Skip to main content

Madhyamaavathi - An under-estimated raaga....

I just chanced upon a great rendition of Madhyamaavathi about a month and a half back by Bombay Sisters ("Ramakatha Sudha....." ofcourse) and had put it on my iPod for casual listening during my walks. I suddenly realised after listening to it carefully one evening that there was something about this piece. I must have probably listened to it a hundred times since then and still my appetite is far from being whetted and I want to listen more....... such is its power over me. M'vathi has always been a Raaga sung at the end of a Katcheri as audience are starting to think of home and how to pull out their cars out of the parking lot quickly and about all the rest of the problems they all left behind that evening when they walked into the concert. I have seen many in the audience also start to slowly file towards towards the exit. Seeing the mood among the audience, the performers also keep these pieces short without the usual alaapanas, neravals, swara renditions etc. Thanks to this piece, mentioned above, by the inimitable Bombay Sisters, I have enjoyed the consummate beauty of M'vathi raaga. For me, this piece is 23 minutes of sheer ecstasy and I wish I knew all the technical terms of classical carnatic music to be able to do justice to my description of my feelings. It is a masterpiece in itself and arguably the best ever by this Bombay duo in their long illustrious career of 35+ years, if my memory is right. The piece itself starts with a simple alaapana and moves on to the pallavi and then into a nice neraval but the best is yet to come..... the swara rendering is outstanding and a pedagogical masterpice, if any serious student of music wants to know how to sing swaras in a song and how to present the various shades and speeds of it. Importantly, it is a showcasing of how beatiful a raaga M'vathi really is and how it has remained relegated as a closing piece - not "unsung" but definitely under-estimated and un- or under-appreciated as many lovely things in life on this earth. Thanks, Bombay Sisters, Ms. C Saroja and Ms. C Lalitha, for opening my eyes and ears to this lovely Raaga.

Comments

  1. vassuTuesday, January 27, 2009 1:40:00 PM

    Hey Sreeram

    The way you have done the article, has inspired me to listen to this raaga even though I am a novice to Carnatic music. Well written! I will definitely get this song on to my i-pod and will let you know if I am hooked to the classical music.

    Vassu-Dubai

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Inner Engineering Retreat at the Isha Yoga Centre

Inner engineering - had heard so much about this program that I finally succumbed to my curiosity. Am also in a transition phase in my career and thought I had done so much of outer Engineering - Education, Networking, continuous learning of techniques and tools so felt it is time for some Inner Engineering. A three and a half day investment seemed quite appropriate as well at the Isha Centre in a scenic setting near Coimbatore. Here are some key learnings and insights for the ones interested….. First, it is a completely new journey into a realm that is beyond our normal logical, questioning mind. It calls for a leap of faith into a new dimension not easily explained by the axioms we are so familiar with in day to day life. However, it is done in a very "secular", non denominational, non-religious manner without pushing you too much. So well packaged and marketed in my view!! Second, it is an intense program both mentally and physically. You are in the program 24 hrs...
16 comments
Read more

The Grams’ Laws of execution (Strong Adult content Beware!!!)

Execution for us in India is always a challenge. We come up with the best of plans and designs and conjure up awesome things but fall woefully short, mostly in time to delivery or quality of the work. Oftentimes it is not necessarily for want of resources but of the deep execution DNA - the rigor, the micro detailing and passion for the "checklist" and structured reviews.... Here are a few laws I came up with some years back to illustrate to my colleagues the importance of getting it done and may be nudge them towards better execution. The name Grams' Laws was coined out of gratitude and in dedication to my ex-colleague, Grams. He is a brilliant IT engineer and a great visionary when it came to dreaming up a scheme for a software program/module. He would tirelessly present the minutest of details of how this piece of code would work and what it would do and how it would be the mother of all programs that would solve not only our but even some of world's pr...
4 comments
Read more

R.E.S.P.E.C.T...

The title of this post may trigger thoughts of Aretha Franklin's classic number that arguably became the theme song of the American Feminist movement in the 60s. But we aren't far away from what I have in mind. But this is more about what happens to people in organisations. Read on.... Many of us, even though we refuse to accept, depend on our colleagues and subordinates to become successful. This is even more true when we come into a new organisation and are struggling to establish ourselves in the first few weeks. We will need specific help from our compatriots to get us started on the job or to show us the way in those incipient days. Many would expect our bosses to help but this seldom happens. So we are left to fend for ourselves and quickly find allies. This is where a vast majority of us fail to make it and feel frustrated in the first few weeks. We feel we have no authority or have not been empowered enough to do the job. What we fail to realise is that we have to b...
4 comments
Read more