Streetsmart The Boy Wasn바카라™t, But Sublime Is His Music

He tries no less than three times to get the right pitch. Finally, when the 바카라˜street boy바카라™ does find the ideal shruti in the fourth attempt, the gentle vocal that wafts out blows away the small crowd of aesthetes accompanying him in the bhajan procession.

Particularly impressed is a grandson of the composer of the song.

There are several elements that add to the charm of this roadside music even though it was most likely just another sublime performance in the bustle of the 1993 edition of Margazhi festival in Chennai. Yes, it happened 23-and- a-half years ago in the capital of Tamil Nadu, where summer is at its peak today at the start of the annual Agni Nakshatiram. Now, that바카라™s in complete contrast to the nip in the air that you feel in that metro when it celebrates the December season바카라”the colourful occasion that primarily showcases south Indian culture.

If Carnatic music forms the core of the event that reverberates across Madras and its suburbs for almost 45 days from end-November, Mylapore forms its hub. The locale in the clip is the very residential pocket바카라”in front of the vintage Kapaleeshwarar temple with the chief idol of Lord Shiva.

This tranquil-looking yet destroyer god바카라™s son, Murugan, assumes a special significance for Hindus when it is Agni Nakshatiram바카라”this time between May 4 and 28. Also called Subrahmanya, the trident-holding mythological character will typically have shrines in his name teeming with devotees, more so on the hilltops of the Dravidian terrain. The period is centered around Katthiri, or dog days, when the heat is at its extreme바카라”much as the weather is upcountry.

What the pre-teen kid in the visual renders is a 20th-century kriti in praise of Murugan바카라”as is obvious from the first word of opening verse. 바카라˜Kartikeya바카라™ is another name for the same god, also referred subsequently as 바카라˜Gowri tanaya바카라™바카라”that is the son of Parvati, who is the wife of Shiva.

Even if one ignores the lyrics and their topicality vis-à- vis this summer-time column, particularly striking is the music, coming as it is coming from just an 11-year- old. The boy, today, is a frontline Carnatic vocalist, poised to turn 35 this November when another Margazhi festival will bloom in the city of Madras where he was groomed. S. Saketharaman, who lives with his family in the IT powerhouse of Bangalore as a software professional, is a busy vocalist performing across India and abroad.

That said, Saketharaman might himself concede that he cannot reproduce the kind of charm that brims in this 1993 rendition with no backup from any instrument. The innocence of a child that echoes in the vocals is anyway at the risk of a loss as one grows and broadens views about life.

When the little child initially finds himself not getting the pitch suiting his timbre, Saketharaman gives a broad, almost self-deprecating, grin. At this, the girl to his right, holding the tanpura, hums the Papanasam Sivan kriti he had just attempted in the eight- beat rhythmic cycle called aadi talam. The boy copies it, only to realise that the shruti isn바카라™t yet apt. An expression of haplessness clouds his face by now. In comes the artiste바카라™s elder sister, standing to his left in the back. The churidar-wearing youngster바카라™s bid, too, doesn바카라™t rescue him in the first round바카라”before things are finally set right, much to the relief of every soul in the gathering.

Saketharaman바카라™s sister바카라”Vishaka Hari is these days a leading exponent of epic-based story-telling called Harikatha that has musical interludes바카라”evidently knows the potential of the boy. That way, she doesn바카라™t show particular admiration for the sibling바카라™s artistry,while all the time encouraging him. A record of hers (a qualified chartered accountant), singing the same composition years later, shows similarity in the family바카라™s bhava-laden musical approach, much of it groomed by violin maestro (late) Lalgudi G. Jayaraman:

Back in Mylapore on the Christmas day of 1993, the listener who is pleasantly astonished across the child바카라™s tanpura-less presentation is young Ashok Ramani, who happens to be a grandson of Papanasam Sivan (1890-1973). Sivan is called 바카라˜Tamil Tyagaraja바카라™, going by his compositional eminence that is remindful of the most celebrated Carnatic icon in the trinity. Ramani, himself a musician clad here in a blue sweater in the Chennai winter and seen patting Saketharaman just ahead of his show, sports an admiration-laced smirk each time little Saketharaman comes up with a frill or loop or weighty sangati that only masters are expected to generate. Equally noteworthy is the erudite applause the boy gets from a white-shirt elderly person, whose hand gestures synchronise with Saketharaman바카라™s microtones that are quintessential to enrich Todi, one of the grandest of Carnatic ragas.

As for the boy, he is totally unmindful of anything happening around. Neither the scholarly nod of heads nor the off-key horns of vehicles that screech past the street by the 7th-century shrine makes an impact on little Saketharaman. With traces of vibhuti on his forehead that has a tuft of hair hanging loose, the boy is in yogic concentration effectively bordering on trance. Once, he is through with the four-stanza composition lasting nearly eight minutes, the artiste raises his head and looks back at his sister, who gives out an affectionate smile.

Almost a quarter century later today, how does Saketharaman바카라™s Todi sound? Definitely classical, with a lot of intricacies. Here is a 2016 sample, where his alapana even has a grahabhedam where the raga smartly branches out to another (into the fifth minute)바카라”and returns to the torso tune so expertly.

All said and done, the 1993 바카라˜Kartikeya Kangeya Gowritanaya바카라™ remains outstanding. The Saketharaman@11 wonder is never to be regenerated.

Post-script:

On a lighter note, none of the ways of appreciation (late) wizard Dr M. Balamuralikrishna mimics here is applicable to Saketharaman바카라™s salad-days magic.