playing to the gallery perhaps? People hiding their ignorance in a veneer of spirituality.

Mature, consistent philosophy or framework needed and not ad hoc and changing ones depending on the needs. Have humility / ability to acknowledge cultural diversity and the fact that Brahmanism is not central to the world! I ardently hope she sticks to common sense.

Should approach miracles etc.  in a poetic way ; as metaphors rather than literal truths. If she does it can become beautiful and thought provoking.

She has the right to expect from her audience ‘suspension of disbelief ‘(as long as a writer could infuse a "human interest and a semblance of truth" into a fantastic tale as poet and aesthetic philosopher Coleridge suggested) it should not be juvenile. She does well sometimes but goes overboard carried away by her enthusiasm and perhaps goaded by sayings of ‘Anna ’.

Why do I like her?

Sheer joy of story telling / listening. It incorporates music and talk, drama and feelings. It is magical at her best. When she does well ‘a terrible beauty is born’ as Yeats says. At that moment the particular incident disappears (for me) and I appreciate in a state of ‘suspension of disbelief ‘and often substitute my own story.  When she extracts an abstraction from some examples I do my own if I not in agreement with her. To give her credit she does well most of the time. So amongst believers I sit and enjoy and often relate to what she is saying. These are ‘musical truths’ and ‘literary truths ‘and are colored by me to suit my taste.

But to end with what happened:

As we leave, one lady remarks rather seriously that she feels like to going on a trip to Guruvayur as soon as possible. Visaka Hari has successfully sold Guruvayur to her fans ! Marketing at its best.