Carnatica's Rasika Forum

Concert of TNS at Vanimahal on 29-12-2008

Vidvan who became Ustad in the end

TNS was accompanied by MChandrsekhar on Violin, KVPrasad on mrdhangam and Udipi Sreedhar on ghatam.

The concert started with kambhodhi ada thala varnam rarely heard nowdays, which was followed by raga shanmukhapriya and the krthi was ‘siddhivinayakam of Dhikshithar. TNS sang svara at ‘prasiddha gananayakam,’ and it was beautiful as usual.

The next was the thruppavai of the day, ‘ungaL puRakkadai,’ with a short delineation of the raga anandabhairavi. and the usual thanians as viruttham in anandabhairavi. In the line ‘paadikkodutthaaL naR paamaalai poomaalai,’ TNS actually made a garland of flowers that was a paamaalai.

TNS then started quite an elaborate alapana of vijaysree and the krthi was ‘varanaradha,’ of Thyagaraja. and in both the alaapana and the svara TNS brought out well the svarupa of the raga. MC also accompanied in a fitting manner.

The main raga of the day was karaharapriya which delighted the rasikas who were hearing it the second day in succession because the raga was so rich and presented a fresh picture that it appeared as though we were hearing it for the first time. TNS sprang surprises like this through out this season. When the rasikas thought that he had covered the whole field in the exploration of a raga he sang the same raga again often in quick succession to display the inexhaustible treasure trove of his manodharma. Yesterday it was ‘pakkalanilapadi,’ and to day, yes, you have guessed it, it was ‘chakkani raja,’ the rasikas being taken along the rajamarga by the raga itself even before he started the krthi. In the anupallavi when TNS was singing ‘chikkanipaalu,’ one could see the milk being milked and boiled to taste. The neraval- svara was at ‘kantiki sundara,’ and it was indeed ‘sundara svara.’ The support of MC n the violin was superb.

After the excellent thani by Prasad and Sreedhar, when TNS started the raga ranjani which made the rasikas think that it was going to be a RTP in ranjani, especially when it was followed by an excellent thaanam in ranjani, TNS sprang a surprise in singing a ragamalika pallavi consisting of ranjani, sumanesaranjani and sree raga,. The line of the pallavi was ‘sumanarasikE sumanesaranjani sree rajamathangi.’ The alternate changing of ragas in the sahitya , neraval as well as svaras was so swift that it left the rasikas wonderstruck, which included MC, though he gave an excellent support through out.

Then the rasikas experienced a transformation of a vidvan becoming a Ustad! TNS sang the bajan ‘thum aajaa,’ in vakulabharanam in a perfect Hindustani style. And how! It excelled the usual Hindustani music because it combined the merits of both. After a thiruppugaz TNS concluded the concert with the slokam sriyahkaanthaaya in suruti instead of the usual sreeraga.