How do we define genius?
Can we say unusually brilliant?
It is rather tough to
determine if it is natural or if is it acquired over a period of time. There
are some born geniuses. There are also people who by virtue of their sheer hard
work and dedication, become experts. We see their genius in their works much
later.
In some cases, there is a
divine intervention and all of a sudden, a very normal person becomes a genius.
This is what happened in the case of KaaLidasa, who was an
illiterate and with the blessings of KaaLi, became a poet composing some
immortal works in Sanskrit. How far the story of him being a dumb is
true, nobody knows.
There is also the story of AruNagirinthar,
who after leading a nauseas life attempted to take his life, and just at that
moment, was blessed by Muruga. He went on to compose many verses (‘many’
is an understatement) and created a niche for himself in Tamizh
literature (and in music as far as the taaLas are concerned).
While KaaLidasa is
believed to have lived around the 4th and the 5th
century, AruNagirinthar lived in the 14th century. But
more recently too, there have been some geniuses in whose life the Divine played
an indirect role. A person who was born Muthiah, who had little formal
education and who was an atheist because of the influence of an ideology, read
the works of AaNdaaL one night, became KaNNadasan and changed the
paradigm of tamizh film songs.
Then there was somebody by
name Rangarajan who went to Madras with the dream of becoming a
lyricist, faced rejection and dejection which led him to the brink of life.
With thoughts of ending his life lingering in his mind, a song came floating in
the air, and this turned around his life. This gentleman who is better known by
the name Vaali, went on to pen many songs, songs that still float in the
air if one happens to tune in to the Radio/TV or even the other music
related applications in the digital gadgets.
Guess whose song changed his
life?
Yes, it was one of the songs
of KaNNadasan.
Apart from film songs, Vaali
( like KaNNadasan) also authored some books, that include ‘PaaNdavar
Bhoomi’ (Mahabharata) and ‘Avataara Purushan’ (RamayaNa)
in the Pudukkavitai format.
Needless to say, Vaali
was inspired by KaNNadasan who in turn was inspired by AaNdaaL.
Let me just produce a couple
of lines written by KaNNadasan first and Vaali next, and you will
know the reason after a while.
KaNNadasan once wrote – உண்டென்று சொல்வதுந்தன்
கண்ணல்லவா/ இல்லையென்று சொல்வதுந்தன் இடையல்லவா.
Loosely translated (in fact,
it is next to impossible to translate this), it would mean -Your eyes make
one believe that ‘it is there’, while your waist makes on feel that ‘it
is not there’. Going a little deep, one can interpret this as ‘huge eyes’
and ‘slim waist’. Well, there is more to it than meets the eye!
Generally, a sculptor draws a sketch
of the sculpture he plans to sculp. When he goes to the eyes, he puts tick
marks on both sides and when he goes to the waist, he puts cross marks. So, a ‘Yes’
for ‘eyes’ and a ‘No’ for the waist!
Now you can see the meaning of
genius.
Vaali, the protégé , takes a different take. While
describing the beauty of Kunti in PaaNdavar Bhoomi, he says the
waist is like the Divine. Why? Don’t some people believe the existence
of God, and don’t some deny the same? So, her waist is ‘there’ and ‘not
there’!
Meaning of genius yet again?
Let us look at that verse:
நடைக்கு உவமை – நதி;
சடைக்கு உவமை – சாரை;
துடைக்கு உவமை – தூண்;
இடைக்கு உவமை – இறை!
ஏனெனில் ..
இதைப் பற்றித்தான்
‘இலது’ ‘உளது’
என-
இரைகிறது உலகு!
Gait like a river/ Hair like a
snake/Thighs like a pillar/Waist like the Divine.
I spoke about the genius of
some masters. How can I leave out the genius who was born in a village in a
remote corner, and rose to not just compose tunes that sounded fresh and
different then (and now and forever), but also brought in a totally different
perspective to the orchestration and the background score.
The song we are going to see
today is no doubt a classic composition in terms of the melody, but I am going
to focus more on the TaaLa part. Isn’t Laya Raaja, my favourite?
KaaLidasan KaNNadasan
Kavitai Nee from Soorkkottai
Singakkutti (1983) is set in Mishram (7/8).
