What is Magic?
Is it an art or is it science
or is it esoteric?
Of all the definitions on
Magic, this one – having a special quality that makes something seem wonderful
– appeals to me the most not least because it completely ignores the second
question. Magic is an experience and therefore the debate on what exactly it is
– art, science, history, geography, maths- is unwarranted. We feel good when
something magical happens and this is more than enough.
Now, imagine this scenario.
The young prince along with his brother and a rishi, steps into a city. The
moment he steps in, the creepers by the side of the road, get up and sway
vigorously. It seems as if they extend their hands and welcome the prince with
a smile and say ‘That great lady who was once sitting on the lotus, came here
because of our penance. Come fast’.
On the face of it, this would
seem like a normal poem because after all aren’t poets known for their
imagination which mostly borders on exaggeration? Scratch the surface and you
will see that M word.
First of all, the prince went
by the name Rama. The city he entered went by the name Mythila. The lady is
Sita. The last mentioned is supposedly an avatar of Lakshmi, the consort of
VishNu, while the first mentioned is considered one of the avatars of VishNu,
as per mythology. With this introduction, let us see the full poem in its
original form:
மையறு மலரின் நீங்கி, யான் செய் மாதவத்தின்
வந்து
செய்யவள் இருந்தாள்!’ என்று செழுமணிக் கொடிகள்
என்னும்
கைகளை நீட்டி அந்தக் கடிநகர், கமலச் செங்கண்
ஐயனை ‘ஒல்லை வா!’ என்று அழைப்பது போன்றதம்மா!
Why, creepers and not trees?
Creepers coil around something and this itself is a great sight. To me, this
symbolises love. It also symbolises Time. It is just to ‘remind’ the man that
there is somebody who has been waiting for you. But beyond all this, it is one
word in the third line which adds that extra power to make this poem
extraordinary.
கமலச் செங்கண் (kamala
cheNgaN) – the one with the lotus eye.
Note that the verse starts by
saying ‘the one who was sitting on the lotus flower’. By bringing in that lotus
here again, doesn’t it say that she has always been part of you?
This is what we call magic.
And yes, the magician here goes by the name Kamban.
Time now to see magic in music.
Before I start describing the
song, I must say a few things which might help in understanding some of the
technicalities in classical music. It is a well-known fact that there are 7
notes in music, with each note, except the first one and the fifth one having
two variants(and I am not going to talk about the third variant here for a
reason!). Indian classical music has the concept of a raga which is defined as
a set of notes which go ascending and descending(a raga is something more than
a set of notes and yet again I am not getting into this now!).
It is not necessary to have
all the 7 notes for a raga to be complete. There are ragas which have 6 notes,
5 notes and in different combinations. The swaras(Indian name for notes) are
defined by the shruti. There are many techniques as well, and one of these is
‘Gruha bhedam’, which is the shifting of the tonic. Since I have elaborated on
this in some of my earlier posts, I am not delving into this now. Suffice to
say that if one of the swaras is made the ‘sa’, it becomes some other raga
following the principle of Gruha Bhedam(‘Gruha’ – House; Bhedam – Shift). At
times when a song is composed in a particular shruti, it becomes tough for a
listener to exactly place the raga(which in a way is good!).
‘Vaa Vaa Anbe Anbe’ from ‘Agni
Nakshatram’(1988) is one such song. Many say this song is based on
Shivaranjani. But yours truly feels it is based on Sunaadavinodini. Is it an
illusion? Or is it real? Is this the only magic in the song?
Let us strive to find
answers..
The guitar sounds subtly. The
piano responds with grace. The strings move like waves. The bass guitar, which
generally is a silent participant, observes all this quietly and joins the
celebration. Meanwhile, the drums enter as well making their presence felt now
and then.
The guitar sounds the same
melody repeatedly while the piano expands on its melody. The bass guitar goes
around with its task unmindful of everything around it. The brass flute
vivifies the atmosphere and trots up and down playing staccato notes even as the
strings play in higher-octave, making a nuanced statement in the process.
How does this prelude sound?
Poignant? Romantic? Peppy?
And what scale does it follow?
At least I get an answer to
the second question in the Pallavi itself. It starts with the lower octave kaakali nishadam and touches the antara gandharam, and though this does not
suggest any specific raga, if one juxtaposes this with the prelude, the puzzle
is solved because these swaras are non- existent in Shivaranjani. The last line
in the Pallavi goes on the descent(Sa ni dha ma ga) confirming the fact that it
is Sunaadavinodini. The last phrase probably has the rishabham but it occurs
just once and can be called an accidental note.
Keeping all these technical
details aside, taken as a musical piece the Pallavi excels in the voice of
Yesudass and Chitra with the strings playing a melody along with the vocals,
which is in the same scale but is different from that of the vocals in terms of
the combination of notes.
With relentless assiduity, the
guitar moves in the beginning of the first interlude bespattering droplets of
melody. The piano gets drenched and gives a brief repartee with coy. The flute
allures us with its melody which also has a tinge of poignancy. The strings
continue from where they left(in the prelude) and draws a wavy pattern, which
seems like the high tide.
The first two lines in the
CharaNam move with sobriety as if to give us a hint about the magic that is
likely to follow. And yes, it happens..
There is a sudden tonal shift
and the scale suggests Shivaranjani. How did this happen?
As mentioned earlier,
Sunaadavinodini and Shivaranjani are in the same Gruha Bhedam group. If the
note ‘dha’ of Sunaadavinodini is kept as the ‘sa’, it transform to Shivaranjani
and this is what happens here. It gets back to the original raga(scale) after
two lines. Just for academic interest, if the ‘ga’ of Shivaranjani is kept as
the base, it becomes Sunaadavinodini.
There is now a knock on the
door. And it opens…Then there is a conversation. This is how one can describe
the second interlude. The keys knock. The guitar responds. The drums move. The
strings flow. The flute surrounds. It seems as if this conversation will never
end. And we don’t want it to end as well.
It seems like the creepers,
the lotus and the eyes converse with each other.
After all, it is a spell cast
by a magician.. rather two magicians from two different eras.
No comments:
Post a Comment