ILaiyaraaja – The Music Messenger

How do we get connected?

This question might sound doltish, imprudent, witless and even thoughtless in this age of apps and browsers. It just needs a single click to get connected with others irrespective of the distance.

But the ‘connection’ I am referring to does not pertain to the ones we have on social media. A majority of these connections are superficial and the connection stops and ends with the keypads. Most of these are lifeless and exist just for the sake of existing.

However, it can also be not denied that some of these connections are indeed very deep. Going beyond the typical definitions of social media, these connections make us feel as if the person/s is/are known to us since many years even if we have not even seen them or do not get to see them often physically. What makes this possible?

I shall probably answer this in the end.

Now imagine those days when even communicating with each other was next to impossible. By ‘those days’, I mean days when neither ‘tech’ nor ‘logy’ existed in the lexicon of the world; days when even ‘posts’ or ‘offices’ did not exist; days when travel was by foot. Were people not connected those days? If they were not connected, how was it possible for somebody in Kanyakumari to know somebody in the Himalayas? And how was it possible to ‘be in touch’?

Our Literature is rich with poems in which birds acted as a ‘go-between’ and delivered messages. There are also instances of plants/ creepers, clouds and even non-living things like conch being requested to act as a via-media, but these were used more for poetic beauty and less for reality. I shall come to this in a while.

Let us look at a real story before that. This happened during the Sangam era. There was somebody called Kopperunchozhan, who as the name suggests ruled the Chozha kingdom. There was a poet called Pisiraanthaiyaar, not in Chozha naadu, but in PaaNdiya naadu. Those days-just like the present days- rivalry existed between fellow tamizh people despite living the same land and despite speaking the same language. The three major kingdoms – Chera, Chozha and Pandiya- were at loggerheads with each other. The intensity of the rivalry was more between the last two mentioned.

Therefore, it is more than a surprise that Pisiraanthaiyaar composed poems on Kopperunchozhan extolling his virtues and describing the beauty of his kingdom. The king too developed an affinity towards the poet and the reason was not just because the latter sang paeans on him. The two never met!

Things were hunky dory in the Chozha kingdom until the two sons of the Chozha decided to wage a war against their own father to annex the kingdom. Vexed with the developments, Kopperunchozhan decided to indulge in  ‘Vadakkiruththal’, the act of sitting in the northern direction and starving to death  which was common those days.

He did the unthinkable after this. He reserved a spot for his friend -Pisiraanthaiyaar- alongside! 

Pisiraanthaiyaar gets to know the developments (now don’t ask me how) but is helpless. Somehow, he reaches the spot but by then the king is dead. He sits at the same spot and gives up his life.

Here is a poem composed by him, which is part of PuRanaanooRu, which in turn is part of the Sangam literature:

 

அன்னச் சேவல் அன்னச் சேவல் ஆடுகொள் வென்றி அடுபோர் அண்ணல்

நாடுதலை அளிக்கும் ஒண்முகம் போலக் கோடுகூடு மதியம் முகில் நிலா  விளங்கும்

மையல் மால யாம் கையறுபு இனையக் குமரிஅம் பெருந்துறை அயிரை மாந்தி

வடமலைப் பெயர்குவை ஆயின் இடையது சோழன் நன்னாட்டுப்படினே கோழி

உயர்நிலை மாடத்துக் குறும்பறை அசைஇ வாயில் விடாது கோயில் புக்கு எம்

பெருங்கோக்கிள்ளி கேட்க இரும் பிசிர் ஆந்தை அடியுறை எனினே மாண்ட நின்

இன்புற பேடை அணியத் தன் அன்புறு நன் கலம் நல்குவன் நினக்கே.

‘Oh, my dear Swan!

Seeming as if two horns join together to make it a circle, the Moon shimmers. It reminds one of the glowing face of a king who emerges as a victor fighting for his land.

On this mesmersising evening when one even loses all his senses, I feel helpless.

If you, my dear swan, after feeding on ayirai fish in that Ocean called Kumari, decide to fly to the Himalayas in the North along with your beloved, and on the way stay at URaiyur and visit the beautiful palace without stopping at the gate and utter the words, ‘ I am Pisiraanthaiyaar’s servant’, the king ‘PerunkoRkiLLi’ will rush towards you and gift you with beautiful jewellery for your beloved to wear’.

(this is just a loose translation by yours truly done with the purpose of making you all understand the import of the poem, without bothering to sound poetic).

For the benefit of all, I have recited the poem and you can find it in the link.