It starts with the akaaram
and for two cycles, goes without the backing of the percussion. The percussion
joins at the third cycle and plays ta ki ta/ ta ka dhi mi (1 2 3/ 1 2 3 4)
with precision. In the next cycle, it is ta ki ta when the male sings
and ta ka dhi mi when the female chorus sings. After 2 cycles, it
is ta ki ta/ ta ka dhi mi in the male akaaram followed by the
female chorus for the entire cycle, while the male continues the akaaram
even during the chorus segment. After 2 cycles, the instruments take
over.
The dazzling strings
play ta ki ta/ ta ka dhi mi/ ta ka dhi mi. Is it not 10 then? Not
really. The first ta ki ta is played in the normal speed while the two ta
ka dhi mi-s are played in the faster mode. So here, 8 = 4.
After two cycles, the violins
play ta ka dhi mi/ta ka/ ta ka dhi mi/ta ka dhi mi.
What is this? Should it not be
just 7 (ta ki ta/ ta ka dhi mi)? And yet again, arithmetic plays a role.
7 is further broken into 14 and is played in the faster mode. These
14 beats are the micro-beats.
This goes on for 3
cycles until the ebullient violins decide to give way to the sedate santoor
for one cycle with the latter playing just ta ki ta/ta ka dhi mi in the
normal speed. The violins join in and as if influenced by the santoor,
plays the mishram with sobriety along with the santoor.
I am sure it is understood
that the percussion keeps playing all the seven beats of mishram
in the background throughout and that I have focussed on the melodic
instruments playing the beats – not common in others’ compositions, while not
uncommon in many of his compositions.
The lines in the Pallavi (vocals- Jayachandran and Suseela) shimmer
with beauty. For academic interest, the composition is loosely based on Abheri,
with a dash of alien notes creeping in later. There are 3 sets of
percussion and all the 3 play ta - -/ ta – dhi -. The ‘-‘ are
gaps where the percussion keeps quiet and some of you familiar with my
posts here know that this is called kaarvai.
The beginning of the first
interlude glistens with the sound of the santoor, which plays ‘ta
ka dhi mi/ ta ka/ ta ka dhi mi/ta ka dhi mi’ followed by the ineluctable flute
which plays the same but in its own way.
After two cycles, the violins
play ‘ta ka dhi mi/ ta ka’ with the santoor completing ‘ta ka dhi
mi/ ta ka dhi mi’ exquisitely. The doughty violins are in full swing
then and continue to play the same pattern for 3 cycles. Just towards
the end of the third cycle, the flute joins in and plays along. Note
that the percussion takes a break during the first cycle, adding that
effect of silence.
The special effect continues
in a different way when the violins play ta ka dhi mi/ ta ka/ ta ka
dhi mi and stop, giving space to the flute which plays just two
syllables and pauses. The percussion keeps quiet yet again when the flute
plays.
The violins then
continue with the santoor pitching in. The chorus continues ta ki ta/
ta ka dhi mi in akaaram with the backing of the bass guitar.
Finally, the violins play ta ki ta/ ta ka with the santoor
playing ta ka dhi mi in faster mode, which in effect is 2 and not
4.
The lines in the CharaNam
are graceful with alien notes peeping in rather liberally. In the first half,
the tabla plays mishram giving kaarvai now and then while
in the second half, the mrudangam plays all the 7 beats.
Ta - dhi mi /ta ka/
ta – dhi mi /ta – dhi mi says the acoustic
guitar twice, appearing out of the blue, along with the rhythm guitar.
The violins play mishram in higher-octave with kaarvai (
ta – ta / ta – dhi mi) twice.
It takes a folksy turn with
the male voice which appeared in the prelude humming tantaane ta
ne in mishram leaving gaps for a cycle now and then and the
female chorus joining in in the second half. The flute follows and plays
ta ka dhi mi / ta ka/ ta ka dhi mi/ta ka dhi mi twice with the backing
of bass guitar. Finally, the enticing santoor plays ta ki ta in
the normal speed with the ebullient violins playing ta ka dhi mi/ ta
ka dhi mi in the faster mode.
‘It is there’ and ‘It
is not there’.
‘Yes’ and ‘No’.
Isn’t this the meaning of Genius?
