People who know me know that I live and breathe music. A lot of music goes into my ears everyday. I can’t get enough of music. I’m not happy with listening to the same musicians or the same music everyday. Just like a musician, I feel the need to experiment and listen to new music or ideas all the time.
One of my biggest gripes with myself has been my inertia in sharing these ideas with others. I don’t know if others will share my taste of music but if I can find one other soul who does, I’d have achieved the purpose of this blog.
This post is more of a self-admonishment than anything else. I shall strive to update this blog as often as possible and I shall dedicate it solely to Music.
That’s what I cried out. For the umpteenth time. AnandAtmAnubhavE, declared T.M.Krishna emphatically. One who experiences Supreme Bliss, that’s what it means. Supreme bliss it was for me, every time I listened to that particular rendition of Shri Nilotpalanayike by TMK. It had been 2 weeks since he had put me in a trance at a concert here and I didn’t want to come out of it.
The raga was new to me yet it was not. It was Nariritigowla. Reetigowla with a Suddha Dhaivatham instead of Chatusruthi Dhaivatham. At first, it wreaked havoc on my mind for obvious reasons. I was finding it difficult to fathom the emotions created by the raga. Soon, I came to love the havoc it was creating. The feeling it generated was a mixture of pathos, curiosity, calm and much more.
Each and every phrase in that krithi was profound. It was sung in the most aesthetic manner possible. The whole rendition oozed with bhava. I couldn’t help going gaga over it each time I listened to it. It was at one such instant that epiphany struck. What was I appreciating here? The phrase? The meaning of the krithi? The krithi itself? The beauty of the raga? The brilliance of the composer? The genius of the person who invented this music? The magnanimity of the Creator who created all this and brought it all together at that instant in time. Aaha!!
When I started listening to Carnatic Music, the aspects I could appreciate fell into a very narrow realm. At that time, it was full of patterns and rhythm. Madurai Mani Iyer was the only artist I listened to initially and subsequently, I started listening to T.V.Sankaranarayanan. Since MMI bani consisted of producing interesting swara patterns in a sarvalaghu rhythm, my mind automatically stayed captive when I listened to these artists. Because of lack of domain knowledge at that time, it stayed that way for a few years until I got exposed to MDR.
As my theoretical knowledge increased, I started trying out different ragas or different krithis but only by the same set of artists that my mind accepted. After a while, my horizons started broadening and I became more receptive to other artists. I was eager to listen to different artists. I liked some and disliked some. I could not understand why. With the opening up of my mind to other artists, my listening became more krithi-based. I loved certain krithis and was curious to hear how different artists had approached a certain krithi or trying to understand their patantharam.
Krithis led way to ragas. I became exposed to more and more ragas as I read about others’ enjoyment of certain ragas. I started shedding my prejudices more readily and become open to new ragas. Ragas like Chakravaham or Dharmavati, which I had previously dismissed as uninteresting, now become objects of curiosity. Krithis or certain renditions in these ragas obviously played a part. For example, the krithi Ranganai thudhiporku in Chakravaham was fundamental in me listening to the raga more.
The intellectual and emotional satisfaction I derived from exploring different ragas was not enough for me. I started exploring ragas deeply. I observed the different phrases comprising of the ragas, the structure of different krithis in that raga, individual notes that bring the raga to life, speed or rhythm which suit the raga best etc. I find myself subconsciously applauding a phrase that could be viewed as just another phrase for that raga. Sometimes I’m not applauding the singer but just the phrase for being there in the raga or the raga for having that phrase. My ‘obsession with raga X’ posts are a by-product of this deep delving into that raga.
At the risk of sounding elitist, I’ll declare that Carnatic Music is the most complete form of music providing emotional, intellectual, devotional and spiritual satisfaction.