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Though there is no record to show as to when this was composed, the words like ‘I am helpless’ and ‘two horns’ suggest that probably this was written after the poet came to know of the king’s decision. There are many things in this poem which demand a detailed explanation and analysis but I would refrain from doing that for the time being at least as the objective of quoting this poem is to show how people got connected those days and developed unfathomable affection even without seeing each other.

Goes to show that there is something in the Universe which connects people and what that something is, cannot be explained rationally.

Let us look at Music in general and ILaiyaraaja in particular. The latter connects with millions of people with his music. Though he would not have met the people (at least 99% of them) and the people would not have met him in real life, the affinity people have for him and vice versa cannot be measured. The same in fact applies to the connection people have between them with his music being the main reason.

On this day which is very special for me, I am looking at a song which never fails to give vibrations whenever I listen to it. The reasons could be many but let me try and explain the nuances and intricacies and see if these alone are the reasons or if there is something beyond these too.

The song Malligaiye Malligaiye from Periya Veettu PaNNaikkaran (1990) is based on a raga called Sarasaangi. Though the name sounds romantic or at least indicates romance, the raga evokes a mélange of feelings, say a mix of happiness and poignancy with a dose of nostalgia. As per the melakarata system, it is the 27^th mela ragam, just before ShankarabharaNam with just the variant of the swara dhaivatam separating the two. Yet, the two sound totally different. In fact, if one changes the variant of each of the swaras, it would lead to some very well- known ragas.

Change the variant of rishabham(ri) and it will give MayamalavagowLa. Change the variant of gaandharam(ga) and it will give KeeravaNi. Change the variant of madhyamam(ma) and it will give Latangi. Change the variant of nishadam(ni) and it will give Charukesi.

Except the last mentioned, the other ragas sound so different from Sarasangi. That indeed is the beauty of Music.

Curiously enough, this raga exists as a scale in Western Classical Music too where it goes by the name Harmonic major.

After that rather elaborate explanation about the raga, let us look at the composition.

The beginning itself is zestful. The frisky strings move as if these are suddenly released from exile. There are two sets with one sounding like a thunder and the other sounding like a murmur. But isn’t it a fact that a murmur too adds value? Here, it adds that musical value. The thunderous set quickly touches the higher-octave and makes us believe that the peak has already been conquered.

However, very soon we realise that it is just the summit. In fact, there lies the magic of the composer. The chorus hums in Sarasangi with the tabla sounding in Tisram and that reticently powerful instrument called Bass Guitar backing both -in Tisram.

The mellow flute sings like a bird with the rhythm pad accompanying it like the rustling leaves.

The Pallavi starts in the voice of Chitra. The beauty of this Pallavi not just lies in the fact that it is soft and supple and is well structured, but also in two more factors. First is the podi sangati in the lines which sounds unique. Next is the rhythmic pattern and the instruments which give it that special status. The reticent bass guitar is more vociferous here and it sounds ta – –  ka dhi mi along with the vocals. The 3-beat tisram is broken down into 6 micro beats- ta ka ta ka dhi mi- and is made to sound only the first, fourth, fifth and sixth leaving the second and third as blank(kaarvai). The fact that this gives the Pallavi a majestic look is as obvious as the fact that the rose is beautiful.

One sees the variegated nuggets of the raga in that western instrument called the guitar in the first half of the first interlude. The diffused glow of the strings which play a parallel melody in the background is not dissimilar to the beauty of the full moon which hides behind the dark clouds sometimes partially and sometimes fully. The moon does come out of the clouds a little later but not before the billow of clouds (guitar) touches the nook and corner of the sky called Sarasangi.

The euphonic flute continues the journey in its own style provoking a response from the strings which give a catena of swaras. This results in our witnessing ornate images of the raga.

The first segment of the CharaNams ( Yesudass in the first one and Chitra in the second one) is full of melodic intricacies. The second segment touches the upper registers while the last segment is plaintive. All these three typify the raga.

The second interlude has some amazing patterns.

First, the sticks(kolaattam) sound gracefully in tisram. The chorus takes over and continues the humming. The ever-smiling flute responds to the humming with pulsating vibrancy. The strings enter elegantly and in a matter of seconds elevate us to a higher plane. The guitar responds with a touch of sobriety.

As if taking a cue from the guitar, the strings move with an evocative grandeur making it a quintessential experience. With a flourish, the flute takes some silky glides connecting the earth with the heaven.

What has made this connection possible?

It can probably be answered by Pisiraanthaiyaar and Kopperunchozhan..

Ps: This is my 200th post in the Blog and I am very happy that this is happening on my special day- 29th of August. What give me energy are Music, His Music, Writing and Literature. Thank you all for the support. I am sure I will continue to write on his music and share whatever little knowledge I have with you all!!

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