Nothing can be more comforting than the thought of
being in a comfort zone.
Well, that applies to people who are happy and
content with what they do; for people who do not get disturbed -or rather do
not want to get disturbed - by the status quo; for people to whom the word ‘challenge’
is an anathema; for people who do the same things again and again in the same
way always.
But people who love the word ‘challenges’, are
different. They love being challenged and if nobody challenges them, they challenge
themselves. They look at the same things differently. They look for inner
meanings in almost everything. The word ‘superficial’ does not find an entry in
their dictionary, while the word ‘deep’ is found in block letters.
KaaLidasa
was one such poet. One day, he was challenged by somebody, not for debating but
for composing a poem with the letters- tha
tham tha tham tham
tha tha tham tha tham tha(note
that it is the fourth ‘tha’(ठ).
He came up with this:
रामाभिषेके जलमाहरन्त्याः
हस्ताच्च्युतो हेमघटो युवत्याः
सोपानमार्गेण करोति शब्दम्
ठ ठं ठ ठं ठं ठ ठ ठं ठ ठं ठः
हस्ताच्च्युतो हेमघटो युवत्याः
सोपानमार्गेण करोति शब्दम्
ठ ठं ठ ठं ठं ठ ठ ठं ठ ठं ठः
Ramabhisheke Jalamahrantya
Hastaachyuto hemaghato yuvatya
SopaanamaargaN karoti shabdam
Tha tham tha tham tham tha tha tham
tha tham tham.
During the coronation of Rama at
Ayodhya, women with golden vessel went to
fetch water. One vessel slipped out of the hand of the maiden and it
tumbled
down the steps making the sound- Tha tham tha tham tham tha tha tham tha
tham tham.
This goes
to show that sky is the limit for the creativity of a genius and that the best
comes out of them, when challenged. That is why, a true genius loves challenges
not just because they are challenged but also because they consider challenges
as not challenging. On the contrary, they consider it as an opportunity.
Once ILaiyaraaja faced a very challenging situation..
After composing a song and writing notes for the orchestra, he found that
musicians who played the strings (violin,
viola, cello) were not available on the day of the recording as they had
already committed playing elsewhere. So, he replaced the string section with mandolin section. He called different
mandolin players (14, if I am not
wrong) and made them play.
And the
output was incredible.
‘Pudiya
Poovidu’ from ‘ThendRale Ennai
Thodu’(1985) has many more highlights, but this is the topmost highlight,
something like the ‘Headlines’in a newspaper. Based on Suddha Dhanyasi, the composition has that romantic slant not least
because of the beats, about which we shall see soon.
The beginning
is like a glacier. The guitar strums
gradually with just the percussion sounding the tisram beats- ta ki ta-
in the faster mode. The second guitar
starts strumming now and the duo moves with an insouciant grace. Enter the
heroes now. The different mandolins
vivisected by the bass guitar,
bristle with melody and make an organic progression.
The flute and the keys-which sound like flute and yet sound differently- make it more
soft and sensitive while the mandolins follow with a determined countenance and
play ‘ta ka dhi mi ta ka’- tisram broken down into 6 micro beats- even as the piquant
percussion continues to play ‘ta ki ta’
in its own inimitable style.
The Pallavi in the voice of SPB and Janaki is multi layered. First we have the mid-octave swaras ,pa ni sa. The mandra swaras(lower
octave notes) ni. and pa. combine to give a different feel. The
janta swaras (2 together) mapa gama pani complete the experience..well almost, because with this
composer, nothing can end so easily. Here it is he echo- effect and the pause
which give a feeling which is indescribable.
And this
is just one layer. If you remember, I mentioned about the beats in the
beginning. The tabla plays the tisram
beats in a unique way. 3 is divided
into 12 micro-beats here and the
stress is given only on the 6th,
7th and the 10th
beats.
The
piquant percussion meanwhile
continues playing ‘ta ki ta’ with the
bass guitar playing with a sense of equanimity while the mandolin group moves up like the waves
in the sea.
All these
combine to make it a spectacular sight. Who said music is just aural anyway?
Laya Raaja enters again in the first interlude making the tabla tarang (tuned tabla) dance gracefully
in Suddha Dhanyasi with the mandolins nodding in appreciation. The
latter take over splitting into two sets and playing two different sets of
notes. This is just like how he makes two different sets of strings overlap each other. But see how
a small change in instruments makes a difference to everything-from sound to
feeling.
The tabla-with its unique beats- the other percussion and the bass
guitar continue to back the two sets of mandolins until the mandolins give way to the guitar and the flute.
Now only the piquant percussion and
the bass guitar back these two which
of course play two different notes, at times even an alien note or two which
make it more attractive.
The jump
from pa to the upper Sa followed by a glide in the first two
lines, the sudden lower octave ni. in
the third line(mayakkamallavo), the sudden appearance and disappearance of the
alien note (ga3) in the following
line and the echo effect in the last line, give the CharaNams, depth, resonance and most importantly an unmatched
elegance.
We
involuntarily begin to sway in the beginning of the second interlude when the guitar
plays softly with the percussion backing it. The mandolins are at work again. I can even call it as ‘Mandarin’ as
one sees the contours of South East Asian Music here. One set of mandolins moves lugubriously giving
ornate images. The other set sounds now and then with an energetic swirl.
The tabla now joins playing those unique
beats even as the mandolins romance
with the keys with flourish and
buoyancy. It even seems as if the instruments are giving a mystical smile..
...like
the golden vessel which made a musical sound when it tumbled down the stairs!
