Traditional Thunderstrom

TRADITIONAL  THUNDERSTORM

Veena Kuppayyar was a famous exponent of Veena and a composer of carnatic music. He  had the golden opportunity of learning the nuances of music directly from the saint composer Sadguru  Sri Thyagaraja Swamigal himself. Among the various compositions penned by Kuppaiyar the Taana Varnam in Aadi taalam “Saami nine kori” is very popular. Gurucharan opened the concert with this  drizzling varnam in the raagam Sankarabharanam. A gentle soft breeze swept across the hall with a light droplet of good music .

He then delivered an amazing Aabhogi raga exposition briefly, followed by Papanasam Sivan’s evergreen composition “Nekkurugi unaip paniyaar kall nenjam enak karullvai” set to Aadi Taalam. The soft gentle breeze slowly started to gain momentum and clouds began to gather. This piece reminded one of the veteran musician D.K.Jayaraman who popularized this song. Gurucharan offered his obeisance by knitting a garland of swaras at “Sikkal Singaaravela Guhane”. Conditions were favourable for the onset of  monsoon.

The Subhapantuvarali composition of Sri Muthuswamy Deekshithar “Sri Sathyanarayanam Upaasmahe” was the next item with a soulful aalapana. Shruthi Sarathi on the violin followed suit with excellent bowing techniques. The delineation at “Mathsya koorma varaahadhi Dasavatharap prabhaavam” was expansive and ultimately the monsoon had set in. Wave after wave, the swara rains filled the auditorium with divine vibration.

Next one was a quick Purandharadhasar devarnama “Sakala  Graha bala neene Sarasijaaksha..” in Ataana.

Then came the magnum opus of the day…a mesmerizing Mohanam aalapana filled with fragrance transported the rasikas to a different world. Shruthi sarathi on the violin gave a beautiful version.The song presented was “ Mohana  Raama..” by Thyagaraja.  The Thani aavarthanam that followed was a thunderstorm with colorful lightning and sparklers. Neyveli Venkatesh S. Krishna and R.Sivasubramaniam provided the solid laya support. Wonderful team spirit.

Gurucharan then presented a piece from the Natarajar Paththu collection composed by Muniswamy Mudaliar. The viruththam style presentation was in Hindolam, Kaapi and Khamas. This was followed by Nilakanta Sivan’s composition “Theruvatheppo Nenje…” in Khamas.

The concert concluded with a Thillana in Bagesri. The concert ended but the impact of Gurucharan’s music remained for several minutes echoing in the heart and minds of rasikas…the Traditional thunderstorm was so powerful that musical showers could be seen sweeping across the hall with a divine fragrance…

About the Author:

SHANKAR VENKATRAMAN, a practising company secretary by profession, hails from a family with musical lineage. On the maternal side, his mother’s great grandfather Nemam Subramania Iyer was one of the last disciples of Saint Thyagaraja Swamigal. His maternal grandfather Nemam Nataraja Bhagavathar was the disciple of Mahavaidhyanatha Sivan and an Asthana Vidhwan of Sringeri Samasthanam. His son “Kalaimaamani” Prof N.S.Ramachandran was the Director of different  Kendras of All India Radio and the  Dean and Director of Music Department, University of Delhi. He had composed many kruthis out of which “Sri Chandrasekhara Yatheendram Aashrayae”on Sri Kanchi Paramacharya in Sankarabharanam popularized by Dr.M.S.Subbulakshmi and “Sree Maha Ganapathae..” in Aabhogi an evergreen hit of M.L.Vasanthakumari are very popular.

Shankar Venkatraman’s father (Late) K.V.Venkatraman, son of Kanjanur-Kottur S.Vaithyanatha Swamy Iyer was an ardent devotee of Sri Kanchi Paramacharya and had served as the Correspondence-in-charge for Sri Paramacharya while Shri Periyavaa was camping in Kumbakonam during 1930-31(When Periyavaa was referred as Kumbakonam Periyavaa). Sri Sengalipuram Anantharama Deekshithar is Vaithyanathaswamy Iyer’s maternal cousin.

Shankar did his schooling at Vidya Mandir, Mylapore (1968-1982) Chennai and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai. He did his Company Secretary course from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Chennai-600034.

(*The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of Music of Madras.)