Prof.C.V.Chandrasekhar - epitome of dedication

Prof.C.V.Chandrasekhar

Prof.C.V.Chandrasekhar’s first performance for the season at Dakshinamurthy Auditorium for the inauguration of Nadhabrahmam on the 7^th of December was incredible. He commenced his recital with Saint Thyagaraja’s Sri ganapathini ( Saurashtram, Aadi) where he worshipped the Lord and invited everyone to worship him ,was an auspicious start.

He then went on to present a shabdam( a rare scene in the present recitals) sarayu naaney, potraying  a nayika longing for her Lord, who is Krishna. The main piece for the evening was a traditional varnam, Emaguva ( dhanyasi, aadi) on the Mysore King Krishnaraja wodeyar. He presented the demanding jathis with such ease, not to mention the effortless mandi adavus and sarukkal adavus!

The next half of the recital consisted of a Surdas bhajan and a thillana. The bhajan, Dheena Dukh Harana in ragamalika was choreographed by Master when he was in Banaras and he was telling us about how it took shape and how his life was back then.

He contentedly concluded his first performance for this season with his own thillana in Hamsanandam set to Kanda triputa thalam.

The musicians for the evening were Smt.Jaya Chandrasekhar on the nattuvangam, the ever mellifluous Sri.G.Srikanth on the vocal, “Late” Sri.Adyar Balu on the mridangam, Sri.Eashwar Ramakrishnan on the violin, and Sri.LakshmiNarayanan on the Tambura. 

Swapnasundari - Soul Stirring Abinaya

Swapnasundari

On the 10^th day of December, Swapnasundari presented Vilasini Natyam at the traditional space of Chandralekha, Besant Nagar. She began her recital with a 500 year old Pushpanjali , which she learnt from Bhaarathamma, Devadasi associated with Vedanarayanaswami Temple, Chittor.  The Slokam describes the various flowers collected and offered to the Lord and the hastas used to represent these flowers were according to the hasta mudra sampradaya.

The next piece was a padam in Mezuaani abhinaya (Presenting abhinaya in a seated position), composed by Perayya Linga kavi ( Mukhari, Misra capu) and she learnt this from Saridey Anusuya. This padam was usually done by the devadasi during the ekanta seva, where she swings the Lord and sings this song. The nayika asks Lord Madhava to go away and come later after sunset and says” If my husband sees you, I am gone!” This nayika usually considered as a parakeeya , Swapnasundari artistically considers it as a sveeya. The variations and the hands she did for the pallavi, where she asks Madhava not to get angry about this and come back later was mind blowing. The high spot was her exit, when she sends away Madhava and as soon as her husband enters, she acts like an uttama as if nothing has happened!

She next presented a Javali belonging to the Mysore courts in Jhonpuri ragam set to aadi thalam. In contrast to the previous padam, the nayika here is a sveeya whose tone we normally associate with a parakeeya. She comes to claim her nayaka from another woman’s house and supports her companion (as all the wives do) by saying that he is so innocent and must have come to your house by mistake. The instances where the nayika tries to barge into the other woman’s house and doing all that she can to obtain her husband  was very funny and filled with hasyam.

She concluded her recital with a tamil keerthanam, “Chittam Eppadiyo” ( Nadanamakriya, misra capu) by Vedanayakam Pillai. It is a sarva samarasa where there is no particular Lord or God head. The poet asks the Lord “What is the eternal design that is waiting for me?” The bhakthi filled keerthanam was a blissful finishing to the recital.

 Smt. Vidya Srinivasan on the vocal handled the pieces watchfully as it is very difficult to sing for a manodharmam packed artist. Violin was by Sri.Srinivasan and mridangam was by Sri.Sri Ganesh. 

Sheejith Krishna - Soaked in Love & Devotion

Sheejith Krishna 

 The 10 o clock slot of Krishna Gana Sabha on the 19^th of December was given to the vibrant male dancer Sri.Sheejith Krishna. Packed with a reasonable audience, He began the concert with celebration of the Sun, a “vachana kavithai” of Subramanya Bharathiyar in Surya ragam where the poet indicates the Sun as the slayer of darkness and wonders that it is the same sun that awakens and obliterates life. This was executed with great depth and thoughtful choreography.

The main item of the recital was a rare Sapta raga Sapta tala composition of the Tanjore Quartet. “Ninaithodi Vanden” was in Dhutika bhavam where the Nayika longing for Lord Brihadeeswara comes in the eyes of Sakhi. As the composition is musically rich with Ghana ragas, it is easy for a dancer to emote with ease. Interspersed with crisp jathis which put the audience in awe, Sheejith Krishna’s interpretation for the sahithyam was also very rich filled with many metaphors and similes.

He then presented a  work from the Sangam literature( Kurunthogai, a conversation between the hero and the heroine. The hero proposes his love and asks how did we meet each other?  As the hero belongs to a royal family and she is from an average one, the heroine denies though she has love for him. It was presented in Mohanam, Bageshri and Behag. This was followed by his masterpiece” Kalabairavashtakam” and concluded with Lalgudi Jayaraman’s Pahadi thillana. 

The versatile members of the orchestra were Sri.G.Srikanth on the vocal, Sri.Girish on the nattuvangam, Sri.Ramesh Babu on the mridangam, Sri. Eashwar Ramakrishnan on the violin and Sri. Suryanarayanan on the flute.